Coastal Planning: The Designation and Management of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

This Article will first briefly examine legislation in several states concerning the designation and management of areas of particular concern. Attention will be focused on the North Carolina statute, which lodges much of the responsibility for critical area planning and management in a state-level administrative body. Secondly, two broad areas of legal problems-the limitations of administrative law and the constitutional restrictions of due process and equal protection as they apply to these administrative processes-will be discussed in light of the North Carolina planning scheme. A third section will discuss the troublesome taking problem and how agencies can minimize the risk that their actions will be found to be unconstitutional takings for public purposes without just compensation.