The County Landscape Project: Land Use Authority

A developer seeks to build new roads and a housing subdivision in a currently empty field. A solar company is planning a new generation facility in an agricultural area. An industrial facility seeks to minimize impacts on a neighboring sensitive environmental area. In all of these cases, how land is used carries profound implications for the future of the surrounding community. In every jurisdiction, policymakers must determine how to guide development while balancing economic growth, quality of life, affordability and other concerns.  

Land use policy provides the regulatory structure for determining what and where residents or developers can build. These regulations help guide development and conservation within a county and are critical to a variety of service areas, including housing, economic development, energy, environmental protection and disaster mitigation. Certain land uses are associated with particular kinds of economic activity, whether agricultural, residential commercial, industrial or mixed-use, and can have significant implications for local tax revenues, budgets and government services. Thus, it is important for land use decisions to be made at the local level by leaders who understand the peculiarities of the land within their boundaries.  

This report explores the role of counties in shaping land use policy in different states and regions across the nation. The report reviews the history of land use policy before defining current structures and authority levels, with an eye on the divide between incorporated, unincorporated and public lands, plus the role of states in granting or restricting local flexibility. Next, this report delves into different types of actual land use along with the specific issues that tend to shape land use policy in different areas. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of public lands, especially federal, and the layer of complexity these lands add to understanding land use authority in the U.S.