🚀 go-pugleaf

henryj@nina.pagesz.net (George Conklin) wrote:

>In article <781lpn$p93$3@news1-alterdial.uu.net>,  <aloe@rev.net> wrote:
>>henryj@nina.pagesz.net (George Conklin) wrote:
>>
>>>   Planners limit land use and drive up prices.  That is
>>>their main occupation.
>>
>>One purpose of zoning is to keep the value of real estate at an
>>adequate level to pay enough taxes to provide services to it. If a
>>building stands vacant, its value drops. The owner files tax
>>certiorari to reflect the reduced value. The tax revenue falls below
>>the cost of services. Empty buildings still demand police patrols and
>>snow plowing. They can be a drain on the rest of the community,
>>increasing taxes for everyone else. In some cases, they contribute to
>>crime.
>>
>>--Buster <http://www.rev.net/~aloe/geography>

>   Your doctrine is interesting:  if a building was ever
>used for anything, it has a right to exist forever.  

I haven't followed that in theory or practice. The municipality I
worked for rezoned a vacant restaurant to a residential category. The
building could never open as a restaurant again. (It had been out of
business for about two years.)

The purpose of the zoning is not just to keep the businesses viable,
but to keep existing business districts viable.

--Buster <http://www.rev.net/~aloe/geography>