Laws and bylaws are regularly challenged for their effectiveness in containing urbanisation sprawl and, conversely, for the constraints they put on development projects. From a French case study, we used survival analysis to disentangle a complex mix of influences on the distribution of residential construction over a 42-year observation period at plot scale when almost everything changes simultaneously. We found that integrated laws and bylaws can slow down coastal urbanisation but do not stop it. Although land planning is becoming more effective, it still provides ample opportunity for residential development because other factors, like distance to existing infrastructure, exert a far stronger influence than the protection of coastal areas. Therefore, this article contributes to filling a knowledge gap about the founding role of public policies on land use dynamics.