| Summary: | The management of the coastal zone is a complex task facing all three levels of Canadian
Government. While academic research and public attention tend to focus on federal and
provincial agencies, the role of local government has been left largely unexplored. This thesis
examines the role of local government in coastal zone management in British Columbia and
evaluates local government’s contribution to the management of the coastal zone based on the
performance of local planning policies in the coastal community of Richmond, B.C.
Coastal zone management (C.Z.M.) is a specialized subset of contemporary resource
management models having three hierarchically integrated components representing biophysical,
socio-economic and institutional subsystems. A literature review yielded many management
issues of which seven were selected to reflect the local government experience in C.Z.M. The
seven issues are: Habitat Conservation, Water Quality, Coastal Hazards, Public Access and
Aesthetics, Public Input, Water Dependency and Interjurisdictional Coordination.
The evaluation of Richmond’s C.Z.M. policies was undertaken using a methodology
similar to those employed by Rosentraub (1975) and Jessen et al. (1983). A retrospective
analysis of Development Permit Application files processed between 1988 and 1991 was
employed in the evaluation of existing policies contained within Richmond’s Official Community
Plan. While the exact extent of local responsibilities remains poorly defined by existing
legislation, local regulatory powers in C.Z.M. were determined to be nonetheless significant.
The British Columbia Municipal Act provided a considerable amount of regulatory authority for
each of the seven coastal zone management issues, namely in the form of Zoning bylaws,
Official Community Plan bylaws and Development Permits.
The findings indicate that Richmond’s existing policies displayed limited effectiveness
concerning the management of C.Z.M. issues such as Habitat Conservation, Water Quality,
Coastal Hazards and Interjurisdictional Coordination. However, the results also suggested that
local policies addressing coastal zone issues such as public access and aesthetics were effective.
Furthermore, explicit policies for Water Dependency and Public Input were non existent.
Several recommendations were made in this thesis. The first is an expanded recognition
of C.Z.M. as a local government concern and responsibility. Further recommendations include
increased interjurisdictional involvement, greater public access to waterfront surrounding
industrial sites and discouraging the pressure to develop in the floodplain. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of === Graduate
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