We even have laws about what you can and can't plant and what you can remove from your property and what you can leave on it. We even have a law about how high the fences can be so you can't even just fence the property away from prying eyes. Little boxes. Little boxes.
Yes - even when we think we own our home we still have to ask for a permit to do certain projects. A permit is actually a permit
Julie, I expect that we have those laws too. There has to be some level of control or a neighbor could trash his place with junk cars and devalue the neighborhood. However, the zoning should be left to the neighborhood, not the local government. We have a bunch of bureaucrats that sit in offices, say no a lot, and draw nice salaries and pensions. One of the few benefits of the US going broke will be a lot of those jobs will cease.