While allowing ADUs is all well and good, zoning has traditionally been excessively strict and often historically discriminatory, but there is going too far wit

While allowing ADUs is all well and good, zoning has traditionally been excessively strict and often historically discriminatory, but there is going too far with land-use policy anarchy. Defenestrating essential regs like height restrictions or setbacks leads to subtle, long duration unintended consequences like eventual neighborhood ugliness and devaluation, unfair shadowing for months per year without direct sunlight, fire hazards, and blight. For example, without commercial and residential zoning, a convenience store or dollar store could decide to invade a residential only neighborhood, bringing quality of life issues like littering and loitering, ruining property values. On one hand, strict zoning is fair because everyone must meet an explicit set of standards. On the other hand, vague housing policies will lead to selective enforcement, new kinds of bias and discrimination, and unintentional variance leading to a decay of feng shui and community fragmentation. PS: So don't be Austin or Houston. ;o]