_{Mr. Siegan is the author of Land Use Without Zoning and many articles on the subject. He practiced law for 20 years in Chicago before moving in 1973 to La Jolla, California where he is Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego Law School.}

_{Voters in Jefferson County, Missouri (pop. 110,000) have twice rejected zoning. In 1970, 56% voted to terminate it and 58% voted in 1974 against establishing county zoning. I met some of these antizoners recently.}

_{One man told me he began his campaign shortly after discharge from the army. He purchased about an acre of land in a rural area to build a home, but was denied a building permit because the parcel was too small to qualify under the zoning ordinance. He was outraged since it was inconceivable to him that anyone could possibly have been harmed by his proposed structure.}

_{When my learned friends hear this story, they generally react with a polite tolerance, a kind of inward yawn : so what else is new? This attitude, regrettably, forecloses discussion and feeds on itself. We seem to have forgotten that basic liberties are at stake.}

_{Most people I meet appear to take it for granted that persons who own land have no inherent rights to do anything with it except what government will allow. That notion, however, is totally inconsistent with the ideals of a free society in which people should be able to do as they please unless their acts clearly harm or interfere with the liberties of others.}

_{That is the nature of freedom. The exercise of freedom is meaningful only when it involves unpopular actions or expressions. Obviously there is never a problem in engaging in conduct everyone approves. But this infrequently occurs inasmuch as people differ greatly in interests and desires. In a free society, consequently, freedom should only be limited when its exercise actually diminishes someone else’s freedom ; surely not when it is merely contrary to the will of a majority.}

_{By that standard, freedom in the use of property has vanished in most of this country since those who control zoning do not have to justify it on any such grounds. In fact, there is little restraint on the zoners ; often they can do as they please.}

_{Contrast this with treatment of the press. Unless they libel someone, that is, inflict serious and measurable damages, publishers are largely free of controls. Had the same individuals chosen a business involving use and development of property, their freedom would have been severely curtailed. There is plainly a different standard operative in the distribution of freedoms. Yet liberty, we are told, is not supposed to be divisible.}

_{Our social order has been in flux in recent years as more people who claim they have been denied them,obtain "equal" rights. Personal freedom has been a critical issue of our times. Nevertheless, a reverse course has been followed on the ownership of property. Rights of property owners have been steadily eroding due to greatly escalating zoning restrictions.}

_{Probably the strongest support for property rights comes from the grass-roots. One can predict that in referendums affecting property interests such as those on zoning, urban renewal or environmental restrictions, a majority of average and moderate income people are likely to vote against the position that restricts private property. While much of this can be explained on the basis of the harm such laws cause poorer people, these actions also stem from a belief in the right of the individual to own and use property.}

_{This feeling differs substantially from that held by some large developers who tend to view zoning as a game of politics and expediency. Their attitude reflects the pragmatic wisdom of our times that puts property rights on the block. Many small property owners live in a less sophisticated world, and for them zoning is anything but a game ; it is more a tyranny of government.}

_{A definition of tyranny found in the dictionary is "arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power."}

_{There is no more apt description of what occurs under zoning, where the rules are set and reset at the will or whim of the local council. When the zoners remove hundreds or thousands of dollars of value from property, the effect is comparable to a fine imposed against the owners in that amount – except the latter have committed absolutely no offense.}

_{However you refer to it, there is something terribly wrong when persons have to appear before local officials and plead for the opportunity to use their property as they deem best. It is a demeaning procedure. The owner must carefully consider how to speak, act, look, dress and whom to hire. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, but there is too much at stake for most to risk it.}

_{These officials are intended to be servants, not masters of people. Election or appointment to an office having zoning authority carries with it awesome power over other human beings. It has no place in a free society.}