Quote Originally Posted by Kralizec View Post
I couldn't agree more.
Quote Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat View Post
Zoning laws are the difference between the pleasant - lovely in places - British landscape, and Las Vegas. Or between Switzerland and third world urban sprawl.


Even if I wouldn't be in favour of zoning laws, I'd still have little sympathy for this man, who sought to break the law by sneakily trying to build a 'fait accompli', and who is now trying to have the law suit him by shedding crocodile tears that they should be so cruel as to want a finished house torn down. This is not a matter of 'pity, he should've thought of this before'. This is a case of 'sorry mate, you knew the law all along, hence the covertness, but sneakyness doesn't create more law especially for you'.
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.