December
2008 | John
Kerridge, Editor
Emeritus of the
Sandpiper
Your
home is your
castle, right? You
paid for it
(boy, did
you ever!),
so you get
to decide
what
changes you
make to it,
right? Well,
only up to
a point.
To
figure out where
that point is,
it helps to take
a look at some
of your neighbors.
Let’s
start with the
couple who bought
the house next
door in the ‘90s.
The sale of their
Internet start-up
company was so
successful that
they were able
to indulge their
fantasy of a
Del Mar house
with a white-water
view.
Across
the street is
the doctor who
moved there during
the ‘80s.
Since then she
has become deeply
involved in
volunteer work
in the city,
and was the
first
to offer assistance
when you moved
in.
Next
to her is a couple,
both faculty
members at UCSD,
who arrived in
the ‘70s.
Their house isn’t
the sharpest
one on the block,
but their fame
is world-wide
in their respective
fields. Plus,
they raised two
kids who have
made their own
contribution
to our community
life as dedicated
lifeguards, while
helping maintain
the TPHS standard
of academic excellence.
And
just down the
block is the
retired schoolteacher
who purchased
his cottage (so “cute” to
the eyes of visitors)
in the ‘60s.
A “scraper” by
today’s
standards, it
sits within a
horticultural
paradise, lovingly
created and tended
over decades.
So
what do they all
have in common,
besides being
your neighbors?
Answer:
They all committed
a significant
fraction of their
available resources
so that they could
become part of
a community that
appealed to them;
they have property
rights, too. One
of those rights
is a reasonable
expectation that
the qualities
that drew them
to the neighborhood,
and for which
they paid good
money, would not
be casually overturned.
In
the early ‘70s,
came the Del Mar
General Plan,
crafted by a task
force of residents
and local business
owners. That Plan
unequivocally
affirmed the right
of the community
to maintain the
values that had
given Del Mar
its special character,
and was approved
by a popular vote
with a roughly
2/3 majority.
Interestingly,
subsequent periodic
surveys have indicated
continuing support,
at about the same
level, for the
Plan’s
land-use policies.
Some people still
complain that
Del Mar’s
land-use regulations
are designed
to favor an elite;
2/3 of a community
is one big elite!
Community
rights are an
integral part
of the Del Mar
Municipal Code
and, for that
matter, of California
state law. And
why not? After
all, community
rights are simply
a bundle of individual
property rights,
all based on
the same respect
for an individual’s
inalienable
constitutional
rights.
So
yes, your property
rights are absolute
only up to the
point where they
infringe on those
of your neighbors.
Four hundred
years ago, John
Donne expressed
this as well
as anyone: “No
man is an island,
entire of itself.”
Del
Mar has so much
to offer. Let’s
all respect our
neighbor’s
right to enjoy
it, too.
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