If the old house is torn down, newer and perhaps stricter zoning rules may apply.

These local zoning rules prevent developers from creating compact developments.

At 30 stories it is much smaller, having been built under the new zoning rules.

The street-front buildings were put up by many developers who followed simple zoning rules.

Under 10-acre zoning rules, the houses must have at least 4,000 square feet of space.

In contrast, conventional zoning rules allow developers to build suburbs that take five times as much land.

Last summer, the partners bought the site, on which zoning rules permitted a residential building to be constructed.

The project, which is scheduled for completion this fall, illustrates how the city's own zoning rules can be at war with its housing goals.

The highest hurdle for the developers, whose site is just under 20 acres, was the community's 10-acre zoning rules.

In particular, she said, the new zoning rules in Hartford concern her.