What Planners and Land Use Professionals Understand About Karst

Abstract

Developing a comprehensive understanding of the impact and effectiveness of karst-related land use regulations requires accurate knowledge of what these regulations actually do and how they work. To that end, land use planners and related professionals in six states were surveyed regarding their knowledge, understanding and opinions of karst-related land use regulations in their local areas. The survey’s questions touched on six broad themes in karst protection regulation, including karst knowledge in the planning community, pervasiveness of karst regulations, preferred regulatory techniques, the motivations that drove implementation of these regulations, the influence of different stakeholder groups on the process, and the overall effectiveness of the regulations. This chapter describes and analyzes the results of this survey and makes several recommendations regarding karst-related land use regulation based on the responses of survey participants.