Zoning Regulations vs. Property Rights

It is the goal of the Cady Liberty Caucus to preserve our natural rights to Life, Liberty, and Property for all landowners and residents here in Cady, Wisconsin. We do this because if the rights of any one of us are lost, they are lost for all of us.

Today, Cady is one of the several towns in the state of Wisconsin that are still free from zoning regulations. General zoning is optional in Wisconsin and is not required by state law. It never has been.

Right now, the Cady town government is working to implement zoning in Cady this summer. They assume that if you do not protest against it, that you fully approve of it. The zoning code that they are receiving from the Plan Commission will require existing Major Home Businesses in Cady to go through the Conditional Use Permitting process, and be subjected to annual inspections. There will be limitations on "animal units per acre", no more than 2 garage sales per year, and limitations on the number of days that you can have an RV/Camper parked on your property, just to name a few.

I have argued since 2012 that the adoption of a zoning ordinance in the Town of Cady will result a significant loss of property rights, which will be surrendered to the Town Board. The Town Board has adamantly claimed that "no one is taking away your property rights", while they forge ahead in their efforts to implement town zoning. This statement is patently and provably false. Evidently, the Town Board doesn't really understand what "rights" are and how they are violently assailed by governments through zoning regulations. 

In the absence of local zoning regulations, a landowner can generally use their land as they wish on their own property without any serious concern that the activity is either forbidden or requiring the express, written permission of the town government. All uses are considered to be permissible as long as they don't harm the surrounding properties or people nearby. You have a natural, unalienable "right" to use your property as you wish (the pursuit of happiness), without government interference. In fact, government has a duty to secure this right, as clearly stated in our Declaration of Independence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed... (emphasis mine)

What a general zoning ordinance does is reverse this relationship. It divides the land up into "zones", each of which has a list of "permitted" uses. These limited uses are now deemed a "property right", issued by the governing authorities, and all other uses are subject to review and approval based on certain specific conditions being met by the landowner. These conditional uses are legally no longer considered a "right" of the property owner, but are conditional "privileges" granted (or rescinded) by the governing authorities.

In Rainbow Springs Golf Co., Inc. v. Town of Mukwonago, 2005 WI App 163, 284 Wis. 2d 519, 702 N.W.2d 40, the court decided that a "Conditional Use Permit is NOT" a "property right", but rather a "zoning tool" of the municipality, and, therefore, it may be taken away by without any compensation to the landowner.

These "Conditional Uses" that the municipality is usually willing to allow if all of the necessary conditions are met, are also expressly listed in the zoning code. Any other uses that you can ever imagine that are not specifically listed as either a "permitted" or "conditional" use are considered "forbidden" by the governing authority and cannot legally be engaged in whatsoever without actually going through the process of changing the zoning code to have it added as a permitted or conditional use.

Therefore, under zoning, you no longer have the "right" to decide for yourself how your property should best be used to suit you or even your neighborhood. That right has been "appropriated" by the local governing authorities, with or without your consent. These zoning codes are NOT put to a vote by the people, but to a vote by the Town Board only. These three people will decide whether you retain the natural right to decide how to use your property, or whether they will now take that right for themselves. If that is not "taking away your property rights", I'm hard pressed to imagine what is.

There is a Town Board meeting on Monday, June 4, at 7:30PM where they intend to "discuss and possibly act on the plan commission update", with an opportunity for public comments at the beginning of the meeting. If you cherish your right to use your property to run a business, have garage sales, manage animals, or just to fulfill you dreams, then now would be the time to stand up and say so, or the Town Board will assume that you would rather surrender to them. If only a few of us are willing to stand up for the rights of the whole town, the chances of success are slim. However, if enough of us stand up and let the Town Board know that we will not surrender our rights so easily, perhaps Cady can continue to remain free.