What is it about this area that seems to breed really strange government? Everywhere else I have lived, except Alabama, the laws are the same for everyone. If one restaurant can sell steak, then all can. If one bar can have happy hour, then all can. However if the local governing body feels that happy hour is against the good of the area then all bars are restricted from having happy hour.
By doing this no one establishment has an unfair advantage over another by the local governing body interfering. When a parcel is sold it is zoned a particular way and the zoning says what can and cannot be done with the property. It is totally unfair for the local government to amend zoning rules for only one after it is bought. If they wish to restrict a property in the way a business can be operated then it should be up front and disclosed before the property is bought.
I do not think Lowe”s Lumber would think it fair to have put out big bucks to buy and build a new facility and then just before opening, be told that they are not allowed to sell nails and that they can only operate during hours of darkness. That would be a huge disadvantage to Lowe”s making a profit.
This area needs to decide if it wants to revitalize itself or to keep on the downhill slide through the use of unfair restraint of trade. What benefits the business climate as a whole, benefits the whole area. New tax dollars become available. New jobs are created so there is more money per capita being spent at the businesses in the area which creates more tax dollars and so on and so on.
This is not difficult stuff, This is all in economics 101.
The flip side is if one uses local government to restrain trade, it decreases tax dollars. It gives the impression that new businesses should not even try here and that the local government is less than fair and far from honest. This also ties up any income the area has in court for lawyers and possible settlements. Less money in wages and a lower per capita income in the area.
Duh. Is this really that hard to follow? For the Clearlake City Council it sure seems above their heads. And people wonder how this area became this messed up.
William Ford
Clearlake
