The city of Prairie Village, about 10 miles south of Kansas City, has enacted a second phase of new regulations designed to curb larger homes replacing older and smaller abodes. Phase one was adopted two years ago in an effort to control residential overbuilding. The original legislation limited building heights and expanded required setbacks from property lines. The Kansas City Star reports:

The rules were aimed at addressing concerns raised by some residents about builders replacing older, smaller homes with much larger buildings that dwarfed nearby homes and were out of character with the surrounding neighborhood. After a series of meetings, an ad hoc committee of planners, architects and others have developed additional guidelines designed to preserve the general character of neighborhoods.

Chris Brewster, a consultant assisting the city, said the committee members agreed that an architectural review board that regulated building designs and architectural styles would solve many of the problems created for neighborhoods by overbuilding, but that the group ultimately found such boards create too many new administrative and legal problems.

“I think this group as a whole felt that one of the biggest things that is the distinctive character of Prairie Village is not really the architecture at all, but it was mainly the streetscapes,” Brewster said. “Everything we talked about seemed to focus on how to preserve the distinctive streetscapes we have in your neighborhoods.”

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