California Supplemental (CSE) Practice Exam

In which type of jurisdiction would you expect the planning department to be a County Agency?

1. Incorporated City Projects

2. Unincorporated Areas

3. Urban Developments

4. Industrial Zones

The correct answer is: Unincorporated Areas

The correct answer pertains to unincorporated areas because these regions are not governed by a local municipal corporation, which means they do not have their own city government. Instead, they fall under the jurisdiction of the county, and the planning department that manages development and land use regulations in these areas is typically part of the county government. In unincorporated areas, the county agency is responsible for overseeing zoning, land use planning, and other community development needs. This structure allows for consistent regulations across larger geographic areas that may not have the population density or tax base to support a city government. Incorporated city projects would typically involve city or municipal agencies, making the role of the county planning department less significant in those contexts. Similarly, urban developments can be situated within either incorporated or unincorporated territories, but when these developments fall within a city's jurisdiction, they are not managed by the county agency. Industrial zones may exist in both incorporated and unincorporated areas, but when referring to planning authority, unincorporated zones remain in the purview of the county. Therefore, the relationship between jurisdiction and agency responsibility clearly identifies unincorporated areas as the correct context for county agency involvement in planning.