State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > California > Prc > 22000-22002PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE
SECTION 22000-22002
22000. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the Ventura-Los Angeles Mountain and Coastal Zone, defined in Section 22012, as the last large undeveloped area contiguous to the shoreline within the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Region, comprised of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, represents a unique and irreplaceable natural resource to the people of the state, that uses of the zone include recreation, conservation, open space, and utilization and enjoyment of the sea and the mountains, that the zone functions as an integral component of the physical and biological systems of the entire region, and to a significant, although not as yet precisely determined degree, impacts upon these essential life-support systems, that there are pressures of population growth and economic development in the zone, and that if conservation and development practices are permitted to continue in their present unplanned, uncoordinated, and haphazard manner, irreversible deterioration of the zone as a precious natural resource for the people of the entire state may ensue. 22001. The Legislature further finds and declares that current conservation and development practices may conflict with the public interest of present and future generations due to: (a) An insufficient understanding of the long-range implications of land use practices as they affect the zone and the region. (b) The uncoordinated and fragmented nature of public and private planning of development and conservation activities within the zone. (c) The lack of a comprehensive plan and program to provide for conservation and development of the zone in the best public interest. (d) The fact that no governmental mechanism exists for studying and evaluating individual projects as to their effect on the entire zone and region. 22002. The Legislature further finds and declares that in order to protect and advance the interests of the present and future generations in the zone and region, there is need to create a Ventura-Los Angeles Mountain and Coastal Study Commission to study the entire zone as well as the relationship of the zone to the region, to ascertain what is needed for balanced conservation and development, to determine a set of policies and priorities based on such studies, and to propose further legislative action to provide for implementation of these policies.
