Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), the humanistic psychologist best known for his work on motivation the Maslow hierarchy of needs once famously said: “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” About the only tool local government leaders have to bludgeon private entrepreneurs into compliance with their own social agendas is the hammer of land-use planning and zoning. Recently, several of these misguided local leaders picked up that hammer and beat up on the fast-food restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A, because they didn’t like the company president’s views on same-sex marriage.
Zoning out or otherwise, prohibiting any business that may have disfavored social views, so long as those businesses comply with federal, state, and local discrimination laws, is wrong. To allow such retaliation by local political leaders against private business is not only improper as a matter of law and public policy, but it encourages all manner of abuse of the local regulatory process.
