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 Administration, State and Local Planning, and Planning Data Services. The Office also is aided by the State Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Commission; and the Patuxent River Commission.
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).
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 three subcommittees: Environment and Economic Development; Interjurisdictional Coordination; and Planning Techniques.
For each county and the City of Baltimore, projections of population, housing, public school enrollment, employment, and income are prepared. They 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. A computerized system of the office also 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 public 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; the Property Mapping Section; the Research and State Data Center; and Systems Support.
LOCAL PLANNING ASSISTANCE
To help counties and municipalities comply with the requirements of the Economic Growth, Resource Protection and 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.
PLAN & PROJECT REVIEW
Plan and Project Review has two primary components: the State Clearinghouse for Intergovernmental Assistance; and the local plan assessment and advice program.
The Clearinghouse facilitates intergovernmental review and coordination of applications for financial assistance, direct federal development programs, draft environmental impact statements, nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, and certain specified applications for State assistance.
The Clearinghouse is the State's single point of contact for federal agencies and disseminates notices and announcements of proposed federal and some State actions. The Clearinghouse transmits the views of Maryland State, regional and local public officials to federal agencies; facilitates resolution of disputes; and formulates a single recommended course of action. The Clearinghouse also recommends the disposition of State excess and federal surplus real property.
In the weekly Intergovernmental Monitor, the Clearinghouse announces proposed federal and State actions. In the Catalog of State Assistance Programs, it reports on federal financial assistance awards, and maintains an inventory of State-owned real property and federal real property in Maryland. (Code State Finance and Procurement Article, sec. 5-509).
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.
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.
ADMINISTRATION
Within the Office of Planning, Administration provides planning and urban design services for State and local government agencies, as well as information services. In addition, Administration gives planning and technical assistance to the Interagency Committee for School Construction.
PLANNING DATA SERVICES
Planning Data Services collects, analyzes, and publishes socio-economic, cultural, geographic, parcel and land use information for planning purposes. This office provides a database for use by State and local government agencies, and the general public.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
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.
PROPERTY MAPPING SECTION
The responsibility for preparing electronic property maps was transferred from the State Department of Assessment and Taxation to the Office of Planning in October 1996. The Property Mapping Section assumed this function in 1997.
RESEARCH & STATE DATA CENTER
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.
SYSTEMS SUPPORT
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 Planning Assistance and Neighborhood Development, and Planning Coordination and Resource Management.
PLANNING COORDINATION & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Formerly Comprehensive Planning, Planning Coordination and Resource Management received its present name in 1997. It develops and promotes policies to support sustainable communities, neighborhood conservation, land preservation, natural resources protection, and economic growth and development. Special attention is accorded to 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. This office provides technical support for the Patuxent River Commission and the State Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Commission.
PLANNING ASSISTANCE & NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Planning Assistance and Neighborhood Development began in 1989 as Local Planning Assistance, became Planning Assistance and Review in 1994, and received its present name in 1997. This office is responsible for Local Planning Assistance, and four regional offices.
Local Planning Assistance helps local governments improve their planning and management, develop long-range comprehensive plans, and implement programs for economic growth and resource protection. This office provides technical services mandated by State laws, such as the Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act and the Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas Act.
Plan and Project Review was created in 1994. It checks county and municipal comprehensive plans for compliance with the Planning Act of 1992 and reviews water and sewer plans, and municipal annexation proposals for consistency with State and local planning policies.
STATE CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INTERGOVERNMENTAL ASSISTANCE
The State Clearinghouse for Intergovernmental Assistance was organized in 1969 in accordance with the federal Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968. Formerly within the Department of State Planning, the Clearinghouse transferred to the Office of Planning in 1989 (Chapter 540, Acts of 1989).
Maryland Independent Agencies
Maryland Manual On-Line