Danielle Chancellor-Checketts is the mother of nine children, a homeowner, a small business owner, and a licensed midwife. When Checketts and her husband built their home in Honeyville last year, they decided that rather than purchase and renovate a building for her clinic that they would change their home design to include a small business space in what would have been the mother-in-law suit.
The area has a small, exam room where Checketts can see and attend to her patients in a more comfortable and intimate environment. It also allows her to stay close to her young baby and care for her other children without having to leave the house.
“I see maybe 3-4 patients at a time with maybe one birth per month,” said Checketts. “That is my cap. It lets me care for my patients and really get to know them, know their story without having to look in a chart.”
Her home clinic also has a room set up for mothers who want the experience of a homebirth, but don’t have a comfortable place to do so. This often includes young expectant mothers who still live with parents because of financial issues, or those who don’t feel comfortable giving birth in their rented home. Checketts’ room gives them another alternative other than a hospital.
Checketts, who has been practicing midwifery for 15 years and has personally attended the births of over 100 babies, approached the City of Honeyville from the get-go to ensure her home would be in compliance. She also inquired about a business license.
“We contacted the City first; and we did everything they asked of us,” Checketts said. “I'm a very honest person. I never wanted to do anything that wasn't okay.”
The City gave Checketts a list of regulations that she willingly incorporated into her home and abided by. However, she wasn’t ever required to apply for, or obtain a business license though she asked each time she met with City officials. However, that soon changed after Checketts moved in and began attending to her patients.
After a neighbor called to complain about Checketts’ home business, the City called, apologized and said she would have to go through the whole process of applying for and getting a business license. This included final approval from the Honeyville City Council. However, the permit was denied based on a zoning issue. Checketts’ home is located in an agricultural zone that doesn’t permit her to run a home-based business.
Checketts didn’t get discouraged with the Council’s initial ruling of improper zoning. She plowed ahead to yet another City Council meeting—this time to discuss one of two options. The first was to rezone a portion of land, including the property owned by Checketts, as a medical zone that would then allow her to practice midwifery from her home. Checketts didn’t feel this was the best solution since she would then have to declare her business a hospital, something she felt would draw criticism from the medical community.
“They want me to be deemed a hospital. I’m not a hospital, I’m just a house,” said Checketts. “I have one bed. I don’t see anyone off the street, I don’t do surgery.”
The second option was to grant Checketts a conditional-use permit for a home-based business under personal services. This, Checketts felt, was the better fit for what she offers to her patients.
Unfortunately, neither option was heard in the June 2014 meeting. Instead, several individuals came and were allowed to give opinions about Checketts’ services rather than the issues of zoning.
“I've always been treated as a professional,” said Checketts. “I have never felt that I was a ‘witch’ until this last meeting.” Several people stood up in opposition to Checketts. “What I heard was a lot of fear, a lot of misunderstanding about what it is that I really do.” As a result, the Council gave Checketts a 30-day conditional-use permit. Though a final decision is yet to be made, the Council did encourage Checketts to find another venue for her business.
It is common for city planning commissions and councils to dictate the proper use of land within their city boundaries. Zoning, rezoning, annexation and building permits all have their required set of rules to follow and steps of order before rights to use the land can be granted. Found in both State and local statutes, territory laws exist in order for governments to ensure order and beautification of the land within their jurisdiction.
But even when all the steps are carefully followed, the power still rests with elected officials to determine whether or not the ideas of personal property development fit in their vision for the city. If the council feels indifferent to the request a simple no vote prohibits private property owners from doing anything with, or on their property.
The Founding Fathers recognized the importance of a citizen's right to own personal property and ensured laws to safeguard that right. In his Essay of Property, published in March of 1792, James Madison wrote that property "is that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual." Madison further explained that "as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his right."
Madison cautioned that "where an excess of power prevails, property of not sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions."
Laws makers point to land regulation as necessary in order to ensure public safety, preserve a way of life or maintain beautification of their cities. However, sometimes those regulations stand in the way of private property owners exercising their right to "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
While traditionally governments have worked to protect individual property owners, recent legislation and court decisions have started to challenges these rights.
As part of the principal dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote of the decision that "Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."
O'Connor continued that this decision eliminates "any distinction between private and public use of property — and thereby effectively delete[s] the words 'for public use' from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment."
While the thought of even the Supreme Court's removing more liberties from private property owners is disheartening and even scary, it is important to understand that power still rests in the hands of the American citizens.
Checketts is still fighting for the right to run her business on her own private property and has already received legal advice from an attorney.
“It is my property and I feel that I have a Constitutional right to do what I want with it. I feel discriminated against because of my profession, I feel wronged as a property owner. This is my property. I should be allowed do whatever I want on it as long as it isn't illegal, immoral and unethical. I don't think any city should tell someone what they should or shouldn't do on their property. They can do a lot of good, or they can do a lot of harm and right now they aren't doing anyone any good.”
The Sentinel News attempted to contact a member of the Honeyville City Council for comment, but did not receive an answer back before the deadline.
