How to best preserve our character...

There is a lot of confusion about zoning and subdivision regulation.

Admittedly, whenever discussing property rights emotions are liable to run high. This is due in part to the fact that people own land for many reasons which can put them in conflict with their neighbor's and their reasons...

For example, a property owner may claim the right to run a pig farm on his property. Never mind that next door to his lot is a day care and an elder care facility... Or a person may desire to have a rendering plant located next to a church... Or a land owner may want to run a band camp for high school marching bands in proximity to a lot of sleepy little vacation homes...

So how do you balance the rights of one versus another? How can you determine what is best in each situation? Whose rights trump other's?

These questions are not easy, and often times they find their way to the Supreme Court of the United States. There is a body of land use law that has been interpreted, cases which provide some direction.

But not all.

And there remains a lingering distrust of any kind of regulation. How will the proposed regulation affect me and my property rights? Am I going to be able to do what I want with my property? Why can't we just trust people to do the right thing? After all, I know my neighbors and they're good people - they're not any more interested in a rendering plant that I am...

The problem is that neighbors change and land that was once held to be in one use may find pressure to be put to another. I have personally seen this happen in cities for which I have worked. The result is not pretty. Hurt feelings and legal issues promulgate. Everyone feels distrustful and ill done by.

So what to do?

Zoning and subdivision regulations are designed to help set up guidelines that make it clear what is acceptable in certain areas and what is not. Sexually oriented businesses, for example, are prohibited in most areas of the City. Industrial areas are kept to certain areas, and residential is allowed in others. This protects the industrial interests as well as the interests of the residents. It's not perfect, but it works.

People have the right to develop their property. If one buys land in a zone that allows residential development, he or she has a right to develop it into residences. The question is not of what but how. How does the development take place? Are we continuing to allow more and more sprawl with its attendant problems? Or are we looking for creative solutions that will promote our current way of life while alleviating some of the pressure on infrastructure and services? How can we maintain our current character while establishing a place where people want to be?

These are (again) not easy questions. But I think it starts with a personal desire to see things done appropriately throughout the area. Without appropriate regulation there is only chaos and struggle.

More on this later.