Regional planning agencies in Georgia: a brief history [Sept. 1995]

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCIES
IN GEORGIA:
A BRIEF HISTORY
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF
COMMUNIlY
AFFAIRS
SEPTEMBER 1995

REGIONAL DEVEOPMENT IN GEORGIA:
INTRODUCTION
In 1994 the Department of Community Affairs produced an electronic slide presentation outlining the history of Georgia's regional development centers (RDCs). In response to requests for copies of the show's script, we have prepared this narrative version that tells the same story in a more readable form than the script. This history also provides additional information and documentation that should be of interest to the reader.
The slide presentation itself is available on computer disk in the form of a Microsoft PowerPoint file (Macintosh). To request copies or arrange showings, please coritact DCA's Office of Information Services at 404/656-3879.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1

Beginnings

2

The Great SOciety

5

The State Role in Regional Planning

6

State Funding for APDCs

6

Act 1066

9

Carter Reorganizes State Government

10

The Golden 70s

11

ANew Department of Community Affairs

11

RDC History in Maps

12

. "Genealogy" of the Department of Community Affairs

14

The Reagan Era

15

Growth Strategies and the Georgia Planning Act

16

The 1990s

18

Three Decades of Change

20

The Future of Regional Planning in Georgia

21

Footnotes

22

Current RDCs

24

A BRIEF HISTORY
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
1200 Equitable Building 100 Peachtree Street Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 656-3879
An Equal Opportunity Employer
If you are disabled and would like to receive this publication in an alternative format, please contact the Georgia Department of Community Affairs at
(404) 656-5527 or 1(800) 651-7954 (TOO).

1

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCIES IN GEORGIA

1957
Black tennis player Althea Gibson wins U.S. Open and Wimbledon championships Dr. Seuss publishes The Cat in the Hat Papa Doc elected president of Haiti Musical West Side Story premieres Sputnik, earth's first artificial satell~e, launched Viet Cong begin rebellion in Vietnam
1958
Arnold Palmer wins his first Masters Kruschev becomes Soviet premier Pele leads Brazil to World Cup victory European Economic Community is established NASA formed; Explorer I and Vanguard I launched First ICBM is launched Nuclear submarine Nautilus reaches North Pole under the polar ice cap Pacemaker heart beat regulator is invented
2

BEGINNINGS
At the end ofWorld War II, Georgia, as well as the nation, began a period of tremendous change. Before the war, most Georgians lived, worked, and shopped in their own communities. Many could and did walk to work; commuting beyond county lines was rare. It was possible to buy most of life's necessities and many luxuries downtown. Shopping trips to large cities were undertaken only at Christmas and on special occasions. Most Georgians lived their lives as citizens of a town or county.
In the 1990s, Georgians frequently work in a county other than where they reside. They often shop in regional malls located outside their town or county. They frequently drive to neighboring communities to see a movie, dine at a restaurant, or attend a class or meeting. They may not yet think regionally, but they do act regionally.
S hortly after the war, when Georgians were still thinking and acting locally, officials in Atlanta, Fulton County, and DeKalb County began to talk about coordinating their planning to make sure the Atlanta area economy stayed healthy. The three went to the General Assembly and returned with legislation establishing a Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) with jurisdiction in the city and both counties.I The MPC became the first publicly funded multi-county planning commission in Georgia, as well as thefirst in the nation.
In its earliest years, the MPC was ametropolitan organization, not aregional body.2 As metro Atlanta began to sprawl into the countryside in the 1950s, the MPC adjusted accordingly, adding Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties as members. In 1960, the increasingly regional character of the body was recognized and the MPC was reorganized as the Atlanta Regional Metropolitan Planning Commission (ARMpC).3 Eleven years later, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) was established incorporating ARMPC, the Atlanta Area Transportation Study, the Metropolitan Atlanta Council of Local Governments, and the metro Council for Health.
In 1960, the same year that ARMPC replaced the Metropolitan Planning Commission, the first rural multi-county planning commission in Georgia was formed in the northwestern corner of the state, an area lying principally in the valley ofthe Coosa River. Aregional meeting held in Rome the previous year had brought area leaders in business, government, and education together to discuss mutual problems and opportunities. Upon agreement

A BRIEF HISTORY

that continued cooperation' was needed, the group began to meet monthly. These regular meetings led to the creation of the Coosa Valley Planning and Development Association with twelve counties participating.
The association was an informal organization with no official status, no funds, and no staff. It soon became apparent that to carry on an effective program it would be necessary to have staff support. Funding would be needed to pay staff salaries and to operate the association. To legally receive funds from local government-as well as potentially from the state and the federal governments-it was necessary to obtain some definite legal status.
Three years earlier the Georgia General Assembly had passed the Planning Enabling Act of 1957. While the Act provided a legal basis for city or county, or joint city/county planning commissions, it did not anticipate regional commissions. 4In 1959 the law was amended to permit any two or more counties to create a joint planning commission.5 The following year the Act was again amended to remove some limitations on the number of commission members.6
Overall, the Act and its amendments allowed any combination ofcounties to create a planning commission and made the commission members accountable only to the governments that appointed them. No particular structure was imposed by state government and no oversight by any state agency was specified. In addition, local governments were not required to participate in any planning commission that might organize in their area.

