Property rights and wrongs?

By: Orange News Staff | Orange County Review
Published: January 18, 2012

Property rights are the underpinning of most local issues. People want to do what they want to do with their land or their neighbors don't want them to do what they want with their land. Sometimes, a property owner may not want to do anything with their land, but they can’t because of how their neighbor uses his or her land. And on and on and on...
Whatever any of us does on our land affects our neighbors one way or the other. So when we think of property rights, we can’t simply think of what we want to do with our land. It’s not that simple. No property exists in a vacuum.
In this week’s issue, we have a number of stories and items that relate to property rights--from the possible condemnation of land for public purposes, to a zoning dispute between a business and its neighbors, to the potential high-impact use of property and the establishment of conservation easements.
We’re not advocating any particular side on any of these stories or issues, except to remind property owners and neighbors that the nature of a community is that we all contribute in some way to the common good.
That contribution may come in the form of taxes or stewardship. It may be volunteerism, activism or leadership. All are valuable and essential components to effective, vibrant communities. We all like our peace and quiet, but we need businesses that provide services and contribute tax dollars to our economy. Neither is more right nor wrong. Both are essential.
When we look at the land use issues in this week’s paper, we can see the viewpoint of the property owners and the neighbors. We try to weigh the benefits of the public good against the adverse impacts.
Ultimately, we’re struck by the notion that reasonable compromise is the effective and logical solution to protect everyone’s property rights.
Owning land is the very foundation of the American dream and protecting it is vital to our pursuit of that dream. Among so many disparate dreams though, we must all recognize that to achieve ours, we may also have to help our neighbors achieve theirs.

Property rights and wrongs?

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