"I appreciate your point but when an individual (or company) buys a property, it is very hard to tell them what they can or cannot do with their property after the purchase. To tell them they don't have the right to modify the property according to their own interests constitutes a 'taking' (like eminent domain) and they they need to be compensated. That is why you only see eminent domain enacted in the most extreme cases (for a utility or railroad, etc). It's also why the only time you'll ever see an effective historic preservation movement is when it can be codified and very specific so a buyer would know, you can buy this building but the (steeple in this case) needs to be preserved in one of the following ways.... and I think you can see why that will never happen."—Thefish Hawk [Design District's Extraordinary Wrought Iron Steeple is Now Just a Pile of Junk Metal]
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