OPINION: Koch-Zoning Is Theft

If “Taxation is Theft,” then “Koch-Zoning” Is Theft” as well. Regular readers know what we mean by “Koch-zoning,” but for those new to our substack a brief definition.

Koch-zoning refers to a gaggle of bills passed into law earlier this year in New Hampshire that replace local control of zoning with a one-size-fits-all State zoning code. One example is HB 457. From Yes Virginia, New Hampshire Has Replaced Local Control With One-Size Fits-All State Zoning:

For example, HB 457 allows houses zoned-single family to be converted into boarding-houses. As a result, Blackstone or some other national corporation, or one of the big local landlords or developers, can buy the house next to you, or across the street from you, or behind you, and convert it into a boarding-house. So while your neighborhood which you chose because it was zoned single-family technically remains zoned single-family, as a practical matter it is now a mixed-use neighborhood.

Koch-zoning bills have passed with bipartisan support. For example, HB 631 which will turn business districts into “favelas,” by allowing developers/builders to cram apartment complexes into areas zoned commercial:

Democrats support Koch-zoning because they understand that high-density housing will attract Democrat voters to New Hampshire. Republicans support Koch-zoning for multiple reasons.

One reason is the local Koch organization, which the Republican Party in New Hampshire heavily relies on for third-party campaign support, views New Hampshire as an economic opportunity zone that needs more cheap labor. Hence, Koch’s support for a one-size-fits-all State zoning code to replace local zoning and allow development of housing to attract cheap labor.

Additionally, Republican legislative “leadership” and Governor Kelly Ayotte support Koch-zoning because among their major donors are developers/builders/landlords whose “bottom line” will benefit from more development:

And it is worth noting that a material number of Republican legislators are actually “Free-Staters” who support Koch-zoning because of hostility to “local control,” often pejoratively referred to as “local tyranny,”

“Taxation is Theft” reflects a political philosophy held by anarchists and some libertarians that that because taxation is non-consensual and coercive it is the moral equivalent of theft. Taken to its logical conclusion, this philosophy views all government as illegitimate because all laws are non-consensual and coercive. Nevertheless, “Taxation is Theft” is a popular motif among the libertarian elements of the New Hampshire legislature and the local Koch :

So why do we take the position that, if “Taxation is Theft,” then “Koch-Zoning” Is Theft” as well? Because Koch-Zoning is a hidden tax. For example, all that new development means higher local school property taxes.