Tabulation of Votes Percentages reflect the number of YES or NO votes divided by the total number of ballots cast (364). Actual YES and NO votes cast for each proposition shown in parentheses. 1 Building size: Under current zoning rules, a house can cover 20% of a parcel, 8000 sq. ft on an acre, but this can result in a 20,000 usable sq. ft. home ( 2 1/2 storeys) regardless of the size of nearby homes. Similarly, a 5,000 sq. ft., 2 1/2 storey house can be built on 1/4 acre. This measure would limit new house construction or significant expansions so that they are not too much larger than those of their neighbors.       No construction shall be permitted that would result in overall housing size (usable square footage) that is out of scale with the existing housing in the immediate neigh-...

The Southold Town Civic Associations made a presentation at a public meeting of the Town Board on the ever-increasing house sizes in Southold. The presentation will include our joint proposal for limiting house size in Southold, something that almost all other East End towns have enacted. (East End Beacon article)

A seasonal bungalow razed to make way for a year-round home. A historic cottage leveled and replaced with something much larger.

Sound familiar?

It does to virtually every civic group within Southold Town — and they are pressuring the Town Board to take action on house size.

Members of the Orient Association, East Marion Community Association, Cutchogue Civic Association, New Suffolk Civic Association and Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association, appealed to the board during a work session Tuesday, arguing that while each hamlet organization must contend with its own unique issues, house size transcends geographical boundaries.