A proposed change in use by a specific business, nonprofit or
organization would also be voted on by the townspeople as would any
proposed new use for such a green enterprise zone. The goal is to
recognize development patterns that actually exist in the town and
allow "green" businesses to grow.
Therein lies the rub, or one of them. Zoning cannot be written to allow
only a certain type of business (green) to grow while discriminating
against "non-green" businesses. That violates the constitutional
provision of equal protection under the law.
Having voters in a town determine what businesses grow and how sounds
like a great idea, but it fails to protect the property rights of those
who may want to build a dog food factory or some other
not-quite-so-green business.
To suggest that having townspeople vote on individual projects as a way
of giving "the people" more control misses an important principle that
was the subject of much deliberation by our founding fathers: tyranny
of the majority. Our system of government was designed to make sure
that the majority's interests are not so far above the minority's
interests as to be tyrannical. A majority may have interests or desires
that fail to protect the rights of all and/or the interests of the
entire community.
Having people vote on projects disempowers legally created and
appointed boards and disempowers legally creating and adopted zoning.
It replaces objective and fair review of a project's merits with
subjective criteria as to whether the townspeople like it or not. There
is no way to fairly administer such a proposal as it will always be
subjective.
It is reasonable to look at the process by which projects are reviewed
and it is reasonable to look at the way the planning commission writes
and rewrites zoning.
It is reasonable to look at the town's "good businesses" and want to
encourage their success, but it is unreasonable to create zones where
anything-perceived-as-green-at-the-time-goes-if-a-majority-of-voters-
agree-it-is-a-good-business.
LAL
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