State Land Planning and Regulation: Innovative Roles in the 1980s and Beyond

Abstract

Before the 1970s, land planning and regulation were considered primarily a local government concern. Most states had adopted, in some form, the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act and Standard City Planning Enabling Act prepared by the U.S. Department of Commerce in the 1920s. Through these enabling acts, state legislatures had largely delegated responsibility for the management of community development to cities and counties. This comfortable system of local land planning and regulation began to change in the 1970s.