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By C. TIMOTHY LINDSTROM
There is a growing trend in this country to scorn the regulation of private property and exalt the exploitation of land by private interests in the name of “private property rights.” The property rights litany is heard around the nation and with increasing frequency here in Virginia, perhaps as a corollary to our increasing disenchantment with all things governmental. However, it obscures a very old tradition of virtually every civilized society, including our own: all private property is held subject to tiie condition that it not be used in a manner harmful to individuals or to society.
The fact is that property rights are defined by society because it is the very structure of society that makes private property possible. None of us could defend our possessions without the help of our neighbors. We often forget that, in the best sense, government is all of us acting collectively. It is in this context that claims to property “rights” must be evaluated.
In this nation we are fortunate that most public decisions about how land will be used are made by people who literally are our neighbors: the local citizens who make up our city councils and boards of supervisors. We are also fortunate that when the majority who established our government did so they included in the Constitution special guarantees for individuals against excessive inter
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