The Plan shall be guided by, but not limited to, the United Nations (UN) Global Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (A/CONF.167/9) and the UN’s Sustainable Development goals, each as determined applicable to Guåhan. It shall contain specific elements as follows:

(a) Land Use. A land-use element together with the appropriate zoning recommendations supporting distribution, location and the extent of uses of land for housing, business, industry, agriculture, recreation, education, public buildings, open space, conservation and other categories of public and private uses of land, which include islands, reef and lagoon areas, and the sea within the territorial waters, inclusive of a statement of the standards of population and building density and building intensity for the various districts and other areas covered by the Plan, and regulatory criteria governing the use, development and subdivision of land.

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(b) Community Design. A community design element consisting of standards and principles governing the subdivision and development of land and showing recommended designs for community and neighborhood development and redevelopment, including sites for schools, parks, playgrounds, and other community uses.

(c) Transportation. A transportation element which would provide a comprehensive transportation and circulation system consisting of existing and proposed major routes, thoroughfares, highways, and collector streets; locations of rights-of-way, terminals, viaducts, and grade separation, port, harbor, aviation and mass transit lines, and related facilities, all of which are correlated with the land use element of the Plan. This element shall include necessary investments in improving and expanding public transportation, which directly affect overall employment and economic efficiency and productivity.

(d) Regulations. A regulatory element concerning parking facilities and building setback lines and the delineations of such systems on the land, a system of street naming, housing and building numbering, and such other matters as may be related to the improvement of circulation of traffic.

(e) Public Facilities. A public services and facilities element showing general plans for sewage, refuse disposal, drainage, and local utilities, and rights-of-way, easements, and facilities for them.

(f) Public Lands. A public lands element that provides an inventory of all government of Guam and federal lands, and plans for their maintenance, improvements, conservations, and potential uses for the benefit of the community.

(g) Public Buildings. A public buildings element identifying locations and arrangement of civic and community centers, public schools, libraries, police and fire stations, and other public buildings, including their architecture and the landscape treatment of their grounds.

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(h) Housing. A housing element consisting of standards and plans for elimination of substandard dwelling conditions and homelessness, the improvement of housing, and the provision of adequate sites for housing.

(i) Redevelopment. A redevelopment element for the elimination of unsafe or blighted areas, community redevelopment and the revitalization of housing sites, business and industrial sites, public building sites, and for other purposes authorized by law.

(j) Conservation. A conservation element to guide the conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources, including forests, soils, rivers and other waters, harbors, fisheries, coral reefs, wildlife, threatened and endangered species, minerals, and other natural resources which, as sub-elements, may also incorporate the following:

(1) reclamation or restoration of land and waters; (2) floodplain management and flood control;
(3) prevention and control of pollution of streams and other waters;

(4) regulations of the use of land in stream channels and conservation areas;

(5) prevention, control, and correction of the erosion of soils, beaches, and shores;

(6) protection of watersheds, rare natural communities, and habitats for threatened and endangered species; and

(7) protection of coral reefs and productive seas in marine protected areas.

(k) Recreation. A recreation element establishing a comprehensive system of areas and public sites for recreation, including the following and, when appropriate, their locations and proposed development:
(1) natural reservations; (2) parks;

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(3) parkways; (4) beaches;
(5) reefs and lagoons; (6) playgrounds;
(7) historic and archaeological sites; (8) scenic and historic trails; and
(9) other recreation areas.

(l) Safety. A safety element for the protection of the community from natural and human-made hazards, including features necessary for such protection such as evacuation routes, peak load water supply requirements, minimum road widths, clearances around structures, and geologic hazard mapping in areas of known geologic hazards.

(m) Tourism. A visitor industry element which will establish cooperation and coordination between the public and private sectors to provide for a shared vision and steady and regulated growth within the visitor industry, while developing the industry in a manner that will continue to provide new business and job opportunities and steady employment for the people of Guam, and which will enable Guam’s people to obtain job training and education geared for upward job mobility within the industry; and this element shall support the CHamoru culture and cultural programs, as well as other community programs which contribute to enhancing Guam as a visitor destination.

(n) Sustainable Development Policy. A short and long- range socioeconomic development strategy to include policy, opportunities, and programs to address or alleviate problems concerning disparities based on socio-economic status, affordable and accessible health services, communicable and non-communicable diseases and health-related issues, labor planning, employment opportunity, education, elimination of poverty, law enforcement, welfare, substandard housing and homelessness, consumer protection, public revenue and expenditures, cultural heritage preservation, visitor industry,

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and the like, to include population characteristics and economic analysis with projections for each region and sub- region of the island. The policy shall also provide for renewable energy, zero waste and sustainable materials management, and a comprehensive approach to combating climate change through reduction of greenhouse emissions and our carbon footprint.

(o) Capital Improvements. A short and long-range capital improvements program and projects to be derived from public and private input and compiled from schedules of proposed capital improvements submitted to the Bureau of Statistics and Plans by each department, agency, division, board, commission, branch, and instrumentality of the government of Guam; and which shall provide recommendations and identify programs for the sustainable development of the island’s port, highway, communication, and public transportation facilities, including, but not limited to, institutions of higher learning, health and welfare facilities, correctional institutions, elementary and secondary schools, electric power, water, telecommunications, sewer, solid waste, and other utility facilities.

(p) Preservation. A preservation element that has both short and long-range programs to ensure the maintenance, preservation, safeguarding, promotion, and continued identification of cultural and historical sites, to include natural resources and resource areas.

(q) Indigenous Connections and Rights. This element shall reflect indigenous CHamoru concepts of cultural and ancestral connections to Guam’s heritage, land, sea, air, the environment, and all that is native and endemic within it. The continuation of the CHamoru culture and cultural identity are predicated on the recognition and protection of indigenous connections and rights to their homeland throughout the government of Guam.

(r) Community Mental Health, Physical Health and Well-being. An element that takes into consideration the many types of impacts that different developments and government actions can have on the mental and physical

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health and well-being of our community, especially, but not limited to, that of the indigenous CHamoru people.

(s) Policy Statements. A statement of specific policies for at least each of the following general areas: socioeconomic and human resource development, natural resource development, environmental protection, historical and cultural preservation, public safety, housing and community development, education, land-use and population growth, the visitor industry, and other areas deemed appropriate by the Bureau of Statistics and Plans.

(t) Other Elements. Such additional elements dealing with other subjects, which in the judgment of the Bureau of Statistics and Plans relate to the physical development of Guam.

SOURCE: GC § 62020 reenacted by P.L. 20-147 (Mar. 21, 1990). Amended by P.L. 35-110:6 (Dec. 1, 2020).