Community and Regional Planning Program

 

Date of this Version

2008

Comments

Published in Ocean & Coastal Management 51:7 (2008), pp. 544–555; doi 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2008.06.001 Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. Used by permission. http://www.elsevierficom/locate/ocecoaman

Abstract

Local jurisdictions’ coastal zone land use plans play an important role in protecting critical coastal resources and ensuring coastal communities’ sustainable development. This study extends the previous national and regional measurement systems to local coastal zone land use planning. This study evaluates 46 California local jurisdictions’ coastal zone land use plans and analyzes the factors influencing local coastal zone land use planning capacities. The descriptive results show that planning quality varied widely in scope and content, and did not fully utilize available coastal management tools and mechanisms to influence local development patterns. The regression results further highlight the influence of planning capacity, public participation, environmental sensitivity, and contextual characteristics. Six policy recommendations are provided to improve local coastal zone land use planning capacities.

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