1959
The Leakeys discover Australopithecus in Africa Castro assumes power in Cuba Charlton Heston wins Oscar for Ben Hur NASA selects first seven astronauts Buddy Holly is killed in plane crash The TWilight Zone premieres First flight of the X-15
1960
First successful laser is demonstrated Wilma Rudolph wins three gold medals at the Rome Olympics The Belgian Congo (Zaire), Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon and Nigeria gain independence Hitchcock directs Psycho Pat Robertson founds the Christian Broadcasting Network Motown Records founded U-2 downed; Francis Gary Powers captured The Kennedy-Nixon presidential debates are televised

T hus, the Planning Enabling Act of 1957, as amended, while not directly establishing regional planning organizations, provided the necessary authority to establish such a body. With this legal underpinning, the Coosa ValleyArea Planning and Development Commission was established. It began official operation on April 1st, 1961.
Two more commissions soon followed. On the eastern side of the state near Augusta, thirteen counties joined together to create the Central Savannah River APDC. In northeastern Georgia around Athens, nine counties allied themselves in establishing the Northeast Georgia APDC. The Central Savannah River group organized in 1961 and hired a director in 1962.7 The Northeast Georgia program began organizing in 1961 and was staffed in 1963.8
In 1962 the Georgia Mountains and Lower Chattahoochee APDCs were formed. Five new APDCs came into existence in the particularly active year of 1963: Altamaha, Coastal Plains, Slash Pine, Southwest Georgia, and
3

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCIES IN GEORGIA

1961
Catch-22 is pUblished
Alan Shepherd makes first U.S. suborbital spaceflight
Pavarotti makes his debut in La Boheme
Kennedy becomes president; establishes Peace Corps; sets goal of putting a man on the moon
Bay of Pigs invasion fails Roger Maris breaks Babe Ruth's single season home run record
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbits the earth Berlin Wall is erected
1962
Marilyn Monroe dies of overdose John Glenn orbits earth
Wilt Chamber1ain scores 100 points in a game
Silent Spring is published Beatles make first record
Cuban Missile Crisis
Telstar, first communications satellite, is launched James Meredith becomes the University of Mississippi's first black student

West Central Georgia APDCS.9 Three more APDCs were created in 1964: Chattahoochee-Flint, Heart of Georgia, and Oconee. In 1965 an additional three, Coastal, Georgia Southern, and Middle Georgia, began operation. Within five years, sixteen APDCs had been established in all parts of the state. Alarge majority ofGeorgia's 159 counties were included within APDC boundaries.
A PDC boundaries were based on regional factors such as trading and travel patterns, shared resources, common development potentials, shared cultural patterns, and historical ties. Afew were organized around a major City such as Augusta or Macon but none were metropolitan in the manner ofARMPC. Willingness to work together was also a major factor in setting boundaries. Some counties and cities declined to join APDCs because of a lack of desire to cooperate with, or a fear of, neighboring counties.
The creation of the APDCs and much of their rapid development in the early 1960s was the result of work by a number of state-level community development leaders in the university system, Georgia Power Company, and other statewide bodies. Among these were Frank Hood and Jack Talley of Georgia Power, J. W. Fanning, Howard Menhenick, Bill Keeling, and Howard Schretter of the University of Georgia (working primarily through the University's Institute of Community and Area Development), Jack Minter and Bob Steubing of the Georgia Department of Commerce, and Elmer George of the Georgia Municipal Association, among others. Nonetheless, no APDC would have been established without the energy, foresight, and commitment of /oea/leaders. Perhaps these traits were exemplified in a young state senator, Jimmy Carter, who was instrumental in establishing the West Central Georgia APDC and who served as that commission's first chairman. Carter realized that the local governments of his region needed to get together (and cross county lines to do it) to discuss common problems and opportunities and to plan for the future.

