Describe your biggest Planning Mistakes

[NHPlanner]

gkmo62u wrote:
I think the pendulum has swung too far way from the rights of the property owner.

It depends where you are. There are many places out there where property rights are still king, and triumph over any "government intrustion."

Even at a scale as small as NH, where I live and work....the northern part is still no zoning, let the market rule for the most part, while the southern tier struggles with growth management, sprawl, and keeping up with infrastructure to support the growth we're experiencing.

I definitely think you can find both ends of the property rights spectrum in many places all over the country. The great planner answer applies here, like it does in almost every situation...."It depends..."

[gkmo62u]

you are right, i meant in there area i am working in. but i do think the national anti-sprawl, no growth movements--including our own APA Growing Smart initiative--seriously endangers many of the personal property rights we have assumed up to this point.

[Downtown]

George, I agree one hundred percent that working both sides of the private/public spectrum makes for a better planner. I think, though, that most of the planners who don't have tremendously supportive things to say about consulting are speaking from a "been there, done that" point of view.

I also agree with NH Planner that property owner rights significantly vary according to geography. Development in Rural South Carolina is a totally different ball game than where I'm working now.