The year winds down, but housing news steams along here at Rent Free. This week’s stories include:
- Austin, Texas, just passed some of the nation’s best “middle housing” reforms that allow more housing in single-family neighborhoods. Some worry a recent court decision puts those reform in legal jeopardy.
- The federal government reports a big increase in the homeless population.
- Did Florida secretly pass the best zoning reform of the year?
But first, our lead item about a California couple who lost their fight with the state regulators ordering them to dismantle their home:
Court Ruling Means 70-Year-Old Couple Must Tear Down Their Home on the California Coast
The two-story mobile home that Michael and Susan Christian own and live in in the Orange County beach community of San Clemente, California, isn’t blighted, dangerous, ugly, or even unpopular with the neighbors.
But it is a little too tall, according to state officials with the California Coastal Commission.
For over a decade, the commission—a state agency with the final say over most development on the California coast—has been arguing that the Christians’ addition of a second story to their home obscures ocean views from a nearby walking trail. It also argued the couple added that second story without getting the required permits from the commission.
news.yahoo.com/california-officials-force-elderly-couple-120002472.html?guccounter=1