4

A BRIEF HISTORY

THE GREAT SOCIETY
The mid-60s were a turning point for APDCs, as President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress established dozens of programs providing grants to build LETs "Great Society." APDC staffs had been small and involved primarily in economic development and land use planning. Within a few years APDCs had mastered the art of grantsmanship, securing plentiful grants for local governments and themselves. Staffs grew quickly as grant money flowed in for planning and economic development studies as well as service delivery to individuals.
During this time the U.S. Department ofHousing and Urban Development (HUD) was established. HUD provided millions of dollars to APDCs. The Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (PWEDA) established the Economic Developm~ntAdministration (EDA),which provided assistance and funding to regional planning and development bodies allover the nation.
Title 5ofPWEDAauthorized multi-state regional commissions. One of these, the Coastal Plains Regional Commission (CPRC) which covered all of southern Georgia along with much of North and South Carolina, became a funding source for several APDCs. APDCs in the northern part of the state received grant funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), which had been created by separate federal legislation.
Congress also passed the Older Americans Act of 1965 which created a number of programs to assist the elderly. Some ofthese programs were often administered regionally byAPDCs or agencies closely related to them.
Another important effort begun around this time was the Overall Economic Development Program (OEDP) of the Economic Development Administration. Each APDC received grant funds from EDA to do an overall economic development plan for its region. These comprehensive statistical profiles and analyses helped guide the flow of federal dollars to particular areas of need.10
The mid- to late-1960s were tumultuous years with civil disturbances erupting in many cities. Anti-Vietnam-war demonstrations sometimes turned violent and racial discord in the inner cities often led to riots. To help local governments deal with the situation, Congress created the Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration in 1968. LEM became another important source ofAPDC funding.

1963
Kennedy is assassinated; Johnson becomes president
Jack Nicklaus becomes youngest Masters champion
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., makes his "I have a dream" speech in Washington, D.C.
Peter Sellers stars in The Pink Panther
Kenya gains independence from Britain
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes first woman in space
The first James Bond movie, Dr. No, is produced
The Rolling Stones are formed
1964
Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment
Westmoreland assumes command in Vietnam
Cassisus Clay (later Muhammad Ali) defeats Sonny Liston
Gulf of Tonkin "incidenr leads to passage of resolution escalating American presence in Vietnam
Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination
Surgeon General reports that cigarette smoking is a heanh hazard
Warren Commission issues its report

5

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCIES IN GEORGIA

1965
Streisand stars in Funny Girl on Broadway An electrical blackout in the Northeast deprives 30 million people of power
First American space walk The miniskirt is introduced U.S. troops quell civil war in Dominican Republic The Watts Riot Malcolm X assasinated Medicare and Medicaid are established U.S. begins bombing North Vietnam
1966
Truman Capote publishes In Cold Blood "Cultural Revolution" begins in China France withdraws from NATO Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister of India Surveyor I makes soft landing on moon (after Soviet Luna 9 made first landing) First major anti-Vietnam War rally is held in Washington, D.C.

THE STATE ROLE IN REGIONAL PLANNING
Although not a major factor in the early development ofAPDCs, state government had not been completely uninvolved. In 1957, the year the Planning Act authorized local government planning commissions, the State Planning Commission (SPC), a division of the Georgia Department of Commerce, was established.12 It had helped several APDCs get up and running and had provided continuing technical assistance. Several units of the state university system had also been quite valuable to the APDCs, notably the Institute of Community and Area Development at the University of Georgia and the Industrial Development Division at Georgia Tech.
In 1967 planning took on a higher profile within state government. The State Planning Commission was abolished and replaced by the State Planning and Programming Bureau, which was made a separate unit of the Executive Department. The act creating the Bureau also provided that the governor would be ex officio Director of State Planning and instructed the Bureau to "make available such funds as may be appropriated by the General Assembly for use by area or multi-county planning and development commissions which may now exist or may hereafter be established,"13 In the budget legislation, an appropriation of $35,000 to each APDC was approved-the first time APDCs received ageneral state appropriation for their operations.
To improve communication and coordination between the APDCs and state government, the General Assembly directed the governor to appoint one commission member from each APDC to a new State

STATE FUNDING FOR APDCS
In 1967 the General Assembly appropriated $35,000 for each APDC. The following year legislators increased that amount to $50,000 each. In 1972 it was increased to $65,000 and in 1978 to $75,000. Funding nearly doubled, rising to approximately $145,000 in 1990 when the APDCs became RDCs and were given additional responsibilities under the Georgia Planning Act of 1989,u Astate budget crisis forced a7.5% cut in 1991. Funding for FY1995 averaged $130,000 per RDC. Since the mid-1980s additional state funds have flowed through DNR and DOT to many RDCs for regional historic preservation planning and transportation-related programs.
6

