Monday, December 06, 2004
State reduces appeal rights
The Pennsylvania legislature reduced the rights of Philadelphia residents to appeal land-use decisions elsewhere in the city. In most of Pennsylvania, only people living within 500 feet of a property may appeal a decision relating to that property, but Philadelphia allowed anyone to appeal. Over the strong objections of Philadelphia land-use activists, the state brought Philadelphia into conformity with the rest of the state.
The Philadelphia Inquirer argues that this is a bad thing because it makes it difficult for land-use "advocates who hound billboard companies over ugly, illegal signs." While I don't know the full details of Philadelphia's situation, this raises an important question regarding the effectiveness of citizen appeals. According to the Inquirer, billboard opponents have been fighting ugly billboards in Philadelphia since 1991. If they haven't won yet, maybe some other tool would be more effective anyway.
Beyond effectiveness is another question: the validity of letting everyone else have a say over what you can do with your property. Does democracy require that everyone else have a say over what you put into your grocery cart? (Some people would say "yes.") Maybe we should find other ways of resolving problems than appeals and the "democratic" process.
The Philadelphia Inquirer argues that this is a bad thing because it makes it difficult for land-use "advocates who hound billboard companies over ugly, illegal signs." While I don't know the full details of Philadelphia's situation, this raises an important question regarding the effectiveness of citizen appeals. According to the Inquirer, billboard opponents have been fighting ugly billboards in Philadelphia since 1991. If they haven't won yet, maybe some other tool would be more effective anyway.
Beyond effectiveness is another question: the validity of letting everyone else have a say over what you can do with your property. Does democracy require that everyone else have a say over what you put into your grocery cart? (Some people would say "yes.") Maybe we should find other ways of resolving problems than appeals and the "democratic" process.
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