Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is leading an effort this week in the Senate to protect local zoning authority from one of President Obama's most ambitious power grabs (which comes under the guise of fair housing).
The Lee amendment to the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (HUD) appropriations bill before the Senate would defund Obama's Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation, which allows federal bureaucrats simply relying upon Census maps to impose zoning decisions on local governments.
The usurpation of local urban planners and elected officials who have spent years — and in some cases, lifetimes — working to create town, city and county plans that make sense, balancing infrastructure needs (schools, water, sewer, roads etc.) and growth concerns along with commercial and green space priorities, is outrageous. Unfortunately, the idea that someone armed with a racial and income data map in Washington can helicopter in and disrupt this planning and dictate where Section 8 housing should be located is already taking root in places like Westchester County, N.Y.; Baltimore County, Md.; and Dubuque, Iowa.
The Hill...
