- February 28, 2025
Dear Editor:
It seems pretty clear from the numerous Palm Coast Observer letters to the editor that our new mayor, off to a bit of a shaky start, may have leaped before he looked when he proclaimed “paint your home any color you want,” and indicated support for allowing commercial vehicle parking in residential neighborhood driveways.
If these letters are any indication, the mayor’s proposals aren't very popular. The only favorable responses, agreeing with the position the mayor takes, seem to relate to a misunderstood aspect of “freedom to choose” as if it is fundamentally the American way. But mostly it isn’t. If freedoms were universal and unconstrained, anarchy would prevail and that’s the very reason why we have laws, regulations and ordinances.
Conversely, if freedom to choose was too constrained or denied, the government would be viewed as oppressive, the position the mayor appears to have taken. However, in this country, a balance is properly struck by a very simple notion that should be self-evident. The right to exercise your freedom ends when the outcome of that perceived right adversely affects the well being of others.
And this self-evident concept should be applied to the mayor’s “do as you please" house painting and commercial vehicle parking position given that it is pretty safe to say that both of these proposals would have a negative impact on our property values.
Our existing local ordinances disallow a whole bunch of things, and as they should, actually exist to preserve the well being of our neighbors and community. There are necessary boundaries to freedoms in this country including property owner rights, something so seeming easy to understand. But it’s something the mayor unfortunately doesn’t seem to grasp.
Robert Gordon
Palm Coast
