I feel extremely weird linking to a Forbes piece by a Mercatus affiliate to confirm my priors, but this is one of the only clear explanations I've seen of how discretionary development allows entitled actors—big devs and homeowners—to get their way: forbes.com/sites/adammillsap…

How Political Capitalism Helps Explain Zoning

Despite rampant criticism, restrictive zoning persists. A new book that analyzes collusion between the economic and political elite helps explain why.

forbes.com
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Replying to @alexbaca
I'm a big fan of the "too much discretion is bad": for rule of law & predictability of government decisions, for reducing corruption, and for simplifying interaction with government. See also: making tons of things crimes so prosecutors can always charge you with something.

Mar 20, 2019 · 4:37 AM UTC

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Replying to @davidbaron @alexbaca
Increased opportunity for corruption is also one of the reasons I'm likely to vote against split roll:
L. David Baron @dbaron@w3c.social @davidbaron
22 Jan 2018
Replying to @davidbaron
Commercial or industrial property that's zoned for residential use seems to get an exception. This would give an edge to properties nonconformant to (later) zoning. I also worry it creates an opportunity for corruption by pushing to change zoning to residential.
Replying to @davidbaron @alexbaca
Discretion can work ok if it's transparent. That usually means giving discretion to committees working in public view rather than vested in an individual.