Property Rights
It will be interesting to see what happens in this story, from this morning's Post-Dispatch.
The basics:
1. A church has a 200 year old tree on their property.
2. They want to cut the tree down to build a parking lot.
3. Other residents, including the Garden Club and members of City Council, object.
4. The preacher has given them 30 days to come up with the $75,000 they would need to instead buy an adjacent lot and build parking there, effectively allowing them to buy a right to view the tree.
5. Sanity reigns toward the end of the article: the city and other residents realize that they cannot legally prevent the church from cutting the tree down. It's their land and their tree, and they are free to dispose of it as they please.
Again, it will be interesting to see how this turns out. Mainstream theory says that even if the town values the tree more highly than the church, they won't be able to coordinate their efforts because of collective action problems. Hans-Hermann Hoppe discusses the theory of public goods here.
Comments (7)
Mr. Econotarian
This is almost a real-world example of Coase's Theorem
Published: June 14, 2005 9:30 AM
dearieme
In Britain, your local council can take out a Tree Preservation Order which forbids you to cut down a tree on your property, or even to cut bits off it. We have a couple of Silver Birches which are thus "protected". So if you are wondering whether you'd like to chop down a tree in your garden, you have a great incentive to do so immediately, lest the Council suddenly decides to deny you the choice.
Published: June 15, 2005 12:02 PM
sam
Too crazy to coordinate with others, how to improve this lack of confidence?
Published: June 15, 2005 1:55 PM
Mike D.
There have been court cases where plaintiffs who have had the use or value of their property restricted by zoning, eminent domain, or environmental regulation, have prevailed under the Fifth Amendment clause “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation�.
Here is a reference to a case where a Southampton property over sued to obtain compensation when his property was classified as a “wetland�.
In the Matter of Stanley Friedburg v. NYS DEC, et al., 767 NYS 2d 451, (2nd Dept. 2003)
While we are on the subject of churches, there has been a trend towards trying to condemn churches (that is to acquire by eminent domain), or deny permission to build new churches due to their tax exempt status. The municipality would much prefer a commercial entity that pays taxes. The example that has received most attention in the media is Donald Trump’s attempt to buy a church to put up a parking lot for one of his Casinos.
Published: June 15, 2005 2:34 PM
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Published: January 26, 2006 5:17 PM
tony scott
its realy sad when you have 100 or 200 years old tree and your local goverment wants to cut it, just to prove their point..sad sad
Published: March 18, 2006 9:11 AM
Paul
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Published: June 24, 2007 11:11 PM