Minimum house sizes in Commerce may increase

COMMERCE - New homes in Commerce will get larger if the city council accepts the recommendation of the planning commission.

With little discussion, and no opposition, planners voted to recommend amending the Commerce zoning ordinance to increase the size of houses in all zoning classes.

Norton Native Intelligence Market Watch, a Gainesville-based tracker of economic trends and growth in northeast Georgia, says the minimum size of houses in R-1 will increase by 400 feet and mobile homes by 300 feet. In some classifications, the size will increase by 600 feet.

The proposed new square footage minimums for heated space are as follows:

R-1E (estate): 2,500 up from 2,000
R-1: 2,000 up from 1,600
R-2: 1,800 up from 1,200
R-3 Single-family houses, 1,400 up from 1,000; duplexes, 1,200 up from 900
R-4 Single-family houses' 1,400, up from, 900; duplexes, 1,200 up from 900
R-5 Single-family mobile homes, whether in subdivisions or mobile home parks, 1,200 up from 900