A BRIEF HISTORY

Advisory Committee on Area Planning and Development. Governor Lester Maddox gave the oath of office to the initial members of the committee in October 1967. Interestingly, one of them was Jimmy Carter, who would replace Maddox as governor only three years later.
Although not a member of the committee, another APDC leader at the time was Sam Nunn, then a member of the state House of Representatives, and now a U.S. Senator. Nunn served as chairman of the Middle Georgia APDC in 1968.
The committee's goals as stated in its by-laws tell much about the status ofthe APDCs and their relationships with the state and local governments at the time: "The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to advise the State Planning Bureau in matters relating to area or multi-county planning and development, including:
1. To help the State Planning Bureau in formulating its plans and policies for the state.
2. To protect the right of the individual APDC to retain local control. 3. To guard against any tendencybythis AdvisoryCommittee to exercise
control over the individual APDC. 4. To act as aco-ordinating agent between the APDCs and state agencies.
For example: Industry and Trade, Agriculture, Education, Game and Fish, Forestry, Revenue, etc. 5. To help through the news media to inform the general public of the functions and importance of the APDCs and State Planning. 6. To make some effort toward encouraging state agencies to work together cooperatively. 7. To help the individual APDC in problems with its counties, upon request. 8. To encourage at least some of the state agencies to consider performing their service on an APDC area basis. 9. To encourage county and city governments to use their APDC as liaison between themselves and state and federal agencies. 10. To assume the role of liaison among APDCs in areas of common interest. 11. To be constantly on the alert for new and better ways for the State Planning Bureau to serve the state. 12. To co-ordinate activities of the APDCs relating to seminars, short courses, clinics, etc.

1967
Astronauts White, Grissom, and Chaffee die in fire during launch test
Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs first successful heart transplant
Dustin Hoffman stars in The Graduate
Che Guevara is killed
Buckminster Fuller designs the geodesic dome for Expo '67
Israel and Arab states wage the sixday war between
Hair, the hippie musical, is produced
Thurgood Marshall becomes first black Supreme Court justice
1968
Bob Beamon breaks long jump record by almost 2 feet in Mexico City Olympics
Anti-war riots disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy are assasinated
American troop strength in Vietnam tops 500,000; Viet Cong launch the Tet offensive; the Villagers of My Lai are massacred
U.S. Navy ship Pueblo is seized by North Korea
Warsaw Pact nations invade Czechoslovakia

7

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENGES IN GEORGIA

1969
Woodstock Rock Festival draws 500,000 Armstrong and Aldrin make first lunar landing Rod Laver wins tennis' Grand Slam for the second time The Manson murders Mary Jo Kopechne drowns at Chappaquiddick Bridge Golda Meir becomes prime minister of Israel Nixon-Agnew become president and vice-president Nixon begins troop withdrawals from Vietnam The first SST is flown Sesame Street first airs Yassir Aratat becomes chairman of the PLO
1970
Margaret Smith Court wins tennis' Grand Slam Doonesbury begins publication Four students are killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State Amtrak is created The Beatles break up The EPA is established

13. To document information about planning education courses and degrees.
14. To work towards an ultimate goal of establishing a cabinet of Economic Development with amembership made up ofstate agency heads and other state and local officials.
15. To encourage the consolidation of functions in state and local government where such consolidation can result in more efficient and economical operations, for example, the establishment ofastate computer center for use by all agencies.
16. To work to prevent overlapping and duplication of functions between the APDCs and local governments and other organizations.
17. To assist the State Planning Bureau in assuring adequate funds for its own effective operation and matching funds for the APDCs.
18. To foster legislation, as needed, to further the planning program in the state."
A s the 1960s moved toward a close, the state-APDC relationship remained one of voluntary cooperation between a group of independent multi-county planning commissions and several independentminded state agencies. Further complicating matters, many local governments were reluctant to join an APDC. This meant that there was no stateAPDC-local division of roles that could be uniformly applied everywhere. Some local officials were suspicious of the APDCs, fearing that they might usurp local authority. Some in small communities suspected that larger neighbors would call the shots in the APDC. Some larger cities had their own planning and development staffs and felt they had no need for aregional body offering similar services.
Such concerns, however, were not enough to prevent the last two new APDCs from being established in 1969. The McIntosh Trail APDC developed from several counties on the south side oftheAtlanta area. The North Georgia APDC was created by taking three counties from each of two existing APDCs while enlisting two unaffiliated counties. This was the highwater mark of APDCs, with a total of 19 serving the state.
Act 1066 also reorganized the State Planning and Programming Bureau and

