Inclusionary Zoning: Beyond repair

According to Madison.com, the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin – an industry lobbying group – is abandoning talks with the City of Madison to reach a compromise on the horror that is the city’s inclusionary zoning law.

The law, scribed by radical lefty Alder Brenda Konkel, is one of the most anti-business, intrusive pieces of legislation to make it through the Madison Common Council over the past several years, ranking right alongside a bubble-based minimum wage hike and oppressive ban on smoking in private establishments.

Madison.com reports:

The process to date "raises serious concerns that the ordinance is unfixable and the only reasonable approach is to repeal the ordinance before it further harms the housing market," DMI president Susan Schmitz wrote [Madison Mayor Dave] Cieslewicz.

Smart Growth Madison, which represents 15 developers and others in the real estate industry, had supported the law when it passed the council on a 12-8 vote in January 2004, no longer believes it can be fixed, but will continue to work with city leaders.

"The current ordinance should be suspended, repealed until we come up a viable option," executive director Carole Schaeffer said.

Frankly, I am stunned the real estate industry has worked with the city on this ordinance for so long considering that all the legislation does is pick the pockets of private developers and property managers. So long as Ms. Konkel is espousing a “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs”-style philosophy on the Common Council, it would seem impossible for any business group to succeed in Madison. But, alas, not everyone can flee the city and so the real estate industry ought to be applauded for at least giving common sense a try.

Incidentally, another harshly oppressive anti-business ordinance, a paid sick leave mandate, went before the council early this week. It was a piece of legislation so radical that, had it passed, Madison would have broken new ground in terms of employment interference

Fortunately, the ordinance failed by a 10-9 vote. But the fact that it even managed to garner nine supporters ought to be cause for a little queasiness.

Pile this all together and the message is clear: if you are looking to open a new business, Middleton, Maple Bluff, Stoughton and Sun Praire are looking better than ever.