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Very few private decisions to develop land for residential, commercial or industrial use would make financial sense without the addition of these publicly provided ingredients. Because private development decisions trigger these substantial public subsidies, the public is, in a very practical way, a partner in every private development decision. It is only fair that the public should have a say in the decision.
Our economy depends upon the decision making and risk taking of private property owners. Therefore the public must be very careful not to interfere so unpredictably or excessively in private investment decisions that it discourages the continuation of private investment activity. However, for all of the reasons described, the public has a significant, appropriate, and indispensable role in decisions about the use of private property which the over zealous assertion of private property rights threatens to obscure. As a people we depend upon public regulations to protect our heritage, our quality of life, and the future of our children. It is with these “public property rights” that the freedom of the individual to use private property must be balanced.
(C. Timothy Lindstrom is lecturer in zoning and planning law at the U.Va. School of Architecture. He is also staff attorney for the Piedmont Environmental Council.— Ed.)
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