Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Park Sarasota

McClellan Park is one of the oldest residential developments in the city of Sarasota Florida. Touted as "Sarasota's Garden Spot" in the 1916 advertisements promoting the neighborhood, McClellan park certainly lives up to that name.

It is hard to contemplate a time in Sarasota's history where many residents were still using horses for transportation but there was a day when residents of this early Sarasota neighborhood did just that. It is hard to fathom the idea that Mietaw road that leads to the corner of Hyde Park and South Osprey was laid for horse use rather than for Automobiles. Today that portion of Mietaw is now used as a pedestrian path leading to one of the most exciting areas of Sarasota for nightlife and fine dinning in the Hillview area. The main entrance to McClellan Park can be found at the end of Orange Street which is the street that leads to the center of downtown Sarasota.

It was the McClellan sisters, Katherine and Daisietta, which were responsible for platting the 56 acre park. They hired architects that specialized in landscape architecture to subdivide the park into the home sites that exist today. Shell aggregate curbs and gutters lined the streets of the unpaved roads in the development and thankfully some of the original curbs still remain today.

The Native American names used for the streets in the development are the result of the inspiration Katherine found from an ancient Indian mound found in the development. The original schoolhouse in the community was built on this sacred site.

Today the eastern part of McClellan Park is known as Paradise Shores. Many of the area's finest waterfront residences can be found here. When you cross the Indian streets and find yourself on a road with a bird name, you will know you are in the Paradise Shores area.

No other community in Sarasota can match the romance of McClellan Park. Steeped with history and some of the most interesting mix of homes in Sarasota, McClellan Park is certainly one of the best neighborhoods to call home.

Real estate offerings can be quite limited and span a huge price range. Some of the original homes in the development still exist and are being bought by builders to be leveled to make way for more opulent modern designs. Some of the highest priced shacks are sold in McClellan Park simply for the land beneath them. Some of the original homes have been beautifully restored and remind us all of a rich Sarasota history when times were much simpler than they are today.

Comparative

Comparative Market Analysis, or CMA as it is popularly referred to, refers to a tool adopted by realtors or real estate professionals to assess the value of a property via comparing it with related properties in a particular area, which may include properties available for purchase and properties that have been recently sold in the area. In fact, Comparable Market Analysis is an inevitable term in real estate industry that helps buyers, sellers, and realtors to take an informed decision to set up a fair price range for a property in your desired location. However, this price analysis tool could help you only if it is prepared properly. Discussed further in this article are some relevant tips for the preparation of Comparative Market Analysis.

First of all, set criteria, for which you need at least three comparables. However, make sure that you don't opt for wrong comparables for the purpose. For instance, don't use townhouses to compare condos. A variety of other factors must also be considered for setting criteria, such as neighborhood, size of property, number of beds as well as baths, style and design of property, and usability of land. The next important step that is involved in the preparation of a CMA is to build a comparable list with the help of a reliable source that provides relevant information on property that was recently sold or available for purchase in your neighborhood.

Another important step in connection with the preparation of CMA is the creation of a summary statistics using the selected comparables, for which you can use a excel spreadsheet to include rate per square foot. This in turn can be estimated by dividing the rate by each comparable's square footage. Then evaluate the average figures across each of your comparables. After this, the next step is to evaluate the price of your target property, and you can calculate this by multiplying the average rate per square footage of each of your comparables with your target home's square footage. Now you will get an idea of the market price of your target property.

Planning Permission

It is important to understand that permitted development does require planning permission, even though it does not require an application, because in certain areas, such as conservation areas or World Heritage Sites, the extent of what development is permitted is limited and an application is needed.

What is the Meaning of "Development" in Planning Law?

The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 defines development as "the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land".

Building operations are defined as:

(a) demolition of buildings;
(b) rebuilding;
(c) structural alterations of or additions to buildings; and
(d) other operations normally undertaken by a person carrying on business as a builder"

This appears to encompass pretty any work that you can do to a property, though works that are internal only or that do not materially affect the appearance of the exterior are not classed as building operations. They may be classed as a change of use of course. One example is where one dwelling is converted into two or more.

What Works are Classed as Permitted Development?

The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 describes which works are permitted and do not require an application for permission to be made. The 1995 order has been amended by numerous subsequent orders, one of the most important being the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (No 2) (England) Order 2008.

The Order covers all sorts of works to all sorts of properties, not just residential, but the types of residential development that are permitted include small extensions, conservatories, loft conversions, solar panels, small wind turbines etc.

Extensions, Loft Conversions and Conservatories

Extensions and conservatories which are on the side or rear of a property (so not facing a public highway) are usually permitted development provided they are:

· no more than 15% (10% for terraced houses) of the volume of the original property and in any event are no larger than 115 cubic metres
· do not cover more than 50% of the total garden area and;
· no taller than the eaves of the original house

Loft conversions do not require permission unless they have a dormer window which is visible from the highway.

Work Done to Properties That Have Previously Been Developed

If an extension or addition has been added previously then any new addition must be no bigger than 15% of the volume of the original property less the volume of the previous addition, so for example if you have already built an extension which is 10% of the size of the original property and you then wish to build an extension, that extension must be no larger than 5% of the volume of the original property, because in total the original property cannot be extended by more than 15%.

Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and World Heritage Sites

Where a property is a listed building, no development can be carried out without planning permission. Listed buildings consent would also be required. If the property is in a conservation area or a World Heritage Site then some permitted development rights may be exercisable but they will be limited.

Article 4 Directions

Local authorities have the right to issue an Article 4 Direction, which limits particular permitted development rights for a localised area. An article 4 direction should be registered by the council as a local land charge so that it is revealed on a local authority search.

Building Regulations

It should be noted that whether or not a planning application is necessary, any works of a structural nature, replacement windows or works which involve electrical, plumbing or gas works may be subject to building regulations and if so, building regulations approval will be required.