Residents in Victoria recently sought to expand the city’s preservation ordinance to include trees. They want to prevent property owners from removing trees. The Victoria Advocate reports:
[Bernard] Klimist, who has run a law firm from a historic building he renovated on Santa Rosa Street since 1991, said the property owner’s rights must be tempered by where the property is.
“When you buy in Old Victoria, you need to have the same love as everyone else and respect the historic qualities of it. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
According to Klimist, property rights should be violated whenever enough like-minded people support doing so. According to Klimist, “It’s as simple as that.” To preservationists, it’s fine to destroy property rights, so long as old trees and old buildings are saved.
The right to property means the freedom to create, use, keep, trade, and dispose of values. Like all rights, property rights protect the freedom of individuals to act as they deem best, no matter who or how many may disagree. According to preservationists, individuals should not be free to act on their own judgment; they should be forced to act in accordance with the demands and dictates of “the people.”
Individual rights, including property rights, are not subject to a vote. To claim otherwise is to reject principles.
A principle with exceptions is not a principle. It is a loose guideline that will be followed or rejected according to the expediency of the moment. If property rights “must be tempered,” as Klimist suggests, then they no longer serve as a fortress to protect the sanctity of individual liberty. Instead, they are merely a speed bump that temporarily slow the passions of the mob.
And preservation is about the passions of the mob. Preservationists talk about preserving our heritage while making a mockery of that heritage. Texas’s heritage is not old buildings and old trees. Our heritage is about protecting the freedom of individuals to live as they deem best, free from the arbitrary restraints of politicians and nosy neighbors.