Residential Design Standards Revisiting Forsyth County Commission

Here we go again, another pitch for our Forsyth County Commission to mandate blanket residential design standards on all new rezoning countywide.  Please understand, nobody wants nice neighborhoods more than I do.  Nobody wants to maintain property values in Forsyth County more than I do.  And nobody wants to maintain the character of Forsyth County more than I do, as a county resident for over 34 years.

And at the same time, no one wants to hold government to its proper, constitutional authority more than I do.  That our government, at all levels, has overstepped its authorities is largely why America is in the shape it’s in today.   The push for county government to dictate what new homes must look like, beyond protecting the safety of inhabitants, and beyond generally protecting values of neighboring property, is not founded on any legitimate authorities for American government.  While nothing can or should stop our county commission from negotiating with developers to achieve certain architecturally or aesthetically-minded purposes, on a case-by-case basis, that same body may not rightfully dictate a set of blanket standards and apply them throughout the entire county.  I will explain why.

When a property owner desires to upgrade the zoning of a parcel under his ownership and control, the Forsyth County Commission has every right and reason to scrutinize that zoning application to protect the interests of nearby property owners.  And ultimately, the county commission may deny a zoning upgrade for any number of reasons, or maybe no reason at all.  And it is that justified authority, short of using it coercively, that also creates a bargaining position from which to negotiate a custom set of conditions under which a zoning upgrade might be approved.  A property owner seeking a zoning upgrade would be under no compulsion to agree to conditions the commission might propose.  And if the parties to a negotiation cannot agree, the property owner will have lost nothing.  All property rights will have been preserved, leaving no justifiably-aggrieved parties.  And that is how these matters have always been settled, with voluntary agreements and meetings of minds.

But now, rather than using legitimate powers to negotiate these matters, the Forsyth County Commission is unwisely considering a blanket set of mandated architectural standards to be attached to all residential zoning upgrades, regardless of circumstances, regardless whether those standards make marketing sense for those at risk, or whether that body even has constitutional authority. 

I bring the US Constitution into this discussion because the 5th Amendment is clear in its protection of private property rights.  It is not a subtle point to remind the commission that property ownership means property control.  And as long as that control does not adversely affect the general property rights of others, or the health and safety of the public, then the government has no role, no authority to extend its powers to effectively prescribe what an owner might do with his property.  And that amendment is clear, requiring that were the government to try, it must go to court. 

And so when a county commission acts to blanketly limit or prescribe the possible future uses for all potential residential property under an assumed jurisdiction, responding to no particular zoning requests by individual property owners, and certainly “without just compensation,” as the Constitution requires, that body wrongfully seizes control of property from its rightful owners, and takes if for the government.  The very moment an ordinance such as the Forsyth County Commission is considering goes into effect, the full range of property rights and related property values the US Constitution is designed to protect, diminishes.  Instantly, due to no action by property owners all over Forsyth County, the values of their properties would decrease.  That is because the cost of complying with those new requirements would be factored into any purchase offers those owners might consider, with no negotiation, no appeal to the responsible governing agency even available.

And I keep hearing that I’m wrong because these kinds of regulations are being installed in other jurisdictions without challenge.  Well, who’s going to challenge them?  I may sit here at my computer and spell out the principles at work.  I may make the winning arguments against blanket residential design standards.  But am I going to initiate a federal court case here to stop our county commission from wrongfully seizing the rights of property owners all over in Forsyth County?  No, I’m not.  Well, what about all those property owners, are they going to take a case to the US Supreme Court?  Likely not. The cost of doing so could easily overwhelm the proceeds they might receive from the sale of their properties.  So if these standards go into effect, even though they are born of authorities the Forsyth County Commission does not possess, chances are great that no one will challenge them.  And what we will have is one more example of liberal, big government policies gone amuck, right here in conservative Forsyth County. 

This initiative to apply blanket residential design standards to all properties, with no action, no appeal and no agreement by property owners, is just one more liberal, big government idea, born out of the mindset that government must step in anytime anyone has a concern about anything.  There are times when government should stay out of things.  This is one of them.

Now which of our Forsyth County Commissioners ran a campaign advocating liberal, big-government policies?  If this ordinance goes through, expect a raft of conservative candidates to notice.