MEANWHILE,

BACK AT STATELY

WAYNE MANOR...

You've played by the rules... and lost again! If you didn't McMansionize your home already, the County Council has just reduced your property value. New restrictions mean that your property cannot be built/mansionized to the size and degree that McMansion pioneers were allowed to build.

Hard to believe, but Mike Knapp was actually right on an issue for once. Knapp was the only councilmember to vote against this too little, too late legislation. It's not that I'm in favor of the abuses committed by McMansionizers over the last few years. Nor do I enjoy the tremendous noise, dust, stench, and filth generated by these projects - some even after business hours or on weekends. But property rights are an issue, as long as one was within the current guidelines.

The problem is, the legislation is not retroactive. So all this means is that homeowners who cheated will prosper. And now other homeowners have a different, stricter standard. That is an affront to private property rights. Shouldn't the rest of us be allowed to be McMansionizers, too?

The law should apply to everyone, or to no one - isn't there something about that in the Constitution?

ZERO TOLERANCE

FOR

DEMOCRAT DRUNK

DRIVERS?

Driving on Little Falls Parkway yesterday, I saw an electronic sign warning people not to drink and drive. It went on to say "Zero Tolerance. Go to Jail."

That's the way it should be. Just one question. Why didn't Democrats Del. Kumar Barve and O'Malley Budget Secretary T. Eloise Foster go to jail when they were busted for DUI last year. .001% tolerance perhaps, but clearly not Zero Tolerance. Why are some people above the law and others not?