New Britain herald., 1930-08-16
ZONlNG' PROVES IFS WORTH AFTER FIVE YEARS s' ss''e'"s s' s1sss;s:s s:sss;s;
 Herald

 Building Inspector A. N. Rutherford, whose office interprets and ad ministers the restrictive ordinance is convinced that the public, in this paratively short space of time, has come to a full realization of the benefits that have accrued.
 "As is the case whenever anything new and seemingly radical is pro- posed, the zoning law was sub jected to much criticism and was bitterly fought during the hearings which preceded its adoption" h. spector Rutherford reminisced to- day.
 Had Stormy Beginning
 In the early days Of zoning, there was considerable confusion and much misunderstanding" he continued. There was complaint against the restrictive features of the law, some property owners holding to the view that it was un- constitutional to prohibit them from making whatever use of their land they saw fit. The argument was frequently made in my office that to restrain an individual from con- structing the type of building or es- tablishing the use for which he had purchased his lot was in a sense the seizure of his property rights with out due process of the law. As time went on and the benefits of Eoning became more and more apparent these complaints ceased.
 The principle of zoning is the keeping of certain types of build ings and certain uses in places set apart for the particular types. To make this palmer: The owner of a fine residence, before zoning, could not be sure that small store, a factory or a junk yard would not encroach upon the district in which he had made his investment and built his home. Through no fault of his own. he stood at all times in danger of suffering a serious prop erty loss in lessened value of his home. He could not be expected to buy all the property in the neigh borhood. All he could do was hope that other home owners might be attracted into his district. build residences, and in this slow and costly manner, create a zone of resi- dences, Zoning has taken care of this. Wherever colony of resi- dences was found or wherever there was evidence that a development of home property might arise. 3. resi- dence district was created. No longer did the home owner have to worry about business and industrials crowding him or affecting the mar ketability of his home.
 Protection All Around
 "On the other hand, manufactur- { ing establishments and mercantile 1 centers were given a large measure of protection Set apart in business or industrial districts, the owners of these establishments were assured ample space for development by reason of the fact that residences would not be likely to spring up be- side them. In the early days of fac tory expansion here. it was not an uncommon thing for corporations to find residences on the plots avail able for expansion. and the result was large increase in the costs of spreading out. the purchase and demolition Of buildings being re- quired. Although zoning permits ho of in nd, cfr-i., and business zones, the plots are less valuable for residence uses and such building is thereby discouraged. This leaves more land available for expansion.
 'The chief difficulty in drafting a zoning law is to make the act suf- fciently strong to give lasting pro- tectionyto those who build or in vest on a basis of known conditions, yet elastic enough to allow of amendments and changes to meet changing conditions.
 | Frequent changes in the zoning maps once they have been approved and adopted are dangerous and. in sense, a failure to keep faith with | the property owners. I have al ways been unalterably opposed to a general revision of the zoning plan, such as one hears mention of occa- 1 sionally. Such a program would | defeat the purpose of the act. In 1 individual instances, no changes i should be made unless to impose a greater restriction, but in isolated cases there may be justification for a lessening of the restriction. Only where it is plainly evident that the change will work public improve ment or eliminate a check on the city's growth should a residence area be changed over to business or industrial plot, But in no cast should the revision be general.
 Coming a Contract
 "Zoning has been described as a contract between the city and the Property owner to regulate the type of building to be placed on his neighbor's plot as well as on his own. A contract not to be broken nor changed, once zoning is put in 1 effect, unless 1t is definitely proven that an undue hardship has been | imposed.
 Before this law was adopted, efforts were made to reach the same goal through the passage of ordi- nances covering many of the points now grouped in a zoning act. This encouraged neighborhood disagree ments and has been unsatisfactory on the whole.
 When zoning act is to be adopted, expert advice should be ob- tained. This wos done in New Britain when the services of the Technical Advisory Corporation were engaged. To allow preparation of so important a piece of legislation by a purely local organization invites conditions that may defeat the very purpose of the act. Although we speak commonly of zoning as a re- strictiVe act, we would come closer to the point if we described it as a