He deliberately broke the law. He was only able to do it because he is rich. If he gets away with it, it will say that rich men can use their money to flout the law.
Printable View
Party card usually does. I don't care about the law, it's something you can get caught for if you break it. Why would someone not be allowed to build something on his own property, there is no problem because he broke the laws, there is a problem because he didn't follow the rules of people who have no fantasy or imagination whatsoever and only have their system. It offends them that some people aren't absolutely ordinary.
I don't know how it works in the UK, but in my little corner of the globe one can petition the Town board for a zoning variance. Failing that one can also work within the system to change the zoning law. What he did was just plain wrong.
From personal experienced I'd say areas with zoning laws are much better off than those without. Especially at the other end of the "wealth spectrum". Zoning laws also protect property owners from those who refuse to maintain their property in a reasonable acceptable condition.
My paternal grandparent's old homestead, in rural north-west Pennsylvania (Cyclone PA), is one such area with no zoning laws. I hadn't been to that area since the early 1980's. Last fall we had a family funeral to attend and I took the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane. That entire little community went from Mayberry to Dog Patch over the last 30+ years. Piles of garbage, junk cars, knee high grass, houses nothing more than tar paper covered shacks that are rotting and falling down. It's heart breaking to see when compared to those childhood memories. And they can't claim they're too poor either. My grandparents & their neighbors were poor too, and didn't have much, but they took pride in and care of what they did have.
Zoning laws are a necessary evil.
He has more than one family? That explains why he needs more than one family home :idea2:
This is not remotely true. First of all, zoning laws have been in place for so long now that it is pretty much impossible to buy land without knowing in advance what you can use that land for. No one deserves compensation for existing zoning laws because the restrictions on land use are already factored into the value of your land. Compensation is warranted when zoning laws change, but that's not the case here.
As for taking away from the monetary value of the land, it works both ways. Without zoning laws, I could build a tannery on my property, which would totally destroy the value of my neighbors' land. Separation of industrial, agricultural, commercial, and residential areas has been proven to be necessary for health and economic welfare. Without zoning laws, you'd have steel mills next to water treatment plants, industrial office parks at the end of your residential road, and strip clubs next to elementary schools. Zoning laws hurt when they're used to restrict you, but in the grand scheme of things everyone benefits from them far more than they suffer.
Actually, yes he did set out to break the law. He was denied permission to build the home, so he did it anyway and spent a considerable amount of effort in making sure no one discovered the home until 4 years had elapsed. Say what you want about the harm from this incident, but it's most certainly an intentional violation of the law.Quote:
This man didn't set out to break the law; he set out to build a home. What terrible consequences was the law supposed to prevent, that we must cling blindly to it? What bad effects have his illegal actions caused?
Why is another house being built so terrible? Show me the harm in his actions, and don't cite oppressive laws as reasons to stop him.
And for good Sim City growth :yes:Quote:
industrial, agricultural, commercial, and residential areas has been proven to be necessary for health and economic welfare.
Where I grew up, out in the county, we had zoning laws restricting our ability to sell the land; the housing density was set low. And there were no restrictions on property care; one neighbor had a tarp roof on one of his buildings. The other had an unkempt house and a large backyard filled with broken and rusted out cars, concealed only by unmowed grass. The neighbor across the street was a farmer who used manure sprinklers to send 60 foot sprays of manure into the air, which smelled very bad. So I'm a bit familiar with some of the reasons for zoning.
You say you could build a tannery on your property without zoning laws. First off, getting rid of zoning laws doesn't mean getting rid of the idea that one has rights so long as you don't harm others.
Secondly, would you build a tannery on your property? Do you have the room? Would such a placement be economically efficient? Would you want to live with a tannery on your property? Would the homeowners association let you?
In short, why would people act out these worst case scenarios?
People got along just fine without zoning laws for a long time, without the "industries in neighborhoods" you warn against. You say zoning has been proven necessary - well, how so?
I don't buy for a second the economic welfare argument. Companies aren't going to make stupid decisions just because a lack of zoning lets them. And there are economic benefits to building similar stores and industry together. Finally, individual companies are much better at making economic decisions for themselves than the government is at imposing economic rules. Government control in zoning is just as bad as control over the general economy. The economy would be more efficient without zoning, just as it is without centralized government planning over industry.
As for health - as I said before, the lack of zoning shouldn't mean you can just set up industries that are harmful to neighbors.
Finally - Houston Texas has no zoning laws, and they get along fine, without the terrible scenarios you warn against coming to pass. So I dare say it's proven that you don't need zoning laws for a modern functioning city.
Taking up arable land? Is the land his or not? Or is it part of some giant community supply?Quote:
He set out ot break planning laws and disadvantage others by taking up arable land with a mansion and building illegally in a way that a poorer man would not.
If he's really taking up arable land, then his income will drop and the price of farm goods rise as the supply of arable land decreases. So if a lot of farmers use their land for something else, the price of farm goods will rise a noticeable amount. This means farmers will have to give up more potential income to build more houses on their land, thus compelling some farmers to get rid of extraneous buildings and use the land for farming again. In short, the use or not of arable land will balance itself out fine.
As for being rich - well those who work hard and are successful are able to do more than poor people. It's the reward for being successful.
But a poor person should still have the right to build as they see fit on their land, even if it's just a small shack instead of a large house.
