Formation
of Georgia's Regional Development Centers (RDCs) began in 1957 with the Georgia
Planning and Zoning Enabling Act's authorization of Area Planning and
Development Commissions (APDCs). Formation of APDCs was gradual, starting with
the Coosa Valley Planning Commission, the Atlanta Metropolitan Planning
Commission, and the Central Savannah River Planning Commission. By 1969, 18
APDCs had been created.
APDCs
were created at the behest of the local governments and local business
communities to provide individual and shared services to these entities and to
tap into the Great Society programs of the 1960s for rural communities. Services
ranged from local government technical assistance to the administration of state
and federal grant and planning programs.
The Georgia Planning Act of 1989 abolished APDCs and replaced them with RDCs having identical boundaries. The need for regional planning was recognized by the state and efforts were undertaken to create a new series of regional centers for this purpose, but it was eventually determined that the APDCs could be modified to serve this additional purpose without creating a new layer of bureaucracy.
While
the 1989 Act authorized RDCs to continue administering federal and state grant
and planning programs, it specifically provided for RDCs to:
"develop,
promote and assist in establishing coordinated and comprehensive planning in the
state, to assist local governments to participate in an orderly process for
coordinated and comprehensive planning, to assist local governments to prepare
and implement comprehensive plans which will develop and promote the essential
public interests of the state and its citizens, and to prepare and implement
comprehensive regional plans which will develop and promote the essential public
interests of the state and its citizens" (O.C.G.A. § 50-8-30)
The
RDC boards are controlled by their local governments' members. RDC boards must
contain at least two but no more than five elected or appointed officials from
each member county and may, by provision in RDC bylaws, include non-public
members. Each RDC board also has a DCA-appointed ex-officio, non-voting member.
Generally,
RDCs are charged with reviewing and commenting on local plans, providing
technical assistance, and, if necessary, assisting in mediation or conflict
resolution between its member governments. A few RDCs assume full responsibility
for preparing and completing local plans. However, there is little if any
leverage that RDCs have in making their member governments comply with these
plans. Member governments may withdraw from the process if the proposals on
regional planning are not to their liking. In the end, these governments control
what goes on in their own city or county.
Based
on all local plans within its region, the RDCs each prepare and adopt a regional
plan based on the Georgia Department of Community Affairs' (DCA) minimum
regional planning standards, developed in accordance with O.C.G.A §
50-8-7.1(b). The 14 regional plans (two pairs of RDCs have compiled joint plans)
will form the basis for a statewide comprehensive plan that will reflect
Georgia's future economic development and growth strategies.
To date, RDCs have not achieved their primary planning responsibilities as established by DCA, although some are doing much better than others. Many RDCs have fragmented plans at best, and regional planning must be their primary duty, with economic development, program implementation, and assisting local governments secondary. Efforts by the state to force RDCs to perform have caused problems. Because of the unique structure of RDCs, this is where local level, "bottom-up" planning meets state level, "top-down" policy positions. Local control and self-determination will inevitably cause friction when a statewide plan is eventually developed.
Source: http://www2.state.ga.us/Legis/2001_02/senate/research/rdcstudy.htm