“McMansionization” is happening all over the country. I’ve been tracking it the past year or so and you see the same debates happening in town after town. Here’s a sample from Maryland.

‘‘[McMansions] can overwhelm those neighborhoods,” … Homeowners in Mount Rainier have torn down small houses and erected homes several times the original size. ‘‘Those homes can just dwarf everything else.”

Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D-Dist. 21) of College Park said several neighborhoods in College Park — including Berwyn and College Park Woods — have seen their communities altered by McMansions.

‘‘You can imagine having a small house and suddenly having a huge house right next to you,” Pena-Melnyk said. ‘‘It can block the sun, and a lot of times it can be uncomfortable for residents.”

Giving local governments control over the building of large homes would also set rules and prevent conflict among neighbors unhappy with the development.

‘‘This will allow for some sense of order and … possibly prevent arguments among neighbors,” she said.

Last March, Bethesda’s Greenwich Forest Citizens Association publicly protested mansionization in their community.

College Park Councilman Robert Catlin (Dist. 2) said many McMansions being built in College Park are not owner-occupied, built primarily for student housing.

‘‘Sometimes, in addition to being a giant mass, [the design] is totally out of the character of the neighborhood,” he said.

Yes, and as I’ve said before, design affects community, and is central to it’s identity and health.