LETTER: How to view property rights
Our county commissioners consider themselves champions of property rights. As an economist, I consider myself to be a somewhat broader-minded expert on the subject.
Property rights absolutely guarantee ownership of your property. Given a clear title, no one can contest your ownership except under rare claims of public domain and only with fair compensation. You have rights to use and enjoy your property so long as you do not infringe on the property values and/or enjoyment of their property by others.
When use of your property affects your neighbors negatively, whether through pollution, traffic, noise, or depletion of commonly owned resources, then your property rights are no longer absolute. They may be subject to limitations through civic ordinances or private legal action. Restrictions on your use of property or compensation for damages may be appropriate.
After all, it’s only fair! Reducing the value of my property or my enjoyment of it without my permission is a form of stealing my property.
When exploitation of private property threatens the community’s welfare, then property rights may legitimately be limited. In this case government should step in to limit or prevent damage to the public interest.
The proposal to build a water-bottling plant near Creston may be a fine example of such a case. In any event it would allow a private businessman to profit richly by selling far more than his share of water resources. Could his use deplete our generous aquifer? A recent issue of National Geographic (August 2016) reports the depletion of the much larger Ogallala aquifer under the Great Plains by water-hungry farms and cities. Depletion is enough to threaten the region’s future.
If experts conclude that the Creston water-bottling plant may lower the valley’s water table or affect water quality sufficiently to harm other water users, then the county commissioners should refuse to permit it or require a bond sufficient to repair such damages. It could, however, permit such a plant with limitations on its size.
County Commission Chairwoman Pam Holmquist currently is running for re-election. She owes it to the county’s voters to indicate her stand on the water-bottling plant before we vote. Her opponent has done so. Commissioner Holmquist should not keep us in the dark on this momentous property-rights issue until after she secures six more years on the commission. —Bill Cox, Kalispell