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National
Coastal Zone Managers Have Flexibility to Better Manage Rapid Development
With counties along the nation's seacoasts and Great Lakes containing less than 17 percent of its land but 53 percent of its population now and another 12 million within ten years, and with 56 of 58 coastal zone managers already most concerned about growth pressures on local resources, such counties not only need more lifeguards on the beaches, writes EPA's Development, Community and Environment Division Senior Policy Analyst Lynn Richards, ''they need more people paying attention to how these coastal communities are growing.''
What happens on land is ''critical to protecting the beach, the coast, and all the critters in the water,'' she observes on the Planetizen web page, glad that coastal protection professionals understand this aspect of growth very clearly.
''If your job is to protect the habitat of an aquatic species, addressing issues of where and how growth occurs in the areas near or adjacent to the coast naturally becomes part of your job description,'' she writes, stressing that coastal zone managers or their federal counterparts who want to do more don't need to wait for the upcoming congressional debate on the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), its funding and possible new bills.
''Right now there is a considerable flexibility in the federal and state guidelines for coastal zone management funding,'' the EPA analyst notes. ''Local and state coastal programs can reallocate some of their existing resources to better engage on growth issues in their communities.''
She offers some advice. Coastal zone managers could see if local land-use or development rules are helping or hindering site redevelopment for which incentives could include ''different stormwater requirements, density bonuses, local support for infrastructure, or streamlined permitting.''
The more incentives a community can create to direct future growth to areas already degraded, such as ''vacant properties, abandoned parking lots, or underutilized buildings or shopping centers, the more coastal resources will be protected as the net environmental impact from growth is reduced or maybe even eliminated.''
The managers, she continues, could also work with communities to assess and revise their guidelines for roads, streets and parking lots, to minimize the extent of impervious surfaces and their runoff that harms beaches and shores.
The challenge for coastal communities -- and coastal zone managers -- is to balance the opportunities the coming growth provides ''while protecting and respecting the very resources that made these communities attractive -- our stunning beaches and coastlines,'' she concludes. ''We may very well find out that our coastal managers are just as important to our wellbeing as those lifeguards.'' -- Planetizen.com 5/2/2007
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