Local‐regional interaction in the development of coastal land‐use policies: A case study of Metropolitan Los Angeles

Abstract

Abstract Current efforts to create coastal management systems have emphasized the need to preserve rural and less developed areas. Because of this, too little attention has been given to problems of coastal resource management in large metropolitan regions. This study examines the coastal policies of local governments in the Los Angeles area before and after the passage of the California Coastal Conservation Act of 1972. The Act transferred control over coastal development from the city and county to the regional and state levels. It is argued that the very large socioeconomic and political scale of a metropolitan region requires that local governments have a more direct role in planning and permit‐granting processes than was possible under the 1972 Act. Nevertheless, it is concluded that the elimination of regional agencies and their dual function of focusing discussion and acting on certain aspects of coastal policy—as was done in the California Coastal Act of 1976—may produce yet another set of problems for managing a metropolitan coastline.