Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Triumph for LiberTEA

Yesterday the City of Racine's Landmarks Commission unanimously voted to "receive and file" (or kill, in other words) the proposed historic homes ordinance which would have compelled certain south side homeowners to obtain permission from the commission before beginning certain renovations and home maintainance projects. The vote is a victory for home owners and property rights advocates. LiberTEA Racine, along with numerous outspoken property owners in the affected area deserve credit for defeating this intrusive, unnecessary government power grab.

So while a pat on the back is deserved, we must remain vigilant. All or nearly all of the commission members suggested that a key problem was their poor communication, suggesting to me at least that they perceived the problem as a commuication problem rather than a substance problem. When given the opportunity to speak I suggested that the people opposed to the ordinance understood quiet well what the proposal was all about, that there was no communication problem but rather there was a clear and obvious rejection of the merits of their proposal. So I suspect that some version of this ordinance will be back. I wil keep you posted.

2 comments:

George Meyers said...

You are spot on in your observation, Denis. Particularly the comment regarding “they will be back.”
I am concerned about Eric Marcus’ comment that people are already regulated in the ownership of their property through zoning laws. This was a covert justification for more regulations. So look for more regulations. They will be back.
The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance.

Uptowner said...

It seemed to me that Eric didn't know of any place that the Govt. "couldn't" regulate? Basically we do some therefore we can do what ever.