The foundation concept of government in the United States is that government operates only with the consent of the People. You choose where you will live partly in consideration of what community and government – city, county, or state – has jurisdiction over the location of your property. You have the right to choose whether that jurisdiction changes, as by annexation by a nearby town.

 

One function of your local government is community planning – organizing and providing for community infrastructure and the properties where they will be conducted. This activity is vital to your choices of living arrangements, your property values, and the conveniences that you enjoy. You must keep it under control of local commissions, and you must choose your neighbors who will serve on them. But there are movements to remove this local control, and make local planning a regional authority, where unelected professionals will choose how your community is designed, and what you will and will not be permitted to do with your property. Much of this movement is oriented to putting wildlife and other “green” values over those of your right to “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” Their measures can include not mere regulations, but actual condemnation and seizure of your homes, regulated by agencies and people whom you do not elect.

 

If you choose aware and committed representatives, Tennessee can protect you against such loss of control over your homes and other property.