Too many conservatives believe local government zoning reform — perhaps the kind of state reform Utah’s governor has been talking about — is a liberal plot.

Instead, if done correctly, it could restore property rights and basic freedoms, two things that perk ears on the right.

That was the gist of an essay published a few years ago by the free-market-promoting Cato Institute, written by Vanessa Brown Calder, who at the time was director of opportunity and family policy studies at the think tank.

“Conservatives may not realize just how far American property rights have already eroded, but no doubt a quick glance at their local zoning code will remedy that,” Calder wrote.

In Utah, meanwhile, Gov. Spencer Cox recently told the Deseret News he wants the state to get more aggressive in

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