Law, Beauty, and Human Stability: A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

Abstract

Modem land use law seeks to reconcile private claims on property with society's interest in having land used for the public good. Indeed, many scholars see the conflict between private property and the public interest as the central issue underlying not only land use law but many other areas of property law as well. On the one hand, it is impossible-at least in today's world-to protect property absolutely in the sense long ago espoused by Blackstone.' On the other hand, lawmakers are not free to ignore property owners' rights even when enacting measures designed to advance the public interest.2 Nowhere is this tension between private property and public controls more acutely apparent than in the domain of aesthetic regulation. When, if ever, can the state exercise its police power by imposing restrictions on private property for aesthetic purposes? Since the turn of the century, hundreds of courts have struggled with this problem in cases addressing such wide-ranging concerns as unsightly billboards,3 urban renewal,4 and historic preservation.5 Despite this barrage of judicial