Your thoughts on zoning?

Ive seldom seen a problem that Zoneing covers that isnt better addressed as a simple no tresspassing case. Yep Just keep your stink and ugly to yourself.

Edit: Sorry TnAndy, didn't see your post until I wrote this one.....



In general I like light zoning, to keep problem people away from each other.

For example someone here mentioned keeping a big hog barn out of the neighborhood. Or the other side, to keep a housing development away from good farm land and livestock areas. Nothing but trouble to have a bunch of houses pop up in the field next door. My county only allows one new house per 40 acres on land zoned agricultural.

Sometimes it goes way too far, such as this?

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2588197/posts

More to the story than this short clip, fella grows veggies, county said hhe grew too much for the zoning he is in, so he quit for a bit, county held off the lawsuit, he got his zoning changed and went back to growing, county decided to go back to suing him for the old issue.

--->Paul

Interesting. I wasn't aware of that. Your post reminded me of a situation that I have faced as a small business owner. I have found, especially with worker's compensation, that I am "forced" into doing things that go against my beliefs as it is a policy or requirement in order to manage things like unemployment insurance and worker's compensation. I have quickly realized how frequently people are made to do something just because it is attached to something else.

And this is the real reason for Zoning... It protects the people that wish to have dirty nasty things from tort... You see it's zoned as a huge hog farm. So yeah, it stinks. Or yeah, it's a zoned Industrial site so it looks like one. Instead of allowing tort suits and making the stinky clean up their mess.

I've only been in one very small city that had oil wells in one of the old neighborhoods, little things only a few feet high. They would have been created a long time ago. You can't do that anymore.

Allthough Zoneing would allow the use would it protect them from a lawsuit?

Id be extatic to have a large hog operation next door. The smell woudl send the city slickers back to suburbia, and Id have lots of manure for my land

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I doubt Wal Mart would be a concern. 2,200 people in how many square miles?... is not likely to produce a Wal Mart any time soon, I would think. And whether you are zoned or not, don't think your city/county fathers wouldn't welcome a Wal Mart and more tax dollars anytime or any where. I think you'd have a better chance fighting a Wal Mart without zoning.

digApony

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Yep, that is how I see it.

The other item is when a developer decides to move in and sell .25 acre plots and put up cheap housing, which are occupied by young families which have school age kids in 2-5 years.

The flip side is if you want to sell your land to a big place that wants to put up a huge hen house or pig farm or a couple thousand small houses, if you have zoning you can not do it.

I do not like zoning because as soon as you get it in then people start using it to control what their neighbors can and can not do. If you want control of the land around you then buy it.

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Totally agree with Maura. I used to work in zoning and her post is spot on.

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Keep in mind zoning is NOT building codes.

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Gary in Central Ohio

Generally yes. They could still get one filed against the offender. they will likely prevail. Remember a license is to do something you wouldn't normally be allowed to.

Highlands seems right on target to me. Example: Growing town of 7,000 had a major highway relocate in a large arc to the edge of town. Commerical folks that required traffic exposure made plans to move. City fathers and their friends quickly pushed through the first zoning laws that happened to prohibit half the new highway frontage from commerical use. Just happened that portion was owned mostly by working class and poor folks without connections. We all know who made a killing.

After decades in real estate, I've observed that zoning concepts are usually sold to the public using scare talk rather than facts. There is a good bit of that showing up on this thread...Glen

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Fracking - It is a term that is quickly becoming familiar to people in NY, PA, and OH. This new drilling in the Marcellus Shale is doing a lot of damage. Not to mention that the drilling leases are being allowed in cities.

We do have robust ecosystems but a lot of outsiders don't realize that PA has a long history of problems with mine subsidence.

This is why I am definitely for zoning regulations. Our country also has issues with sewer and waste water being dumped in waterways. There has to be some form of zoning in order to protect ourselves and the environment.

IMHO, zoning means that you get to stand upon a very tall slippery hill and should expect to slide downward ..

Somebody starts talking about that proverbial giant hog farm..lets get a committee together & we'll ban hog farms..sounds good! Well, while we're at it, what about other commercial property which may come along? OK..throw in some zoning regulation for industrial parks..yeah, that's the ticket!..Hey! What about my neighbor who has all of those danged chickens..drives me crazy to hear them clucking..sure, we'll make a zoning rule that you have to have a minimum of 5 acres for chickens..But, my neighbor HAS 5 acres!..Oh, well, we'll make it..hmmmm..10 acres!

Now what about those folks down the road who have three cars in front of their house..I think that looks unsightly! Oh, and we need to regulate how tall grass can grow in front yards..and fences..oh yes, fences should only be 4 feet tall.
blah dee blah dee blah..By the time folks are finished, you have a bunch of zoning laws so heavy it'd kill a mule to transport them across town.

I hate zoning..hate it..hate it..and yes, if a bunch of fools with a midnight race track bought land next to me, I'd grin and bear it..might even ask to sell baked goods to the crowds!

I agree 100%. And zoning also helps keep out someone that might want to put in a few OLD Mobile homes, and those homes not only look bad, may even be in disrepair, things like that, but bring down the value of other homes around, and with low rent most of those old mobiles are rented to less desirable people, and with the drug problem this country has nobody needs the maybe's of having such people move into a a area. SOME Zoning is good for all concerned. Not only for the health and welfare of all concerned but the enjoyment of the area for all to enjoy and live without fear of having "bad" folks moving in.
So some zoning is necessary in this day in age. And zoning is not the same thing as building codes, and are treated differently.

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Sensationalism at its best.
It isn’t about the City getting after a farmer for growing too many vegetables.
It is a guy in the city violating a known restriction. None of us know if the restriction on agriculture is a good thing or not. But this guy is growing a commercial sized vegetable patch and has employees hired to manage it.
After he was cited, he went and got them to allow the garden. But he still was in violation.
Look at it this way. If I get a speeding ticket for 45 in a 35, but later get the community authorities to change the speed limit to 35, do I still have to pay my speeding ticket. Of course I do. This guy violated the ordinance and he, if guilty, owes the fine.
It is all too easy for the news to comb back the facts and create a story that makes the elected officials look like the bad guys.

Doesn't work like that. My stink on your property isn't trespassing. My 5,000,000 hens on 2 acres across the road from you isn't tresspassing. Ever think what your farm would be worth if Or-Ida put in a 10 acre settling pond for rotting potatoes next door? I know, I've seen it happen. Your no tresspassing sign ain't going to save you, not by a long shot.

If the world worked that way, I'd agree with you. But, the value of my place, both what I paid for it and what it sells for sometime in the future hinges on what my neighbors decide to do with their property.
If I paid $100,000 for my farm and 160 acres and the neighbor opens up a 1000 hog confinement operation, I lose both the enjoyment of breathing fresh air and my largest investment drops in value.
Checkerboard development spoils a community. Unbridled growth does too.

Let's say someone decides to put in a 200 lot trailer park, Manufactured Home Community. Those trailers are not taxed like homes, just the developed park is taxed, as if no trailers existed. But once the park is filled, there are an extra 400 kids in your school. You want to pay for an additional school or let the school your kids go to fail? Plus all the extra traffic. You want all that dust or are you ready to hike up your taxes to pave the roads to the Trailer Park?

If there is a land use plan that keeps the high traffic commercial businesses in a general area, near the highway and prevents development in your quiet rural neighborhood, wouldn't you want zoning to insure managed growth?

I'm not talking about restrictions that require a review team to decide if the color you picked out for your house meets everyone's approval. That's crazy housing associations. I'm talking about zoning that establishes zones/areas for different types of growth.