Ways Of Thinking About State Preemption Of Zoning

"Preemption" is the involuntary surrender of stewardship not done

One of the topics discussed a lot at the Strong Towns National Gathering in Providence, Rhode Island back in June was the question of state preemption of local zoning powers.

A lot of folks in the Strong Towns orbit are skeptical of preemption—much more so than the self-identified YIMBYs—though the sum of the conference presented, ultimately, a relativel…