Under the Law on Spatial Planning and Development of 27 March 2003, many municipalities and cities in Poland are obligated to draw up a zoning plan – one of the main instruments (in addition to the budget, local development program of a territorial unit, and the feasibility study) for the implementation of local economic policy. This situation exposes local government units to considerable financial implications associated with the adoption of the plan and its consequences. In the current formal and legal reality, urbanization and space management generate huge costs, resulting in negative financial results. Failing to prepare the local plan can protect municipal budget from those costs, on the other hand, as a consequence the lack of such plan prevents rational implementation of spatial planning. This can lead to investment activities conducted under random, uncoordinated decisions, and even to urban chaos. The article makes an attempt to analyze this problem, presented on the basis of pertinent laws, and insights arising from the direct experience of the author – as a practitioner who handles the contents of local development plans daily.