The government has the power of eminent domain. Eminent domain allows the government to condemn your property and provide you with just compensation. If the landowner feels land value has decreased due to a government action, he/she can sue. This process is known as inverse condemnation. Inverse condemnation must be widely used considering 90% of the google search websites for "inverse condemnation" came up as advertisements for law firm willing to fight inverse condemnation. The below article is an interesting read on property rights and inverse condemnation:
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20000928_condemnation.htm
Zoning is the process of dividing a community's land into districts in which only certain uses of the land are allowed. Unlike most cities, Houston technically has no zoning laws. Houston regualtes its land use by letting economics take care of itself rather than placing government restrictions and regulations. The real estate market in Houston forces property to be used in ways that get their highest and best use out of them. This automatically pushes manufacturing plants to the outskirts of the city while building shopping centers, housing districts, and office space in the areas where they will perform the best.
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2007/10/how_houston_gets_along_without_zoning.html
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