ABSTRACT
In most communities—especially those in the Puget Sound region that is laced with streams and wetlands and surrounded by steep slopes and mountains—buildable land is a commodity in short supply. Gradually some communities are realizing that the solution is in their own hands. They are again allowing developers to create small houses in compact arrangements. For most of the history of the country, families—sometimes large families—lived in relatively small houses on relatively small lots anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet. The problem is, in many communities, lots of the size is simply not legal. Sometime in the years following the war, local governments decided that lots of 7,000 to 8,000 square feet were the minimum necessary. The Home Sight development, fortunately, is platted to allow homeowners to own the plot of property on which their house sits. Small houses must, therefore, sit on land owned in common.
