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| Questions
and answers regarding river preservation |
| Q:
Don't people have a right to do whatever they want with their property,
like build a dock? |
| A:
People who own land on a riverbank don't own the river, only
the land beside it, so the river is not their property. And
in Connecticut, the State owns everything between the low- and high-tide
marks. That means that most of a dock is on State property, not private
property. Furthermore, people only have a right to do as they wish
with their property to the extent that it does not infringe upon the
rights of others. That's why we have zoning laws, for example - one
person's "right" to run a junkyard on his property is subsidiary
to his neighbors' rights not to have wrecked cars and loud machinery
next door. Click here to see the effect
that an unlimited "right to do whatever you want with your property"
could mean for the town of Chester (just for example). |
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