CR
Right. It's not about whether abolishing zoning laws, or whether the man broke the law or if he intended to break the law.
It's how far should the zoning laws go. Should they be able to distinguish between building one house and building 200 houses on your land?
You are correct that lack of zoning laws do not mean you can just build things that are harmful to your neighbors. That is prevented by nuisance laws. My response to that is simply to quote SCOTUS, as they explained the situation far better than I ever could:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926).
As for Houston, the exception does not invalidate the rule. Just because one place operates effectively without zoning laws does not mean zoning laws are not effective in other places.
I'm not going to debate whether this particular person should have to have his house torn down. It's a beautiful looking building and it seems like this is a situation where strict enforcement of the law is doing more harm than good. The bit you quoted was me responding to your allegation that he "didn't set out to break the law." I disagree and believe he did set out to break the law. I'm not interested in arguing anything beyond that with respect to this specific case. My debate is with the assertion that zoning laws in general are bad. I disagree with such a statement, but I do not remotely claim that all zoning laws are good nor that this specific case is an example of good zoning laws.Quote:
Taking up arable land? Is the land his or not? Or is it part of some giant community supply?
If he's really taking up arable land, then his income will drop and the price of farm goods rise as the supply of arable land decreases. So if a lot of farmers use their land for something else, the price of farm goods will rise a noticeable amount. This means farmers will have to give up more potential income to build more houses on their land, thus compelling some farmers to get rid of extraneous buildings and use the land for farming again. In short, the use or not of arable land will balance itself out fine.
As for being rich - well those who work hard and are successful are able to do more than poor people. It's the reward for being successful.
But a poor person should still have the right to build as they see fit on their land, even if it's just a small shack instead of a large house.
CR
This is not about stopping people building tanneries. This is about preventing urban sprawl. If this law didn't exist, there'd be no stopping those developers from building their 200. Even if the law did try to distinguish between individuals and developers the value of property near London is such that for every developer you stopped you'd have 200 individuals wanting to build.Quote:
Planning law doesn't distinguish between one man building a house and developers building 200 houses and everyone has to abide by the same rules.
This man seems to think that these laws don't apply to him because he has a lot of money.
The analogy with the car being scrapped is flawed. The law is against speeding, not against manufacturing cars. Here the law is against building, not buying.
While I agree that the end result seems to be drastic in this case (demolishing the home), I have to agree with the ruling overall. As far as zoning laws being tyrannical, I wonder how any of us would feel if we had a neighbor who proposed to erect a massive warehouse right next to our homes, 5 stories high and built right to the extreme edges of the property line? Probably we'd be glad we could simply point out to the idiot that this is against the law...
As long as you have neighbors, you'll have to be nice, like in Goofballs rather extreme example.
Any structure built in violation of building permits should be wrecked instantly, and the builder should be slapped. A fine won't do, that would allow people to do like this idiot and then simply pay their way out of trouble. No, the only way to combat this is to wreck the offenders on sight.
CR noted an interesting thing; that this regulation reduces property value. Well, the same would apply without them, except that you would be left at the whims of neighbors you cannot influence instead of a democratically controlled city council(or whatever elected government body is in control). You bought a house and paid an extra 100k because it has easy access to a beach? Nope, sorry, your neighbor decided to build a boathouse there and shut you out, might as well have burned that extra 100k.
I definitely know which system I prefer.
So much outrage for nothing. Tear down his building already.
Guy tried to get by the law, and he now has to face the consequences. He probably could have gotten away with it through deliberation and talking before building the house, but he instead decided to sneakily create a fait accompli and cry when people notice it. What a sore loser.
It's a stupid law, so he should obey to every little thing these idiots by default at town hall think up. It's his own ground, if the robbernment can't find any significant reasons such as a pipeline or power-cord being in danger or something like that, this is just abuse that only serves the needs of a very boring person with a rapist-mentality and a law.
It is funny that the legions of the right step-in to protect the rich man who broke the laugh. But they are first to condemn a man for stealing a loaf of bread because he is starving.
In my opinion he really does. What service does he gets for his taxes over that specific piece of land, what is he paying for, and why don't people have to right to build something on a piece of land they bought. The man build a damn house, the people that have a problem with it will look at it only once, but most likely they will never look at it, not at all, what is their problem except looking for one.
"It is funny that the legions of the right step-in to protect the rich man who broke the laugh. But they are first to condemn a man for stealing a loaf of bread because he is starving."
Stop growing fat on leftist hobby's and there is enough for everyone, not everybody can have a private chaufeur in that setup though, it rains on the just and unjust alike.
There is recently a case where a rich person (a footballer I believe) wanted a house in greenbelt land.
So we went to the Architect and got in contact with the planners. Together they decided what would be allowed - as apparently there are some types of dwelling that are allowed on the Greenbelt.
Although not to my taste, the end result appears rather like a mound as most of the house is under a layer or turf and is a single level dwelling.
Another solution is to get a plot with planning permission and then either replace or alter to one's tastes - you can even get cellars to houses that have been built if you want!!
The person in this case is clearly getting his own way, and feels that rules do not apply to him. Instead of engaging and finding a solution he went off and broke the law. The higher they are, the harder they fall.
~:smoking:
His neighbors cares. So, the state have made regulations and laws to protect their rights.
The belief that nobody should have a say about what you do with your property is the same logic a 5-year old kid uses when he waves his arms in the air around his brother screaming "I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you!!"