One might have a tendency to believe that the person so owning the land underneath their feet, has therefore a reasonable right to do what they so desire to do with that land, subject to fair rules and regulations as specified by governmental legislation. Some rules and regulations that certainly would be considered reasonable, would be the regulation of those businesses that are chemical pollutants and the like, as well as housing structures being limited in height, so as to not obscure views of other property owners in the immediate area, and the sensibility to segregate business zone districts from residential areas, along with other practical things of that sort.
So, the fact that there are zoning laws certainty makes sense, but the application of those zoning laws as currently practiced in way too many jurisdictions, puts a lie to any real sensibility or consistency of what is actually going on. For instance, zoning laws seem to take into account, way more than necessary and way more than appropriate, what the residents within certain jurisdictions want to occur in “their” neighborhood. Not too surprisingly, nice neighborhoods are loath to welcome liquor stores, dense apartment structures, low-income housing, housing which permits short term rentals, and pretty much anything that would be accommodative of people that are not the “right” type of people, as defined by that neighborhood. In other words, far too many neighborhoods, want and desire to be exclusive, for they feel that is the best way to protect as well as to augment the value of their property, which means that they need to force those that are not of their ilk, to live and essentially to congregate somewhere else. Those other neighborhoods, though, that have no effective representation, and no political power or connections, are the very neighborhoods thereby targeted and susceptible to having to accommodate the riffraff and the fallen of society, for the un-championed have to be housed somewhere, of which, it seems to be the norm within America, that those without a voice, are destined to be compacted together into ghettos of neglect, abandonment, and hopelessness.
Further to the point, signifying how corrupt, zoning laws are in actuality, is the fact that just because land is designated and zoned for industrial businesses, or residential, or apartments, or even as non-development open space; those with money, connections, and influence, are often able to get land that was zoned for one use, to be zoned for an entirely different use, which, none too surprisingly, means a significant difference in the value of that land, and of which, those privy to such favorable zoning changes, are the beneficiaries of such.
This government has made its point as in its rule of law, that separate is not equal; but America is nothing but separateness and segregation, of which, those with the money and power, live in beautiful enclaves of privilege; and those without, suffer the ill effects of living a lot of times not only in places of real neglect, danger, and misery, but also in places of which they unduly suffer the harm from pernicious pollutants. This thus signifies that effectively zoning as applied is really a means to curtail the masses from bothering or even being seen by the rich and powerful, and hence zoning is practiced as a means to round up and to control the population, so that each knows their proper place.