It has become fashionable among housing advocates to attack exclusionary zoning—zoning that that prohibits or excludes multi-family housing. While these attacks correctly point out that exclusionary zoning contributes to higher housing costs, advocates are calling for increased inclusionary zoning—zoning that compels developers to include housing for low-income families in new projects. Because these advocates are…
For years, housing advocates have been clamoring for more affordable housing. After the Biden Administration announced a plan that would ostensibly increase the supply of affordable housing by eliminating single-family zoning, also known as exclusionary zoning, many advocates have denounced the plan. Exclusionary zoning isn’t the problem, they say. The problem is the gang that…
Imagine for a moment, that you want to open a restaurant in an impoverished neighborhood in your city. When you apply for the necessary permits at the Health Department, you are told that you will only be allowed to open your restaurant if you agree to sell a percentage of meals below your costs. You…
Government officials frequently cite the government’s police powers as a justification for their policies. While this can seem plausible in some situations, the City of Houston has decreed that this includes dictating what color individuals may paint their home. This past week, the Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Powell v. City of Houston….
For the past several years, a controversial highway expansion has pitted neighbors against one another in Collin County. The proposed plan will wipe out homes and encircle what are now quiet neighborhoods. While nearly everyone agrees that the expansion is needed, nobody wants it in their backyard. But as an article in D Magazine points…
In January, an explosion at a metal fabricating facility in Houston killed two workers and damaged hundreds of nearby buildings and homes. The tragedy has provided some with a renewed zeal to point out the alleged dangers of Houston’s lack of zoning. One Houstonian was quoted in an AP story: I feel like it needs…
Nineteen Austin property owners have filed suit against the city. They claim that efforts to revise the city’s zoning ordinance have violated state law requiring the city to inform property owners of zoning changes and consider their protests against such changes. According to KVUE in Austin: Through the lawsuit, the residents are seeking that the…
Reform Austin recently published a story chiding state officials for interfering to “delay, postpone or outright stop the construction” of affordable housing by local governments. The article goes on to claim that “cities all across the Lone Star State are using every tool in the toolbox to crack the housing problem.” Interestingly, the article makes…
Last year, I wrote about the case of Hinga Mbogo, a Dallas auto shop owner whose property was retroactively rezoned to make way for restaurants and other businesses more to the liking of the Dallas city council. In late August, the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear his case, thereby forcing Mbogo to abandon the…
A new state law requires a three-fourths vote by zoning commissions that want to designate a property as historic over the owner’s wishes. Austin, which previously required a two-thirds vote in such situations, recently found that the new law might stymie some of its attempts at historic preservation. The city’s Historic Landmark Commission recently met…
A recent article about short-term rentals (STRs) in Corpus Christi begins with the question: “Should companies like Airbnb be allowed to do business in Corpus Christi?” The principle underlying that question poses a threat to every productive individual. Individual rights protect our freedom to act as we judge best, so long as we respect the…
A pair of bills have been introduced in the current Texas legislative session that would limit the regulations that local governments can impose on short-term rentals (STRs). A coalition of organizations involved in STR support the bills, but those organizations are short-sighted. Rather than oppose any controls and regulations on their economic freedom, these organizations…