Do you have zoning?
“This farm has been in our family for five generations, and I’m not about to have some fast-talking, highly paid planning expert tell me what I’m going to do with my land, and what I can use it for! This is the U.S.A. and not Russia, and all of us here at the meeting tonight are going to fight tooth and nail against this fancy zoning ordinance!”
This is a typical statement resounding in every grange hall, fire house and town hall throughout rural America. It is this type of opposition and thinking that local legislative boards, conscious of the importance of zoning, are confronted with in their efforts to pass a reasonable amount of zoning regulations.
Progress is being made, but it is most difficult and very slow. Long-established residents of country areas are adopting a self-discipline type of zoning regulated only by their conscience and good judgment.
Don’t expect to find in rural areas sophisticated zoning, as you know it in and around metropolitan areas. The lack of zoning and strict land-use regulations should be of great concern to you in buying rural property.
Most people leaving the city outline in great detail the type of environment they are seeking. In the majority of cases it becomes virtually impossible to fulfill the requirements without owning all the land in front, side, rear and across the road from the selected property. The properties that do offer this type of protection are becoming extinct and extremely expensive.
The next step, of course, is compromise. The obvious deterrents or minus signs in the immediate vicinity will be apparent and not worthy of space here. It is important your attention be called to environmental conditions that you normally would not be aware of which could have a serious effect upon your comfort, peace and the future value of your investment.
Physical inspection and inquiry should be made about the existence of nearby sanitary land fills (sophisticated garbage disposal areas), sewage depots, refuse dumps, junk yards, car depots, quarries in blasting operations, and the like. The presence of these things presents innumerable problems, even though they are located at a distance of a quarter of a mile away. Active recreational centers, racetracks, amusement parks attract hordes of people, traffic and noise.
Mobile-home courts that are not subject to strict health and other essential regulations present many problems. Poorly managed dairy, poultry, horse and swine farms are great subjects for a Currier and Ives type print, but unbearable as neighbors on a hot summer day with a wind from the south! Factories, large or small, or farm processing mills are great for the local economy, but not for your ulcers. Local town or village public works garages serve their purpose well, except when the trucks start rolling past your bedroom window at four o’clock on a summer morning. Railroad tracks are great for trains, and are also sometimes found just behind that beautiful grove of pine trees just below your pre-Revolutionary home. “Don’t be concerned about that track,” the owner says. “Only one train goes by every third Tuesday, provided it isn’t raining.” Memo to yourself. Check the weather bureau and also the railroad schedule.
I have called your attention to some of the more common unknown happenings where zoning is a dirty word. The list could be endless, but 1 hope it has made you aware of the fact that you should spend a substantial amount of time investigating the surrounding countryside before you make any firm commitments. Don’t hesitate to talk to everyone you meet in the country. They all have a warehouse of information that is available even without request.
You will find in the majority of rural areas today good regulations and protection against the major problems, such as junk yards, but progress is slow. Maybe you can give the protectors a helping hand.