Property Rights vs. Community Rights

The City of College Station, in response to pressure from citizens to protect their neighborhoods from a host of perceived threats including, students, McMansions, urban decay, loss of historical significance, fear of chickens, etc., has made available various types of overlays aimed at helping deal with these issues.

One of the first proposed overlays comes before City Council this Thursday night. Though the College Hills overlay seems fairly innocuous, it has raised the ire of at least one couple in the neighborhood who has turned this into a campaign on property rights. I will be the first to admit that overlays can go too far and incur unintended consequences. Like many neighborhood covenants, some overlays seek to dictate paint color and outlaw solar panels. But most overlays seem to do what they are intended to. And that seems to be the case with the College Hills overlay. The city staff was diligent, as they always are, in engaging neighbors in this process.

Unfortunately, some were not content with the outcome and now seek to make this an ideological issue. Even if you do not live in the in the part of the College Hills neighborhood effected by this overlay, you may want to pay attention to this issue, or even show up to the City Council meeting to be heard. Overlays are a potentially useful tool in helping us determine the look and feel of our neighborhoods and by extension of our city. If this overlay is defeated by an ideology that does not consider the legitimacy of community rights and neighborhood integrity this tool will, for all intents and purposes, be eliminated. Then when your neighborhood faces threats you will be left with little protection.

The most important ingredient in developing a community’s quality of life is citizen involvement. Show up and get involved. Read more!