Roslyn Harbor fights McMansions with ordinance

The allowable height for houses being constructed in Roslyn Harbor has been reduced from 42 feet to 35 feet under a new ordinance drafted after residents expressed concerns about the increasing number of McMansions being built in the village of mostly one-story ranch-style homes.

"There are now greater restrictions in place on what people are going to be able to build," Village Clerk Valerie Onorato said Tuesday. The new height ordinance was passed at the April 13 village board of trustees meeting.

Onorato said the construction of big, tall homes is part of the "McMansion tendency on Long Island."  She added that one Roslyn Harbor resident referred to one of the larger new homes in the village as a "hideosity."

"The previous mayor wanted people to be able to build a grand house but not a big, tall box a that's not in step with the village's look," Onorato said.

She said the law was necessary because the village does not have an architectural review board.