Interesting thread. I always suspected zoning also has something to do with land development. What if somebody bought the Willis land and wanted to build condos for the disadvantaged? His land, his right to do so?
The purpose of zoning is to control land development.
There's an area about 20 miles from where this is but in Blaine County, home of the Sun Valley liberals. It's ranch land and the county wants to keep it that way for scenic reasons. Then the idiocy starts. Only a Democrat could come up with this one. They don't want it subdivided or developed so they passed an ordinance to limit subdivisions to 20 acre or larger plots. Then, to increase tax revenues, they appraised the farm land as if it was subdivided into house sized plots, even though it wasn't subdivided at all. They really tried to screw the ranchers on taxes. It went to court and their zoning plan was thrown out. It was an outrageous deal to start with.