a

A BRIEF HISTORY

ACT 1066
If the mid-60s were a turning point for the APDCs, 1970 was no less so, at least in regard to their relationship with state government. Despite concerns among some state legislators overAPDCs possibly usurping local authority, it had become clear that state government needed to legally recognize their existence as important regional organizations and not merely as a collection of multi-county planning groups. To accomplish thiS, the General Assembly passed Georgia Act 1066 which established the interests of the state in regional planning in every part of Georgia and which made the APDCs the state's official partners in such planning.
TheAct placed every county within the boundaries ofanAPDC (although it did not require any local government to actually join the APDC to which it was assigned). It directed a new State Planning and Community Affairs Policy Board, in consultation with the Advisory Committee on Area Planning and Development, to set the boundaries and to create and promulgate policies and procedures for changing them in the future. It specified that each APDC board should have a minimum of one representative of each county and a representative ofat least one municipality within each county.
The APDCs were given contracting powers, tax-exempt status, and the authority to adopt by-laws and make rules for conduct of their affairs. They were also given certain mandatory work responsibilities.
Act 1066 was partly a response to the federal Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of1968 requiringstates to coordinate their planning activities with those of regional planning bodies and local governments. It included A-95 Review, aprocess under which proposed federally funded construction projects were made subject to review and comment by affected local governments, state government, APDCs, and others. APDCs became "regional clearinghouses" to help carry out this process.
For the most part, Act 1066 was permissive. APDCs were left largely free to do their work as they wanted, being accountable primarily to their member governments. Local government membership remained voluntary. The state had not taken over the APDCs, nor given local powers to the regional bodies. The law did, however, establish that APDCs existed for "nonprofit and public purposes" and that their property was public property. Section 13 of the Act placed requirements on commission membership and Section 15 laid out mandatory work activities. Thus, while permissive, the Act did establish the state's ultimate control over the APDCs.

1971
Ellsberg releases the Pentagon Papers Lt. Rusty Calley convicted in My Laitrial Taiwan loses its U.N. seat Alabama governor George Wallace is shot 8-52s bomb Hanoi Bobby Fischer wins world chess title
1972
Gloria Steinem founds Ms. magazine Palestinian terrorists kill 11 at the Munich Olympics; Mark Spitz wins seven gold medals Apollo 17 makes last manned moon landing; Nixon authorizes Space Shuttle program DDT is banned Marlon Brando stars as The Godfather Nixon goes to China Marcos imposes martial law in the Phillipines Britain assumes direct rule of Northern Ireland Watergate burglars arrested

9

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENOES IN GEORGIA

1973
Endangered Species Act passed
Egypt and Syria attack Israel in the Yom Kippur War
OPEC begins oil embargo
Ervin Committee investigates Watergate
Paris Peace Accords end Vietnam War
American Indian Movement occupies site of Wounded Knee massacre as protest
Agnew resigns
World Trade center becomes world's tallest building
1974
Hank Aaron breaks Ruth's all time home run record Haile Selassie deposed as emperor of Ethiopia Isabel Peron succeeds her husband as president of Argentina Patty Hearst abducted by Symbionese Liberation Army
Nixon resigns; Ford pardons Nixon
Baryshnikov defects Sears Tower becomes world's tallest building

renamed it the Bureau of State Planning and Community Affairs. The bureau was given a policy board chaired by the governor and made up of a Georgia Municipal Association official, another from the Association County Commissioners ofGeorgia, amemberappointed from the Advisory Committee on Area Planning and Development, certain state house and senate committee chairmen, and three appointed by the governor. As Section 1 stated, the reorganization and name change recognized: "the growing number and complexity of federal planning assistance programs to states and to regions... requires that the State assure itself that these programs are fully coordinated at the State level and at the regional level within the state... "
CARTER REORGANIZES STATE GOVERNMENT
In 1971, Jimmy Carter took office as governor of Georgia. One of his highest priorities was to revamp state government. At his urging, the General Assembly passed the Executive Reorganization Act of 1972.
Many changes were made. The number of state boards, committees, offices, commissions, authorities, and bureaus was reduced considerably as many were eliminated, among them the Bureau of State Planning and CommunityAffairs. Its functions were split between anew Office ofPlanning and Budget and anew Division ofCommunityAffairs within the Department of Industry and Trade.
Reorganization ofstate government was not the only restructuring that Governor Carter had in mind; he also planned to reduce the number of APDCs by one-third. Intense opposition, however, preserved intact most of then-existing 19 APDCs . The exceptions were in south Georgia where Altamaha and Georgia Southern APDCs were merged, and in the western part of the state where Chattahoochee-Flint APDC was greatly diminished, losing Harris and Talbot counties to Lower Chattahoochee APDC and Pike and Upson counties to McIntosh Trail. Among other changes:
o Newton County moved to McIntosh Trail, o Ben Hill County moved from Slash Pine to Coastal Plains, o Early County moved from Lower Chattahoochee to Southwest Georgia, and o Russell County, Alabama joined Lower Chattahoochee.
In 1972, Douglas and Rockdale counties joined the Atlanta Regional Commission. In the rest of the 1970s and most of the 1980s, there would be little change in the membership ofany ofthe regional planning commissions.

