Land and freedom

Editor, Index-Tribune:

I am beyond perplexed at the recent articles (“Showdown at Diamond A Ranch,” Sept. 11) in every newspaper I pick up about the assault on city and county zoning regulations all over our great land!

It seems as though anarchy has broken out in every small and large jurisdiction all over these fruited plains. The details pit everyone, large and small, against each other in the discussion.

I’m talking about the neighborhood wars between the integrity of (zoned) family residences and other property owners’ desires to maximize potential on their property in accordance with a re-writing of laws that include what VRBO, AirBnB, et al, would like to see – namely a forced rewriting of studied zoning law, now referred to as (creeping) “freedom!”

Are we ready for every Tom, Dick and Harry to seize upon the current trends to try to enjoy the greater “freedom” that their expression will do toward trumping decades of established, standing and stable law? Do we really want “cowboy” zoning, aesthetic and power – politics when the voters have said that laws matter conclusively and that they don’t want gutless politicians and a wild free-for-all as relates to the establishment of our laws?

We are still a nation of laws, customs and regulations: please let’s don’t slide down the path of greed, anarchy and self-interest. If not, I think that I’ll open a convenience store in my garage and sell beer and liquor whenever I please because this is a “free” country. I might even decide to sell guns and ammunition, too!

Bob Mosher

Sonoma