![[photo, 301 West Preston St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/15dgs/images/1198-1-597b.jpg)
The Secretary of Planning is appointed by the Governor with Senate advice and consent (Code State Finance & Procurement Article, secs. 5-201 through 5-204). The Secretary is vice-chair of the Smart Growth Subcabinet, and serves on the Governor's Executive Council and the Cabinet Council on Business, Economic Development, and Transportation. The Secretary also serves on the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays; the Maryland Greenways Commission; the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority; the Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs; the State Information Technology Board; the Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs; the Patuxent River Commission; the Rural Legacy Board; the Scenic and Wild Rivers Review Board; the Interagency Committee on School Construction; the Task Force to Study Public School Facilities; the State Highway Access Valuation Board; the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland; the Metropolitan Development Policy Committee of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; and the Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State's Water Resources. In addition, the Secretary chairs the Task Force to Study the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, and serves on the Community Legacy Board, the Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities, and the Western Maryland Economic Development Task Force.
301 West Preston St., Baltimore, Maryland, November 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Under the Department are Administration and three assistant secretariats: Communications and Intergovernmental Affairs; Planning Services; and Strategic Development. The Department also is aided by the Patuxent River Commission and the Special Secretary (Code State Finance & Procurement Article, secs. 5-101 through 5-816).
The Commission also serves as the Tributary Strategy Team for the Patuxent Watershed, coordinating the Patuxent tributary strategy with the Patuxent River Policy Plan.
Thirty-four members constitute the Commission. Twenty-eight are appointed by the Governor to four-year terms. Six serve ex officio (Code State Finance & Procurement Article, secs. 5-812 through 5-816).
Under Communications and Intergovernmental Affairs are Internet Information Services; the Legislative Office; Outreach and Community Affairs; Planning Research Services and the Public Information Office.
Planning Research Services is the legislatively mandated depository for general, area and functional plans created by the State or local government (Code State Finance & Procurement Article, sec. 5-501). A library of planning-related literature and research materials also is maintained, and research services are provided to the public, Department staff, and local governments.
Planning Services oversees three divisions: Infrastructure Planning; Local Planning; and Resource Conservation Planning.
Infrastructure Planning oversees: Planning Implementation; Public School Construction; Transportation Planning; and Water and Sewer Planning.
Local Planning helps local governments improve their planning and management, develop long-range comprehensive plans, and implement programs for economic growth and resource protection. It provides technical services mandated by State laws, such as the Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act and the Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas Act.
To help counties and municipalities, Local Planning prepares technical models and guidelines. It administers technical assistance grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission for studies and helps 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 consults with, guides, and advises county and municipal staff, citizen planning commissions, and elected officials through its four regional offices at Annapolis, Centreville, Cumberland, and Salisbury.
Strategic Development oversees Planning Data Services; Priority Places Implementation; and the State Clearinghouse for Intergovernmental Assistance.
Statistical data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and other information sources are maintained by Planning Data Services. Such data relates to 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. MdProperty View quickly retrieves map and attribute information on individual or multiple properties, including ownership, acreage, type, size, value, and improvements.
Five units are overseen by Planning Data Services: Geographic Information Systems; the Property Mapping Section; Redistricting and Reapportionment; Research and the State Data Center; and Systems Support.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
PROPERTY MAPPING SECTION
REDISTRICTING & REAPPORTIONMENT
RESEARCH & STATE DATA CENTER
SYSTEMS SUPPORT
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.
As the State's single point of contact for federal agencies, the Clearinghouse disseminates notices and announcements of proposed federal and some State actions. The Clearinghouse also 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. Additionally, recommendations regarding the disposition of State excess and federal surplus real property are made by the Clearinghouse.
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 & Procurement Article, sec. 5-509).
CLEARINGHOUSE & PLAN REVIEW SECTION
The Section has two primary components: the State Clearinghouse for Intergovernmental Assistance; and the local plan assessment and advice program.
