The Cliffs' Blog

Since my Father, Ted Johnson, founded Skyline some 40 years ago, Skyline has developed more than 5,000 home sites. We take pride in creating great neighborhoods and find satisfaction that so many people appreciate our work. As developers, and natives of this valley, we care deeply about neighborhoods not only because it’s our life’s work, but because we live here and take great pride in this community.

That said, I am very concerned about Proposition 2, a so-called property rights initiative, and I urge everyone to vote against it.

Proposition 2 claims it’s about protecting the rights of people to use their property. As a developer of new neighborhoods, I can tell you I hold that right very dear. While eminent domain actions are well publicized, they’re fairly rare in the vast scheme of things. Most cities have planning and zoning and code enforcement departments to keep people from, among other things, negatively impacting their neighbors’ property with inappropriate land uses.

For most people, a home is a family’s single biggest financial investment and therefore, people expect quality developers to create places of enduring value. This arrangement can only exist in a framework of planning and zoning laws and local government enforcement. These laws regulate what people may build and what kinds of businesses they may operate in and near neighborhoods. In most places, for example, that means your neighbor can’t turn his property into a junkyard. Under Proposition 2, if your neighbor wanted to do that, the local government would have to let him. If not, he could sue, claiming the government reduced the value of his land. Already in Oregon, some $5 billion in claims await resolution.

And what could you do if your neighbor set up a junkyard next door and reduced YOUR property’s value? According to Proposition 2 supporters, you could just sue them! This sounds like a guaranteed jobs program for lawyers. We already have planning and zoning laws to protect the public health, safety and welfare. We need consistent enforcement of these, not government by lawsuits.

The Legislature has already addressed this issue and passed a law earlier this year to protect homeowners from abusive use of eminent domain. To join the fight against Proposing 2, visit www.neighborsprotectingidaho.com.