Friday, September 24, 2010

Dryden Politics: It could happen here next

Dryden is debating a sweeping new zoning law. Well, actually, we're not let in on much of the debate. The supervisors saw what happened the first time and decided to just go forward by themselves.

The worst part of the new zoning laws is that they proclaim everything not specifically permitted to be illegal. Now these laws only get revamped every 30-50 years. So imagine you're in 1960-1980 and coming up with your zoning laws. Are you going to think to specifically put in allowances for wifi, .com businesses, cellphone towers, and the rest of the electronic age infrastructure? No, you're not. What do we not know is coming by 2040-2060? How can we be ready for it if we're going to shut down anything we can't imagine?

Because here is some of the fun that happens when you run afoul of zoning laws: the city fines you for growing organic vegetables in your yard and giving them away free to your neighbors. That's what they're doing in Dekalb county, Georgia. Y'see, there's another thing they didn't anticipate 30-50 years ago was urban organic agriculture. So it's not in the zoning permits and he's in violation.

No one is harmed by this; no one has complained about it. The neighborhood loves it. But the law says and the law must be obeyed.

This law is a bad idea.

1 comment:

  1. Derrill is right on. When you have this type of zoning, it is the government bureaucrats who have the power to interpret it. Appeals of zoning decisions are very limited. Right now as homeowners, you can pretty much use your land as you want. Why would people want to transfer their land ownership rights to bureaucrats? This type of zoning is a huge takeaway of individual freedom and transfer of power to government.

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