No West End Property Restriction Without Awareness and Justification

We certainly oppose any additional regulatory processes related to residential modifications or new builds. Agreed with comment - "WECA is not an HOA and shouldn't act like one".

I am opposed to adding more restrictions on our properties, especially without broad community input. We love the diversity of the homes in our neighborhood.

Rockville City already has a highly regulated process for remodeling homes and I feel WECA is trying to misrepresent what the majority of the West End Citizens want. WECA is not an HOA and shouldn’t act like one.

I am not in favor of any new restrictions.

It’s not looking for the best interest of homeowners or new homebuyers

We live under too many useless unnecessary restrictions currently.

Less restrictions, not more! Have more faith and trust in folks to make good decisions with regard to the way they handle their property and that they will show respect for the rights of their fellow neighbors

Weca is complete overreaching and should not be speaking for the West End. Period

After living in my home for 54 years, I can assure you that all the new construction, additions and remodeling have only enhanced our neighborhood. Let’s not stop this process as we move forward.

WE MOVED TO THE WEST END TO GET OUT OF HOA RESTRICTIONS! What are you doing?

We do need to be sure all residents are aware of any changes and voting on any guidelines should be a big part of it.

WECA does not speak for me and its proposals to the city are unacceptable. Their complete failure to discuss the exact meaning of the survey and what it would be used for constitutes bad faith. The entire WECA board should be replaced.

WECA should not have the authority to dictate what a homeowner can do with their property. I am not opposed to the establishment of West End building guidelines in the form of a "best practices" for homeowners, builders and architects to take into consideration, but there should not be any additional mandatory restrictions that go beyond existing codes or restrictions. Further, the "character" of the West End that WECA wants to maintain or protect, in my opinion, is founded in the individuality of the homes in our neighborhoods from ALL of the eras of the West End's existence, aesthetically pleasing or not. Making a checklist of what a homeowner can or cannot do with their property in our current era will only limit the character of the West End for generations to come. It's ironic to think that some of the West End homes WECA is seeking to preserve now may not have even existed if previous generations had instituted "guidelines" (read "restrictions") in an effort to prevent homes and improvements those residents may have deemed undesirable.

I really don’t like this!

I worry about the unintended negative economic impact this could have on our neighborhood. I believe we need more engagement from community members and better rationale/justification for these recommendations.

I'm not interested in living in an HOA. We actively rejected living in towns where the schools are great, but you cannot live as you like in your home. We like Rockville just the way it is, with diversity and modern buildings mixed with beautiful historic ones. I wouldn't want our area to restrict modern buildings to have the artificial aesthetic of historic buildings. In my experience, this leads to the destruction of more historical buildings.

As a vacant lot owner planning to build a house, I already feel the negative impacts that such restrictions will create if enacted.

I already know of a potential lot purchaser who cancelled their contract with the lot owner due to the over restrictive zoning and guidelines which would adversely impact the building of their family dream home. The seller of the lot will not get nearly what they hoped with the pending restrictions. House values will decline if prospective buyers know the limitations to what they can renovate. This is government overreach on behalf of a few politically connected west end citizens. Let the west end citizens association vote to form their own HOA with architectural guidelines.

Let owners build to their house what they need

It's not just the height restrictions that are problematic. The proposed design guidelines also: 1. Increase the side set back in most lots, including undersized lots 2. Eliminates the allowance of encroachments into the side setback for porches, steps, and stoops 3. Significantly reduces the allowed lot coverage 4. Requires attached garages to be stepped back from the front of the facade even though about 60% of the respondents to the survey said this design element was not very important 5. Requires corner house to have a side facade similar to the front facade This list is just a few of the things I strongly object to