Aesthetics and the Police Power.

The article discusses the aesthetic considerations and the exercise of the police power in relation to public safety, order and convenience. As a practical matter in planning, aesthetic and the recognized other considerations are so interwoven and so frequently present together that consideration of situations involving pure aesthetics unmixed with the other supporting considerations gets into the courts but infrequently. So far as public property is concerned even local communities have always had the power to place control of public property in the hands of public agents, provided the legislative power of the state has delegated that power to the city, town, or other local community. Realization is growing of the public element in the appearance of private property, not only the public's pleasure or annoyance in looking at it, but the fact that its appearance has an effect in neighborhood values and community culture. Another general concept of aesthetic control is that new structures must not be either "too similar" or "too dissimilar" to their setting. Design must have some individuality, but must be harmonious.