PATUXENT RIVER COMMISSION
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 and, every five years, considers draft amendments to update it. The original Patuxent River Policy Plan was adopted in 1984 as a policy guide for the Commission, State agencies, and local governments in carrying out programs in the Patuxent River watershed. In 1997, to update the Plan, the Commission adopted an addendum. Effective October 24, 2000, all local governments represented on the Commission adopted the 1997 addendum, which the General Assembly endorsed in 2001 (Joint Resolution no. 10, Acts of 2001).
ADMINISTRATION
Within the Department, Administration provides functions essential to Department operations. These include accounting, management information services, personnel, and procurement and inventory.
COMMUNICATIONS & INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
Initiated in March 2003, Communications and Intergovernmental Affairs directs the Department's legislative agenda, provides information to the public, and produces all Department publications.
PLANNING RESEARCH SERVICES
301 West Preston St.
Baltimore, MD 21201 - 2365
PLANNING SERVICES
Planning Services formed from State and Local Planning in March 2003. It provides technical assistance, local program review, and planning design services to Maryland counties and municipalities.
ANNEXATION WORKGROUP
At the request of the Maryland Association of Counties and the Maryland Municipal League, the Secretary of Planning convened the Annexation Workgroup in April 2005. The Workgroup will consider interjurisdictional growth issues, specifically those relating to annexation.
INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING
Organized in March 2003, Infrastructure Planning provides research and technical assistance for transportation, water and sewer, and public school construction planning statewide. Projections and modeling are used to anticipate Maryland's future needs and analyze current proposals.
LOCAL PLANNING
Local Planning began in 1989 as Local Planning Assistance, became Planning Assistance and Review in 1994, Planning Assistance and Neighborhood Development in 1997, and received its current name in March 2003. This office is responsible for Technical Assistance, and four regional offices.
RESOURCE CONSERVATION PLANNING
Resource Conservation Planning originated as Comprehensive Planning, became Planning Coordination and Resource Management in 1997, was renamed Environmental Planning in March 2003, Land-Use Planning and Analysis in November 2003, and received its present name in July 2004. It develops and promotes policies to support sustainable communities, neighborhood conservation, land preservation, and natural resources protection. Special attention is accorded to land use and growth, 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 division provides technical support for the Patuxent River Commission.
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
Created in March 2003, Strategic Development devises research tools and resources to assist in planning. Information on demographic, socio-economic, political, cultural, geographic and land use trends in Maryland is collected, analyzed, and disseminated in tabular, chart, and customized map formats. With computer mapping and geographic information systems, Strategic Development supports map display and analysis of census data, satellite imagery, aerial photography, land use and parcel data to enhance and assist growth management and land use planning across the State.
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. 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.
Geographic Information Systems formed 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.
The responsibility for preparing electronic property maps transferred from the State Department of Assessments and Taxation to the Office of Planning (now Department of Planning) in October 1996. The Property Mapping Section assumed this function in 1997. The Section updates property maps and prepares them for MdProperty View. From the Section, paper copies of property maps also are available to the public.
Redistricting and Reapportionment compiles U.S. census data and election data to create and prepare precinct and legislative maps. From this section, maps are made available to the public.
The Research and State Data Center organized in 1980. It provides for the development of databases 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.
PRIORITY PLACES IMPLEMENTATION
In October 2003, the Department of Planning was charged with developing and implementing the Maryland Priority Places Strategy (Executive Order 01.01.2003.33). The Strategy is to establish goals for land-use policies that are fiscally sound and promote sustainable development along with long-term economic growth, community revitalization, and resource conservation. The Strategy also will be based on policies established by the Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act of 1992 (Chapter 437, Acts of 1992), and the Priority Funding Areas Act of 1997 (Chapter 759, Acts of 1997).
STATE CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INTERGOVERNMENTAL ASSISTANCE
In 1969, the State Clearinghouse for Intergovernmental Assistance organized 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). In 2000, it became part of the Department of Planning.
The Clearinghouse and Plan Review Section began as Plan and Project Review in 1994. It adopted its current name in 1997. The Section checks county and municipal comprehensive plans for compliance with the Planning Act of 1992 (Chapter 437, Acts of 1992) and reviews water and sewer plans, and municipal annexation proposals for consistency with State and local planning policies.
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e-mail: mdmanual@mdarchives.state.md.us