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I, <br />I. Introduction <br />Description of the Land Use Element <br />The public outreach process is an important component of the process to update the <br />LUE of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is a support <br />document that sets goals, objectives and policies that guides regulation decisions <br />concerning development and redevelopment throughout the County. Although there are <br />several elements of the Comprehensive Plan, the Land Use Element is the unifying <br />component that spatially links the other elements. These other elements include the <br />following: <br />• Transportation <br />• Housing <br />• Economic Development <br />• Open Space (includes natural resources) <br />• Recreation <br />• Services and Facilities <br />• Water Resources <br />The LUE sets policy guidelines to determine what types of use and /or development <br />should occur and where in Orange County each type of development is most <br />appropriate. To ensure an appropriate and desirable pattern of land use, Orange <br />County must coordinate its land use guidelines with other Comprehensive Plan <br />components and base them upon projections about the future state of the County. The <br />LUE is based on an analysis of economic and demographic forces contributing to the <br />existing land use pattern and forecasts future conditions. It presumes that the County <br />can exert some measure of control over its future character by understanding the <br />factors, which defined its past and present character. Analyzing social, environmental <br />and economic factors allows the County to make conscious decisions about what is <br />desirable and appropriate concerning the future management, growth and development <br />of Orange County. <br />I-B -1 <br />