[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