10

A BRIEF HISTORY

THE GOLDEN 70s
The 1970s might be considered the APDCs' golden years. Federal money for planning, as well as for a variety of social programs, continued to flow liberally their way while the state largely kept out of APDC affairs. Some federal programs disappeared, but for the most part, Congress replaced them with others. For example, several specialized grant programs were eliminated and replaced with a new Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Similarly, Model Cities and "new town" programs were replaced by Urban Development Action Grants (UDAG). Because the APDCs could help locals apply for and administer these grants as well as earlier grants, the changes did not seriously hurt them.
The APDCs easily adjusted to the new environmental movement as well. As Georgians became more concerned about the environment in the 1970s, the APDCs shifted accordingiy. Staff time that once might have been devoted to helping communities push for aproposed new reservoir or navigation channel might now be spent in environmental planning, perhaps for a stream newly designated as a"wild and scenic river." An earlyexamplewas theAtlanta Regional Commission's 1972 Chattahoochee Corridor Study designed to protect the river's natural qualities. Only five years earlier, a group seeking to develop navigation on the Chattahoochee River had published a feasibility study that foresaw Atlanta becoming aport city.14 Regardless ofwhich approach ultimately won out-the dredged and dammed riveror the natural stream-theARC would be there to help do the necessary planning studies.

1975
Civil war breaks out in Lebanon between Muslim and Christian forces
O.J. Simpson sets pro record of 23 touchdowns in a season MacNeil/Lehrer report begins broadcasting South Vietnam capitulates to North Steven Spielberg's Jaws sets boxoffice records Helsinki Accords pledge signatory nations to respect human rights
1976
Alex Haley's Roots is published Nadia Comenici scores 10s and wins three golds at Montreal Olympics Bjom Borg wins first of five straight Wimbledon titles Rocky wins Oscar as Best Picture U.S. celebrates its Bicentennial First outbreak of Legionairre's Disease in Philadelphia

A NEW DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
One ofthe aims ofstate government reorganization in 1972 was to create a new Department of Community Development. Such a department would recognize at the state level that planning and economic development are essentially inseparable. The plan was to create the department by combining the existing Department of Industry and Trade and the community development and local and regional planning assistance functions of the Bureau of State Planning and Community Affairs. Structurally, this was accomplished by the reorganization act. Aconstitutional amendment to change the department name was also ratified by voters in the 1972 general election. IS
Organizational and name changes, however, were not enough to do the job. Opposition to the changes within the new department and among some
11

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCIES IN GEORGIA

1962

1. Georgia Mountains, and 2. Lower Chattahoochee are

formed, joining the previously established 3.Atlanta Regional

,.
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/_~,,-,,

Metropolitan Planning Commission (founded in
1947 and renamed the

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"i -"""'7

Atlanta Regional Commission in 1971), 4. Coosa Valley

(1960),5.CSRA

(1961),6.

Northeast

Georgia

(1961).

1963
7.Altamaha, 8. Coastal Plains, 9. West central Georgia, 1a.Slash Pine, and 11.Southwest Georgia are formed.

1969 12

1972

7.ARamaha and 16.Georgia Southern are joined by merger.

Chatham and Effingham counties move to 15.Coastal.

~~...,..~==-..,.."':""'-r-72. Lower Chattahoochee gains

Harris and Early Counties, as

well as Russell County,

Alabama (not shown).

~...,.."'W''''\ 18. Mcintosh Trail gains

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Newton, Upson and

Pike Counties.

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8. Coastal

14'.
~'_ _O"I

\~/ Plains gains '/~,t/ Ben Hill.

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1964

A BRIEF HISTORY
1965
15.Coastal, 16.Georgia Southern, and 17.Middle Georgia are formed.

