>> Zoning has been around for a long time... You can’t just split off what you want and sell it or give it away
Well, the last part of what you say is certainly true!
And xoning has been around a long time. It used to be local folks getting together and forming realistic regs to protect each other.
Now it’s self-important all-wise elite bureaucratic rubes going off to college to learn “city planning”. There is one thing and ONLY one thing in mind when they restrict development...
HOW TO MAXIMIZE TAX BASE. PERIOD. SCREW THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE RESIDENTS!!!!
Everyone seems to hate zoning— until the porn shop,junk yard or convenience store opens up next door, then people want protection. I represent a few small towns, and I cannot tell you how many times crowds of people have come out to squawk about zoning regulations that help them preserve the value and quiet enjoyment of their own property. People say that everyone should be able to use their land for whatever they want, but when a landowner wants to sell to a hog farmer, somehow the neighboring residents don’t feel as charitable. For of us fortunate enough to live on multi-acre parcels, or in residential developments with restrictive covenants the problems don’t seem to exist. For those of lesser means (most people), the possibility that a totally inappropriate and unwanted use may open up next door is a frightening threat to what is their greatest single lifetime investment.
Zoning creates a certain level of predictability and order, but yes, at the cost of some freedom of use of the land. Done right, I believe it is a fair tradeoff.