The Director of Planning is appointed by the Governor with Senate advice and consent. The Director serves on the Governor's Executive Council; the State Information Technology Board; the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission; the Patuxent River Commission; the Maryland Greenways Commission; the Scenic and Wild Rivers Review Board; the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland; the Metropolitan Development Policy Committee of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; the Interagency Committee on School Construction; and the Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs.
Under the Office are State and Local Planning, and Planning Data Services. The Office also is aided by the State Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Commission; the Interagency Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Committee; and the Patuxent River Commission.
STATE ECONOMIC GROWTH, RESOURCE PROTECTION, & PLANNING COMMISSION
The Commission has seventeen members. Fifteen are appointed by the Governor to four-year terms. One member is a senator chosen by the Senate President, and one is a delegate selected by the House Speaker. The chair is named by the Governor. Authorization for the Commission continues until July 1, 2003 (Code State Finance and Procurement Article, secs. 5-701 through 5-708).
Under the Commission are five subcommittees: Environment and Economic Development; Interjurisdictional Coordination; Planning; Planning Techniques; and Review of Planning and Zoning Legislation.
INTERAGENCY ECONOMIC GROWTH, RESOURCE PROTECTION, & PLANNING COMMITTEE
The Committee consists of ten members. Nine serve ex officio. One represents the Office of the Governor. The Director of Planning is the chair.
PATUXENT RIVER COMMISSION
The Commission has thirty-four members. Twenty-eight are appointed by the Governor to four-year terms. Six serve ex officio (Code State Finance and Procurement Article, secs. 5-812 through 5-816).
For each county and the City of Baltimore, projections of population, housing, public school enrollment, employment, and income are prepared. These projections are used by State and local government agencies as well as the private sector.
Planning Data Services maintains statistical data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and other information sources. Such data includes population, housing, employment, income, and education. The office also maintains a computerized system that geographically references data on the physical and cultural attributes of the State.
Planning Data Services helps maintain the State's 2,800 automated property maps and their linkage via x,y reference points to the two-million parcel database of the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.
This information is accessible to government agencies and the private sector on CD-ROM as MdProperty View for use with off-the-shelf viewing software and standard personal computers.
Planning Data Services oversees four units: Geographic Information Systems; Property Mapping Division; Research and State Data Center; and Systems Support.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
PROPERTY MAPPING DIVISION
RESEARCH & STATE DATA CENTER
SYSTEMS SUPPORT
COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING
PLANNING ASSISTANCE & REVIEW
To help counties and municipalities comply with the requirements of the Planning Act, Local Planning Assistance prepares technical models and guidelines. It administers technical assistance grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission for studies that ensure compliance with the Act and help communities realize economic development opportunities and meet objectives. To manage growth and solve problems, it offers education and outreach programs. Circuit rider staff assists Eastern Shore municipalities in implementing Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Protection programs. Local Planning Assistance consults with, guides, and advises county and municipal staff, citizen planning commissions, and elected officials through four regional offices at Annapolis, Centreville, Cumberland, and Salisbury.
? Copyright Maryland State Archives
In 1992, the State Planning Commission was reformed as the State Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Commission (Chapter 437, Acts of 1992). As an advisory board to the Office of Planning, the Commission is concerned with development issues and regional or metropolitan planning areas. The Commission fosters public awareness and understanding of the objectives and functions of State and local planning.
The Interagency Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Committee was formed by the Governor in 1992 (Executive Order 01.01.1992.27). The Committee helps implement the State Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Policy (Chapter 437, Acts of 1992). State projects are reviewed for consistency with the Policy by the Committee. To assure that State investments in infrastructure and resource protection comply with the Policy, the Committee also coordinates State plans, programs, and projects which affect the timing, type, and location of development.
Created in 1980, the Patuxent River Commission reviews the operation of State and local agencies in regard to the Patuxent River (Chapter 746, Acts of 1980). It provides a clearinghouse for watershed information, reviews plans, and comments on reports and development projects impacting the river. The Commission prepares the Patuxent River Policy Plan. To update the Plan, it considers draft amendments every five years. The Commission also serves as the Tributary Strategy Team for the Patuxent Watershed, coordinating the Patuxent Tributary Strategy with the Plan.
PLANNING DATA SERVICES
Planning Data Services collects, analyzes, and publishes social, economic and geographic information for planning purposes. This office provides a data base for use by State and local government agencies, and the general public.
Geographic Information Systems was organized in 1989 to provide technical assistance to State and local governments in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Assistance relates to socio-economic information, as well as natural resources and land use. This unit maintains an up-to-date electronic base map of roads and related features with street names, address ranges, and point locations of every property in the State.
Formed in 1980, the Research and State Data Center provides for the development of data bases to assist in planning for the overall growth and development of the State. The Center provides information from decennial censuses and is concerned with historical and projected data on population, housing, employment, personal income, business establishments, parcels, and school enrollment. The Center works to improve access to and use of statistical data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and other federal and State sources.
Created in 1989, Systems Support provides in-depth hardware, software, Internet, imaging and database management support. The unit typically provides specialized microcomputer, mainframe and networking skills to support projects such as the development of a World Wide Web connection to distribute census information and socio-economic projections via the Internet. File transfer support services also are provided. Systems Support provides leadership for the Data Standards Subcommittee of the Maryland State Government Geographic Information Coordinating Committee and data aggregations and analysis for a variety of projects.
STATE & LOCAL PLANNING
State and Local Planning oversees Comprehensive Planning, and Planning Assistance and Review.
Comprehensive Planning prepares studies and plans for the State's development. Special attention is accorded land use and growth, transportation and public infrastructure, agriculture and forest preservation, restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay, open space and recreation planning, and implementation of the Patuxent River Policy Plan.
Planning Assistance and Review began in 1989 as Local Planning Assistance and received its present name in 1994. This office is responsible for two sections: Local Planning Assistance, and Plan and Project Review.
LOCAL PLANNING ASSISTANCE
Local Planning Assistance helps local governments to articulate critical problems, identify opportunities and resources, develop long-range comprehensive plans, and implement programs for economic growth and resource protection. This office provides technical services mandated by State laws, especially the Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Act and the Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas Act.