» Articles from November 2006
Widewaters: Questions and Answers
The largest commercial development ever proposed for our region is on the verge of slipping through the cracks of a comprehensive planning review typically required under state law.
The 565,000-square-foot retail center, slated for a 130-acre site on Route 9 in Greenport, could double traffic congestion and inflict heavy financial damage on town taxpayers and area businesses, according to many studies on the effects of large retail developments in rural areas. With little public concern raised to date, the Greenport Town Planning Board is nearing the end of its preliminary review of the project with no apparent interest in subjecting it to more thorough questioning, analysis and debate. Read more
Agricultural Zoning
Further evidence that 25-50 acre zoning, so often viewed as “restrictive” or “confiscatory,” does not reduce real estate values for land owners who sell their property. Courtesy of Washington County, NY, member Tracy Frisch.
Florida’s Two-Tiered Property Tax
Should second-home owners subsidize the rest of our property taxes? As Albany looks to reform our tax system, they’ll be looking at this legacy of two-tiered taxation in Florida. From the Wall Street Journal, via Pine Plains resident Jane Waters.
Property Tax Reform
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Property Rights and Wrongs
The debate over zoning, as complex as it is controversial, seems to boil down to two fundamental and closely related questions: 1) Do land use laws deprive individual property owners of their civic rights; and 2) Does more restrictive zoning, as called for by codes now under review in most of our towns, reduce the economic value of the affected properties?
Click on the links that follow to read recent opinions penned on each question.
The first is an editorial by Parry Teasdale, Editor of the Columbia County Independent, affirming the view that “zoning embodies the bedrock principles of local democracy,” and promoting stiff penalties for land owners who put their personal desires above the community’s right to enact local laws.
The second, a letter I sent to the Independent, challenges the view that zoning reduces property values and offers a few basic economic principles that suggest restrictions on development often have just the opposite effect. The letter represents a taste of much more extensive research we are conducting and compiling on the economic impact of land use restrictions.