The Zoning Justice Project

Protecting the Freedom to Use Property

The Institute for Justice’s Zoning Justice Project aims to protect and promote the freedom to use property. For more than a century, the freedom to use property has been eroded through abusive zoning practices that disregard individual liberty and emphasize top-down planning over property rights. Those property rights have been further denigrated by the courts, where property owners have found little comfort from all but the most abusive zoning practices.

It was not always this way. Indeed, modern zoning has strayed far—even from its questionable origins. And that departure has led to innumerable social and economic consequences. Zoning, for example, acts as a massive barrier to new housing development. And that housing shortage has led directly to America’s current affordability crisis: rents are skyrocketing, and home ownership is increasingly unattainable for most average earners. Likewise, small-business owners must deal with zoning restrictions of their own, making it harder for entrepreneurs to start businesses in their homes, near competitors, or start a venture—even a non-profit—that does not fit neatly into an existing zoning category. The result is that it has grown needlessly difficult to open a business or operate a charity.

All of this makes our society less free and less prosperous. And it makes no sense. Prohibiting people from building housing or starting businesses—simply because the government believes they do not belong—is counterproductive and benefits no one. That is because it does not actually accomplish anything legitimate. Instead, it simply prevents builders, entrepreneurs, and volunteers from using their property, peacefully and productively, to benefit themselves and their communities.

Identifying these problems are the beginning. IJ’s Zoning Justice Project offers solutions.