Pursuant to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan for CY 1997-2007, the land areas of the municipality was classified into residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, institutional and other classification.

Residential Area

Residential houses for the past ten years are increased by 100%.  Remote areas of the four poblacion barangays of the area are now occupied with subdivision projects by land owners.  In general, the residential area will be towards the western, central and eastern portion of the municipality.

At present, the remaining coconut land inside the Poblacion is continuously converted into residential areas by the owners.  Only the irrigated rice lands of barangay Lopoc and Imelda are strictly prohibited for conversion.

Agricultural Area

Pursuant to Administrative Order No. 20 and Memorandum Circular No. 54, S. 1993 which limits the conversion of prime agricultural land to other purpose, the areas that are non-convertible to other use shall be preserved and protected.  Considering the future expansion of the functional areas that need additional and spatial requirements, the agricultural areas not restricted by existing laws, rules, and regulations for conversion to other uses will be minimally reduced by 4367.2367 areas or about 3.49% of the total agricultural area of Labason.  This proportion is within the limitations prescribed under the aforementioned rules and regulations which authorized the Local Government Unit to reclassify agricultural lands into non-agricultural uses up to 5% for fourth to sixth class municipalities.

At present, agricultural land of Labason is 11,272.5234 hectares.

Commercial Area

The commercial center of the municipality is located at the heart of the Poblacion occupying approximately 9.46 hectares.  With the development of the town and increasing commercial activities, additional commercial areas are needed for commercial development.

The present market site in the Poblacion remains as the center of commercial area and this business center extends along Padre Zamora Street, the busiest municipal road.  However, in the anticipation of the increase in commercial activities, the commercial area requires an expansion.  Considering the growth of business activities in the Poblacion the area located at the northwestern portion of the present market site is identified for commercial usage expansion.

Industrial Area

The existing industrial establishments located within the residential area of the Poblacion will be allowed to continue its present operation provided they comply with existing pollution rules and regulations.  Expansion of said establishments must be controlled within their existing properties to prevent further intrusion into areas intended for other purposes and to minimize the adverse impact on the surrounding residential units.

Industrial establishments operating in the municipality are mostly rice and corn mills and vehicle service shop (vulcanizing and repair).  In coming days, industrial establishment shall be located outside the poblacion preferably going east from Dansalan going to Patawag.  In this manner ill-effect of pollution will be prevented.

Institutional Area

Included in this category are those utilized by the government, religious institution, educational institution.  Present area inside the poblacion alone is almost 10 hectares.  The need for an additional institutional area will be felt more as general population increases which usually result for a demand for more basic social services.  To confront this situation, an additional of 4.4883 hectares of land will be set aside for expansion.  This is to be situated on the western portion of the Poblacion particularly the former BLISS area.

Others

Municipal Park.  The area occupied by the Municipal Plaza is enough and efficient to meet the need of the residents.  The existing children’s playground and sports facilities within the said municipal park really need to be developed and maintained for the use of town people.

Cemetery.  Labason has 4 cemeteries as follows; Municipal Cemeteries at Lopoc, Patawag and Osukan and a Private Cemetery at Lopoc.  The existing areas of these cemeteries are still wide enough to accommodate more niches and/or burial considering the number of deaths as recorded by the Local Civil Registrar which is relatively low.

Dumping Site (Sanitary Land Fill). Pursuant to the laws on solid management, a permanent dumping site for garbage and other solid wastes is situated in Barangay Balas, about nine kilometers from the Poblacion.  It has  an area of at least 20,000 square meters.  The said sanitary land fill is far from any spring, lake, or any water suitable for drinking as studied by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.   Further, the same could accommodate garbage and wastes for the next fifteen to twenty years.

Forest Area.  Section 16 of the Presidential Decree 705, otherwise known as the “Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines” provides that the national park are needed for the forest purposes and may not, therefore, be classified as alienable and disposable land.  Some of the forestland in Labason located in Barangay San Isidro, Lapatan, Gabu, New Salvacion, Balas and Immaculada may fall under the national park of the province of Zamboanga del Norte.  The same must be protected and preserved.

The Lapatan Watershed is one of the critical watersheds of the Province of Zamboanga del Norte protected under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) category.  In order to preserve the springs, which are sources of potable water in the municipality, the residents of Labason must do reforestation.

Table 2.1. General Land Use

Source: Municipal Assessor’s Office and CLUP
Table 2.2. Existing Urban Land Use

Table 2.3. Built-Up Areas

Table 2.4. Declared and Undeclared Land Area Per Barangay

Source: Municipal Assessor’s Office and CLUP