SUBSTANCE OF PLANS
Recommendation:
Include carrying capacity and cumulative and secondary impact information in local land use plans.
Result:
The 1995 revised land use planning guidelines require local governments to examine their ability to provide
community services to meet anticipated demand. The guidelines require analysis of wastewater management,
drinking water supply, transportation, and other community facilities and services. The new guidelines also
encourage local governments to study: problems of multiple water uses; impacts of unplanned development on water
quality; and the relationships between land use and water quality. The Land Use Plan Review Team will address
the level of analysis that should be conducted by local governments.
PLANNING PROCESS
Recommendation:
Increase public participation in land use planning.
Result:
The revised guidelines require that meetings be advertised in multiple ways (not just through a legal notice),
encourage the involvement of nonresident property owners and require an assessment of the effectiveness of the
citizen participation effort. District planners encourage local governments to hold additional public hearings
especially when controversial issues are being discussed or when substantial changes are made to a final draft. The
Division of Coastal Management is developing a brochure on land use planning and public involvement.
Recommendation:
Educate local officials and increase their role in land use planning.
Result:
District planners generally make a presentation to local officials at the beginning of the planning process, with
continued informal discussions throughout the process. The 1995 guidelines require that the final land use plan
include a description of how local elected officials were involved in all aspects of plan development. In the next
two years, the Division of Coastal Management plans to develop audiovisual tools and other public information
materials to help district and local planners involve local officials and the public in the land use planning process.
Recommendation:
Increase the Coastal Resources Advisory Councils (CRAC) role in land use planning. Improve the plan review process
by identifying major changes in a plan to the CRC.
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