No Freedom without Regulation by Joseph William Singer

Author:Joseph William Singer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780300211672
Publisher: Yale University Press

Property and the Golden Rule

We do not live alone; we have neighbors. This is an obvious fact, but it is one that we sometimes forget when we think about property. For example, we often chafe at zoning laws that limit what we can do on our own land. When my family added a dining room onto our house, we not only needed to get a building permit but had to comply with zoning regulations that limited how large our new room could be. In one sense, that meant that our property rights were limited. But why was that law in effect? The law required us to keep a certain percentage of our land permeable to rain in order to avoid the flooding that would happen if the land were completely covered up by construction or asphalt. It also ensured sufficient setbacks from the borders so that the neighbors would have fresh air and be able to walk around their homes without intruding onto adjacent property. The law that limited us was intended to ensure that we did not encroach on our neighbors’ quiet enjoyment of their property or build in a way that put their homes at risk. Our freedom of action was limited to protect their security. And the converse is also true; their freedom of action was limited to protect our security.

It is surprisingly easy to forget that property rights are not merely individual entitlements but a system that requires the rights of each to be compatible with the rights of others. Limits on property uses designed to protect the property rights of neighbors are not oppressive interferences with the rights of owners; they are part of what it means to have a private property system in a free and democratic society that grants each person the same basic rights enjoyed by others. A democracy holds that each person is “created equal,” and that means we cannot define property rights for some in a way that allows them to destroy the property rights of others. While zoning laws limit what you can do with your property, they also protect your property rights by limiting what your neighbors can do.

Some years ago, Oregon passed a referendum that selectively deregulated property in a manner that might restrict some houses but not others on the same street. Those who voted for Measure 37 thought it would protect their property rights by not allowing any new land use restrictions to be imposed without compensation. Those who voted for the measure were imagining the benefits of being free from zoning restrictions; they thought its passage would let them develop their property or sell it to a builder for a profit. What they did not realize was that the law gave their neighbors similar rights and that it made some owners subject to regulations that other owners on the same street were not obligated to follow. When only some neighbors were freed from regulations, that meant that a house in a single-family-home neighborhood might suddenly find a tall apartment building being constructed next door, or possibly a gas station.

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