No. 1, businesses will look elsewhere in expanding their operations, if their options to develop property are limited. That will trigger a flight of good jobs out of the county. Meanwhile, retail and service jobs paying a buck or so above the minimum wage will be the only option for many. It is also likely that some in agriculture have already cut down trees on their property, even thought they never intended to do so. Interestingly enough as the law of unintended consequences rolls through the process, land use restrictions may actually accelerate the loss of farmland.
Affordable housing is also an issue.
All that nice landscaping and open space will send the lowliest townhouse into the six figures. If that occurs, traffic congestion and sprawl will will increase and the tax base will be lost. With that said, we are realistic enough to believe that it is time has come for the business community to accept the fact that the code is the will of the people. Litigation will only harden the attitudes of slow and no-growth forces and would once again paint developers as greedy spreaders of sprawl. We are also dealing with human nature.