Surging population growth along the Great Lakes has increased the amount of polluted runoff coming from the land. Yet as local governments attempt to control that growth, Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Patty Cantrell tells us some developers are fighting back:
Transcript
Surging population growth along the Great Lakes has increased the amount
of pollution runoff from land. Yet as local governments attempt to
control that growth, commentator Patty Cantrell tells us,
some developers are fighting back.
Most people know better than to play loud music all night. But there’s
always somebody who thinks their right to party is greater than their
neighbor’s right to peace and quiet.
The same is true when it comes to land. There always seems to be some
big investor who thinks building a subdivision on top of a wetland is a
great idea. People who live down the road, of course, know the water
that the wetland used to absorb has to go somewhere. Most likely their
basements, or down storm-water drains. More pavement means more
pollution in rivers and lakes because asphalt doesn’t soak up water.
These kinds of environmental costs are why thousands of communities
have zoning rules for managing growth. These rules protect against
storm-water flooding, traffic congestion, disappearing green spaces
and other effects of sprawl.
But local land use rules don’t sit well with many real estate
speculators. Lately, developers have been trying to get around zoning
ordinances by suing local governments over what they see as
restrictions on their profit expectations. Land use limits, they claim,
amount to an unconstitutional taking of their private property by
government.
The courts, in turn, have largely told these land profiteers to go home
and grow up. But like a kid who doesn’t like Mom’s answer and tries an
end-run with Dad, the nation’s development lobby is now working over
Congress. And Congress may soon give speculators the privilege they
want: A free ticket to federal court to decide local zoning disputes.
This fall, the Senate will consider the Private Property Rights
Implementation Act, which has already passed the House. If approved,
this bill will make it more difficult and more expensive for
communities to defend their zoning rights. The Act would allow
developers to skip local planning and zoning appeals, bypass state
judges, and take their complaints straight to high-cost federal courts.
As a result, many communities will simply give up and give in to mega
mall developers rather than go bankrupt fighting legions of company
lawyers.
The chief lobbyist for the National Home Builders’ Association put it
best when he said, the Act would, QUOTE, “be a hammer to the head” of
local officials. Great Lakes residents need to ask their senators just
who is taking whom in this end-run around the public.