Restrictive Zoning

Samuel R. Staley at the Reason Foundation writes about the relationship between zoning and high home prices. Apparently, these zoning laws not only inflate cost but are so antiquated that even the Amish are being held back from thinking outside the box.

Zoning laws are so arcane, even the Amish are trying to get the government to eliminate or modernize them. Amish farmers in a small Ohio town are confronting the declining profitability of their small, family-run farms. Instead of asking for handouts or taxpayer subsidies, the Amish want to adapt to the market by opening woodworking shops and other small businesses as they shift away from agriculture. Rather than commute into the nearest big city (the Amish do not drive), they want to start up new businesses on their farms.

One would think these aspirations would be welcome in an era of smart growth, where professional planners and environmentalists are scrambling for ways to get people out of their cars and preserve open space. But the home-based businesses the Amish want to start—carpentry, custom cabinet making—don't fit the tidy little boxes of land uses allowed in the local zoning code. Local zoning laws say home-based businesses can't be bigger than 1,000 square feet.

OK. I get it! But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The baby being Urban Planners, of course.