We have been meaning to write about this for some time:
One of the most ardent proponents of replacing local zoning with a one-size fits all Statewide zoning code, State Representative Ross Berry (better known on X (twitter) as RINO-Russ Barry), took umbrage at Representative Turcotte’s description of the push to supersede local zoning with State zoning as “bordering on communistic”:
Zoning, whether done at the State level or at the local level by cities and towns, involves governmental regulation of real property, not the government ownership of real property. So for RINO-Russ to say that his State zoning code is not communistic because it does not transfer ownership of real property to the State (the apparent point of RINO-Russ’ first question to @grok) is to say nothing at all.
Also, both State zoning and local zoning can be made more restrictive and less restrictive. So it is no answer to Turcotte for RINO-Russ to say that his State zoning code “let[s] people do more things with their private land” (RINO-Russ’ response to @grok’s answer) because, even if true, a future Legislature can change that.
The correct question is what conceptually is more communistic, Statewide zoning or local zoning. When answering this question, there is no reason to limit the inquiry to Marx’s theoretical communism, as @grok does, when there have been and continue to be actual manifestations of communism. So let’s start by considering an actual manifestation of communism.
The Soviet Union used “five-year plans” to try to manage the economy. These “five-year” plans included production quotas, which reflected the belief that government experts could and should determine how much of a product was needed. RINO-Russ Barry’s support for a State zoning code is based on the same economic hubris:
“We are 40k units short.” RINO-Russ sounds just like a Commissar from the defunct Soviet Union, who believes government can and should determine how much housing gets built.
Worse, RINO-Russ is parroting New Hampshire Housing, a left-wing NGO created by State law to facilitate the building of apartment complexes in New Hampshire:
“[T]he state needs 60,000 more housing units between 2020 and 2030, and nearly 90,000 units between 2020 and 2040.” Sounds like a Soviet “five-year plan” on steroids. Yet, as you know if you have been following the debate over zoning, this Commissar-contrived “housing shortage” is the rationale for replacing local zoning with a State zoning code. Bordering on the communistic? Representative Turcotte may be guilty of gross understatement.
Ask someone to name a “tene[]t[] of communism” and the response more likely than not will be “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” or some variation thereof. This communistic concept also underlies the push for a State zoning code:
The Commissars have determined that there is a “need” for more housing in New Hampshire. And that there are cities and towns with the “ability” to build more housing, who are not on board with “build, build, build.” Therefore, the “dictatorship of the proletariat” … oops, I mean the Legislature and Governor … can and must force them to build more. Bordering on the communistic? State Senator Victoria Sullivan is practically preaching Marxism.
Let’s return to something RINO-Russ Barry said:
A couple of things. One is “letting people do more things with their private land” means letting people do what the ruling class in Concord thinks they should do; that is, turn single-family zoned homes into boarding houses, build a “Tiny House” in the backyard, turn commercial districts into favelas. We discussed what inevitably follows in The Latest From The New Hampshire Republican “Crazy-Caucus” … Turning Family Zoned Neighborhoods Into Strip Malls:
And now the Republican crazy-caucus wants to outlaw family zoned neighborhoods altogether. House Bill 1023 would force cities/towns to allow “accessory commercial units” in residentially zoned neighborhoods:
In plain English, your neighbors would be able to build and operate stand-alone massage parlors, martial-arts studios, delis and a whole laundry list of other commercial enterprises in their yards. If HB 1023 ever became law every neighborhood now zoned residential would in a short time become a de facto strip mall.
This brings us to the other thing. A “classic[al] liberal” is not a political conservative. Ultimately, “classical liberalism” becomes moral relativism. My right to “individual liberty” trumps everything, which means I get to operate a crack-house or a whore-house wherever I want, and no government can zone a neighborhood single-family to keep me out.
This, along with his embrace of Soviet-style central planning, is why we call RINO-Russ a RINO.
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