[Homestead] Property rights at issue

Gene GeRue genegerue at ruralize.com
Mon Sep 18 10:44:12 EDT 2006


Few things get we Americans more riled up than other people, 
especially government agencies, messing with our property rights. 
Earlier this year the Supremes ruled in Kelo v. New London that local 
government could take private property and transfer it to a business. 
As I expected, the fallout from that decision has caused various 
people to consider changing their state laws to overrule community rules.

Owning a large acreage is no guarantee against a taking. Indeed, 
zoning laws are a form of taking. Environmental protection laws often 
designate large areas to be very low density development. In some 
cases huge acreages have been held for decades anticipating 
development only to have those plans shut down by a new regulation. 
What is fair?

This is not a black and white issue. Many essential public 
developments including roads would not have happened if government 
had not had the right to take private land. It's one of those 
questions whose answer depends on whose ox is being gored.

The base issue is private interests versus the interests of the 
majority. Perhaps it is simply about power. That is what some of our 
forefathers taught the native Americans.

Here's an article that touches on the points:

Western Voters Weigh Shift in Property Rights

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6085168




More information about the Homestead mailing list