Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, Independence Day. We celebrate America's exceptional freedoms that allow us all to strive to be the best we can be. With these freedoms come great responsibilities to ourselves and to our fellow citizens, and one of these responsibilities is not to exercise personal actions and freedoms in a manner that infringes on the rights of our neighbors.

There is a long and respected history concerning zoning laws and the benefits of same. One justification for zoning laws is that most communities prefer to establish and define how they are going to grow and what they will look like. Land use and home density varies dramatically with the interests of residents.

A second justification tends to be financial. For many homeowners, their house and land may easily represent the single biggest asset in their total net worth. The protection of the value of this asset can be paramount to their financial well-being. One way of insuring such is by maintaining the planned and consistent peculiarities of each zoned area. Major departures therefrom can seriously torpedo homeowner values as well as local ambience.

I have noticed here in Santa Fe, both city and county, that the authorities don't take this process seriously. There are continual requests for variations from zoning regulations as though the rules are set only as guidelines and are to be freely ignored to meet any applicant's selfish desire. This is done without regard for other members of the community in which they are located.

A typical example of this is taking place in the Arroyo Hondo area, which is a semi-rural community whose property owners have long enjoyed the openness of large lots, five acres or more, hiking and riding trails, jack rabbits and coyotes. It has been that way for many decades. (For full disclosure I have two kids and five grandkids who live there.)

Currently, an organization known as UDV proposes to build a temple there on a 2.5 acre lot. Members drink a tea called hoasca, which contains DMT. This potent hallucinogen may induce severe nausea and purging activity along with various degrees of incapacitation. I'm told that the congregation meets primarily late into the evening, which means that at whatever time the group regains its "sobriety" from the activities of the night, its members will be getting back on the narrow curving access roads that lead to its location.

In all, 285 of the homeowners (98 percent, plus or minus) in the community have signed a petition against this non-residential use, which seeks "Master Plan Approval for a Community Service Facility," all just fancy words for a "zoning variance." This will have a significant environmental impact on water safety and consumption, sewage disposal, street safety, night-time peace, and overall consistency of the milieu. The donor of the UDV property insists this is the only viable location for UDV's temple despite the fact that he is the only resident of the Arroyo Hondo community who is a member of this church.

Unfortunately, the presentations pro and con have focused on the "legality" of the proposal, whereas it seems to me it is the likely inappropriateness of the project that should be the deciding factor. Why would UDV want to be the proverbial "skunk at a picnic" when reasonable alternatives are possible?

The county commissioners have been tasked with making a decision whether or not to grant approval to this zoning abnormality and are under significant pressure by the owner's lawyers to grant the variation under a thinly veiled threat of suit if they don't concur. Is this a case devoid of good sense and sensibility? Does money always have to win the day, or can the county actually recognize that there are times when bending the rules does not produce the best results for the community? Should zoning variations be granted that impact the entire community when within 10 to 15 minutes of this location, there are wide open spaces where this temple would neither disrupt nor endanger anyone? Our freedoms require responsibility and respect for our neighbors.

Santa Fean Gregg Bemis is an industrialist/adventurer and concerned senior citizen.