In my posts on property rights(here, here, and here) I illustrated that such rights have been eroded over time, especially since the 1930s. Today it is often the case that you can own, technically, a piece of property but be unable to make use of it as you determine is in your best interest.  Ayn Rand discusses this on her essay “The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus.”

Ownership without control is a contradiction in terms: it means “property,” without the right to use it or to dispose of it. It means that citizens retain the responsibility of holding property, without any of its advantages, while the government acquires all the advantages without any of the responsibility.

Today, given such things as zoning laws and property taxes, a property (in this case real estate) owner can be prohibited from using his property in a way that he deems most productive.  This in turn could prevent his earning the money necessary to pay his property taxes, which in turn will allow the government (in Vermont it would be the town) to seize the property and sell it.