Do Zoning Laws Aggrevate You?

Just a thought on Zoning Laws
In BC we have ALR (Agriculture Land Reserve) restricts building and is supposed to keep farmland--farmland.
Of course Large developers seem to find a way around this and get land rezoned.
Next problem is looking for small plot of Land for Permaculture. Have to be careful of the restrictions on the land unless you
really go off grid.
Then say you get raw land---should the government be allowed to legislate brains?
Why shouldn't u be able to put the structure you want on it----example underground house--cob house.
In some places to put these it seems would almost take an act of God.

So the basic question is should the government be allowed to legislate brains----for our own safety or
would the natural selection work better.
i.e. if I build something and it fell on me---my fault--natural selection

The problem lies in what happens when you sell your house and it falls on the next person.  So while I don't like excessive regulation, it's a pain to remodel my house and find all the oddities (some fine, some very unsafe) that the previous owner did because he never went through the proper channels on permitting.  But I think if everyone simply could say "I modified/built this house outside of spec" and you got a seller to sign and agree, then there should be no problem.

Outside of building codes, I think a lot of zoning is silly.  I can have miniature livestock but not full sized.  I pointed out to the city that it means I can have a 600 lbs mini cow but not a 150 lb full sized goat.  They didn't see that as an issue or why I found it illogical! 

I agree Marissa where is the logic in the problem you presented them with I suppose you could also
get a miniature elephant.
What I really think I'm trying to say is should Governments be allowed to legislate brains.

If you build out of spec I agree it would have to be stated and the market would decide the worth
of your efforts--and it would be their responsibility to do the due diligence to make sure the effort
was worthy of buying and moving into.
That makes sense to me--and I'm sure would create a renaissance of creativity some good and some
bad but thats okay in itself.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum I love zoning laws despite the occasional inconvenience they cause, if you want to know why come visit Portland sometime. you can literally ride the bus out to agricultural land because (and some nice wild areas) Oregon has such intense urban growth boundaries.

without urban growth boundaries as cities expand they go outward into ever expanding suburbia and farmers are unable to hold onto land near the cities because the property taxes rise to higher than you can make farming. take a look at Phoenix AZ for example Arizona has almost no zoning the suburban lawns and strip malls go on forever.

Then there is my house, the surrounding parcels are all zoned forestry with no new buildings allowed so I know that even though I only have 2 acres I won't end up surrounded by subdivisions.

building code n the other hand seems to be around mostly to prevent you from adding on without informing the tax man, and to make sure the big mills get paid for graded lumber rather than backyard band-saw mils being able to supply.

Ahh, My mistake Brice---You're right what I was really referring to was building codes and the ability too
build what you want without Government interference.
Now I suppose that would open up a whole can of worms but you could make them say not applicable
in the country--be far enough away from neighbours that fire hazard wouldn't be a problem.
It could be done and I think the alternative housing and creativity new use of materials would get a big
boost.
When sold it would have to be stated not built to code and the market would determine the worth
of your efforts.
But you're right its not about Zoning its about Building Codes so my mistake at the start of this
thread.
thanks for setting it straight

Move to the Alaska bush no zoning or building codes or neighbors:-D