HTown, I understand your ideals about "liberty". You can still find no-zoning areas in a few states, mostly in rural locations. But liberty to one person is a blight to another -- this is where zoning laws come in.
In most populated communities (suburbs and cities), zoning laws are not only accepted but necessary and desirable. It's not landowners who are "sovereigns" ... it's state and local governments. The concept of being "king" of your land is long gone, although restrictions vary by state and region. As you say, with lots of acreage, you can get away with things that you couldn't in denser areas b/c your actions on a big parcel don't have the same impact on your neighbor as they might in a city or suburb.
Zoning isn't just personal preference either (although aesthetics are a valid zoning principle). It's also about land values and tax base. You might not mind having a KFC put up next to your residence. But most people WOULD mind .. especially when they realize that KFC means 24 lights, fights, fumes and noise in the parking lot, trash and drunks pissing on their shrubs after a late-night "bucket", etc. This kind of incompatible use would have a detrimental affect on value ... a house with a KFC next to it is probably worth far less than one in a properly-zoned residential area. So liberty, like all legal principles, has its limits .. reached where it impinges on the rights of others.
I'd say the trend is toward MORE, not fewer, restrictions. Gated communities and HOA's are relatively new -- b/c people don't want their peace and quiet disturbed, or their home values diminished, by incompatible property uses. I think this was the point Xc84 was making.