1991

1993

13

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCIES IN GEORGIA

19n
Carter becomes 39th president Edwin Moses begins 90 race win streak in hurdles Andrew Young appointed U.S. ambassador to U.N. Elvis Presley dies Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever are box office smashes
1978
Members of the Jim Jones religious cult commit mass suicide in Guyana Pope John Paul II becomes first nonItalian Pope in over 500 years Camp David Accords pledge peace between Egypt and Israel First test-tube baby is bom Mario Andretti wins Formula One racing title

members of the General Assembly prevented any significant coordination ofplanning and industrial recruitment activities. Upon realizing that planning and community development had become buried in an agency that shunned these activities, agroup ofcommunity development leaders in the state began calling for a separation.
At the same time, local government advocates were pushing for aseparate agency to deal with city and county concerns. In 1975, these groups successfully persuaded newly elected Governor George Busbee and the General Assembly to break up the department.
Unfortunately, state law prevented a quick and straightforward change. Instead, a 1975 act created two autonomous divisions, the Bureau of Community Affairs and the Bureau of Industry and Trade, within the Department ofCommunity Development; a1976 constitutional amendment changed the department name back to Industry and Trade; and a 1977 act removed the Bureau of Community Affairs from the department and made it a new Department of Community Affairs.
Governor Busbee appointed Howard Atherton of Marietta as the first commissioner of the new department. Atherton was alongtime member of the state House of Representatives and a leader of the move to establish a separate department. Shortly after his appointment as commissioner,

"GENEALOGY" OFTHE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
o State Planning Commission, within Department of Commerce-1957 o State Planning Bureau, within Department of Commerce-1959 o Department ofCommerce becomes Department ofIndustry and Trade-
1962
o State Planning and Programming Bureau (a separate unit ofthe Executive
Department)-1967
o Bureau of State Planning and Community Affairs-1970 o Division of Community Affairs, within Department of Industry and
Trade-early 1972 (Name ofDepartment ofIndustryand Trade changed to Department of Community Development in late 1972)
o Bureau of Community Affairs, within Department of Community
Development-1975 (Name ofDepartment of Community Development changed back to Department of Industry and Trade-late 1976)
o Department of Community Affairs-1977
14

A BRIEF HISTORY

Atherton died and was replaced by Hank Huckaby, who at the time was Director ofSenate Research. In 1980, Governor Busbee appointed]im Higdon as commissioner replacing Huckaby, who moved to the Georgia Residential Finance Authority and later to head up the Office of Planning and Budget under Governor ZeII Miller.
THE REAGAN ERA
The APDCs began the 1980s with the prospect ofchange (and, ironicaIIy, ended the decade with change, as we will see below). Ronald Reagan took office as president with the goal to reduce or eliminate many non-defense federal programs. Among the agencies and programs he targeted were important sources ofAPDC funding: the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Coastal Plains Regional Commission (CPRC) , the Economic Development Administration (EDA), and the HUD "701" program.
Section 701 of the Federal Housing Act of 1954 had for years provided financial assistance to state and local governments for comprehensive planning, zoning, urban development planning, and intergovernmental planning efforts. Local governments usually called upon their APDC to do such plans for them. Alarge portion of the bill was paid for with 701 funds. The Reaganites said that 701 might have been doing local planning, but criticized its leading to very little implementation of planned projects.
Before the advent of Reaganism, the APDCs had grown substantiaIIy, primarily as a result of federal largesse. Average APDC employment at the beginning of the decade was 27, and the average budget was $1.2 million, over 80% of which was federal money (one-fourth coming directly to the APDCs and three-foUlths being passed through the state).16
Over half of the federal money passed through DHR, some 57% in all. EDA provided about 9%, and HUD contributed about 7%. Among the other federal sources were the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (lEAA), Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), ARC, CPRC, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) , Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), and the Interior Department.
Reagan's proposed budget cuts would have severely cut the flow offederal funds. One observer estimated that between 1981 and 1983, the APDCs would lose approximately $125,000 each due to the planned demise ofEDA, ARC, CPRC, and planning funds from HUD.17 Because those programs and

1979
Nuclear near-catastrophe at Three Mile Island power plant
Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran; the Shah flees and Iran becomes an Islamic Republic
Thatcher becomes first female prime minister of Britain
Mother Teresa wins Nobel Peace Prize
Iran hostage saga begins as 66 embassy employees are seized by students in Tehran
The first case of AIDS is reported
1980
Iran and Iraq go to war
John Lennon is murdered Lech Walesa heads Solidarity, first union movement in a communist country
Mount SI. Helens erupts Ted Tumer launches CNN
U.S. boycotts Moscow Olympics in protest of Afghanistan invasion

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REGIONAL PLANNING AGENaES IN GEORGIA

