In my last piece, we looked at the commission’s stated position that people who don’t want zoning have an “outdated ideology” and are “shortsighted.” (source) We looked at reasons that a person might agree with implementing zoning in Bourbon County, and also some reasons why someone might disagree.  There are rational reasons for both sides. Some, if not most, of the people I know who oppose zoning do so on the grounds of core principles and a long view of the different viewpoints and quality of leadership that they expect to cycle through the commissioner seats over the coming years.

Months before George Washington was elected President for the first time, Jefferson wrote, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground.” He was commenting on the need for limits to the government’s power—especially in how long someone could stay President. While he agreed that the presumed President, George Washington, would make a good leader, he felt that our system of government should be designed to work well with a good President, but also work with a bad one that we may not yet anticipate. Jefferson felt that the amount of authority given to the government becomes the starting point from which it will continue to “gain ground” and the way to preserve liberty is to make sure you don’t give the government more control when you had a good leader than what you’d want if you happen to get a bad one.

Many people who oppose zoning share a similar core principle that leads them to approach any growth of government with the same concerns as Jefferson.  The establishment of a framework where landowners must obtain permission from the commissioners to use their land in ways that are otherwise lawful is a long-term concern. Even if they have full faith and trust in the current commissioners, looking to the future means realizing that other commissioners will come, just as Jefferson recognized about the Presidency.

Zoning enables the county to designate specific land uses that require commissioner approval.  If you have a core principle that believes that the county commissioners today and in the future are going to make these approvals in your best interest, then zoning is a great way to make sure that if your neighbor has to get permission from the commissioners in order to make sure their use is more in keeping with what you will find acceptable. (According to Johnathan Eden Commissioner Beerbower has said a shooting range would require this permission.)

On the other hand, some people have a core principle that reflects Jefferson’s concerns.  Even if they would like to see their neighbors have to ask the commissioners for permission for everything the current commissioners propose today, they recognize the natural tendency of government to “gain ground” and believe that the potential inconvenience of their neighbor using their land as they see fit is a much lower risk than the cumulative ordinances that will be enacted by current and future commissioners if given the authority provided by zoning.

It is easy to see why people might rationally support zoning. It is equally easy to see why they might rationally be opposed to this. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the current commissioners are Washington-level leaders and no one in the entire county has any concerns that they would make any decision that isn’t in the best interest of the county as a whole. Jefferson tells us the authority that we give to our government should be constrained in a way that handles the worst leadership we can imagine, along with the best. Whether you support zoning or not, you should be wary of political rhetoric that dismisses the core principles that embody Jefferson’s concerns as “outdated ideology” and labels those who hold these principles as “shortsighted.”

Mark Shead

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