Land Use

The use of land is an important area of public policy determination. While most land use development is financed privately, each increment of urban growth inevitably exerts a demand on public facilities and services, and in the aggregate such increments require the investment of public capital in new or improved facilities and utilities. While detailed land use problems are primarily of local concern, the aggregate effects of changing land use activities are regional in scope. These aggregate effects not only can lead to a demand for new transportation and utility facilities, but also exert a demand upon a limited natural resource base. It is for these reasons that SEWRPC maintains a land use database and uses that data in preparing and maintaining current a regional land use plan. That regional land use plan, in turn, provides the fundamental basis for the preparation of other regional plans dealing with transportation, utility, and community facilities.