Great! The quarterly update on Edina teardowns.

It is a too little too late. When you can walk down blocks from 51st to 58th on the central corridors of Arden to Wooddale and all you see is new homes with no yards then you know that an overseer isn't worth it's job title. As long as the city is getting more tax money for the bigger houses it will keep allowing the old to be demolished.

Here's an idea: in addition to meeting with neighbors, let's require the contractor to photograph the inside of the home that's being demolished, including the one-of-a-kind moldings and other un-repeatable fixtures, so that future generations can have a clearer idea of what Edina once was - as well as what was wasted.

Some day in the future, these new monster houses with their "great rooms", triple garages, and other wasted space will likely be be replaced by more efficient dwellings, like the ones that are now being razed to make way for them.

Bravo

Professional whiners ought to be thankful their community attracts residential redevelopment. Edina's neighboring communities are blighted by decaying housing stock and runaway high-density development.

This article uses the term "monster houses". There's also the term "McMansion". As derogatory as these terms are, it's my impression from visiting such homes during the Parade of Homes that the quality of construction is generally very good. It seems clear that the builders are simply giving their customers what they want and are struggling to keep pace with demand. It seems equally clear that the city has not provided adequate oversight in cases where problems have arisen. It's simply a consequence of Edina being a desirable city in which to reside.

Finally someone can take care of this problem. I just hope that this new "person/position" follows all the rules.

Good for you Scott Neal,long overdue! These people have no respect for tradition or respect for their new 'neighbors' this is what you get from the all 'about me generation' For decades parents raised several children in these charming homes now they need a 'monster home

Edina Residents: please be aware that Scott Neal is attempting to impose an approximate $15,000 assessment on anyone requiring a demolition permit for new construction or a remodeling project. The $10k letter of credit, The $1.5k permit fee, the approx $2k soil testing, the approx $2k storms after engineering study plus the fines they want to impose just raised the cost of your project! While they say they got input from residents, there were no publicly noticed meetings or hearings on this new assessment. Yes, the city needs to do a better job controlling the bad builders, but this is a dangerous attempt to over regulate new construction and remodeling in Edina. If you are going to try and sell your home, this assessment will be something that will come into play in your negotiations and will definitely put a dark cloud over the real estate market in Edina. Vote is on Tuesday, no public hearing has been scheduled, email your Mayor and Council now to stop the assessment!