1981
Reagan becomes president; wounded in assassination attempt
Pope John Paul II is wounded in assassination attempt
Sandra Day O'Connor becomes first woman Supreme Court justice
Lady Di marries Prince of Wales, becomes Princess Di
U.S. hostages are released by Iran
First space shuttle is launched
1982
Britain and Argentina go to war after invasion of Falklands
Michael Jackson releases Thriller, best-selling album ever Equal Rights Amendment fails to win ratification Israel invades Lebanon
USA Today, first national daily newspaper, is launched

funds offered considerable flexibility as compared with many other federal programs, their loss was particularly dreaded.
T he impact of Reaganism on the APDCs, however, turned out to be much less than initially feared. The greatest loss was 701 planning grants, which disappeared with the repeal of the FederalHousing Act of 1954.18 The Intergovernmental Cooperation Act was repealed in 1982,19 and a number of other programs were eliminated or reduced, but in general, many programs were merely replaced with similar efforts under different names or placed under state administration. For instance, in 1982 the Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) program was replaced by thelob Training Partnership Act GTPA) program. In the same year, administration of the CDBG non-entitlement program was moved to the states.
In Georgia's case, CDBG administration was assigned to the Department of Community Affairs, which also soon began state administration of the lTPA program after Georgia Department of Labor Commissioner Sam Caldwell was indicted for misuse of his office and forced to resign. For the APDCs these changes were not threats and often were opportunities. Many assumed regional lTPA program administration responsibilities, and often APDCs found that state CDBG administration provided more of a role for the regional agencies than had been the case under the feds.
While President Reagan kept attempting to cut the size of the federal government (in 1984 he called for budget cuts of $100 billion over three years), most ofthe agencies that he tried to abolish, including the Economic Development Administration and the Appalachian Regional Commission (both targeted specifically in his Inaugural Address) remained in operation. By the time George Bush replaced Reagan in 1989, the battle was over. Despite Reagan's efforts, LBTs Great Society remained intact, and the APDCs continued to receive substantial federal funding.

GROWTH STRATEGIES AND THE GEORGIA PLANNING ACT
Changing economic bases, dislocation of jobs, and radically uneven economic growth across Georgia had provided the impetus to create the APDCs in the early 1960s. In the following decades, these forces were still at work. State, regional, and local leaders continued to look for ways to stimulate

16

A BRIEF HISTORY

quality growth where it was needed and to manage growth where it threatened to overwhelm local infrastructure. Two statewide efforts to address such problems were begun in 1973, when the General Assembly created aCitizens Council on Land Use and when aGovernor's Commission on Planned Growth issued its report. Little ofmajor importance for regional planning ultimately came from these early efforts, however.
It would not be until 1988 that a comprehensive growth planning effort would be put into place. In his second term of office, GovernorJoe Frank Harris appointed aGrowth Strategies Commission and directed it to design acomprehensive planning process that would include acoordinated structure for local, regional, and state planning.
Akey feature of the resulting strategy was agrass-roots planning process involving a state plan based on regional plans based on local plans. In the critical center of this arrangement were the regions, and the regions were represented by the APDCs. There was concern expressed by many, however, that several APDCs were not up to the task. Issues included certain APDC funding problems, the tendency ofsome to devote too much time and energy to grantsmanship regardless of impact on primary responsibilities, varying APDC capabilities across the state, and the low priority of planning at some APDC offices.
To address these issues, a hearing was held by the Advisory Committee on Area Planning and Development to "identify problems with APDCs, whether such problems were perceived or real, and identify obstacles to the APDCs being designated as the regional planning agencies by the Growth Strategies Commission." Ultimately, after several sometimes heated discussions of the issue, the Commission issued its final report with a recommendation to place the APDCs at the center of the regional delivery network.
The Georgia Planning Act of 1989 put the Growth Strategies recommendations into law. Chief among these was the requirement that every county and city in the state complete acomprehensive plan according to certain standards. Those not doing so would lose eligibility for some state financial assistance programs. For the APDCs, the legislation created, as one official put it, "a whole new ballgame." They were reorganized and renamed Regional Development Centers (RDCs). They were given detailed planning responsibilities. Performance audits ofthe RDCs were mandated. Every local government was required to be a member of an RDC.

1983
EPA study projects the irreversible onset of "the greenhouse effect"
U.S. embassy and Marine headquarters destroyed by car bombs in Beirut
Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Inttiative, "Star Wars"
First black and woman U.S. astronauts
Russian MIGs shoot down Korean Air Lines flight 007
Compact disc for music is introduced
U.S. invades Grenada
1984
Carl Lewis wins four golds in Los Angeles Olympics, which are boycotted by the Eastem Bloc
Britain and China sign treaty for return of Hong Kong to China in 1997
Congress forbids U.S. aid to Contras of Nicaragua

17

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENOES IN GEORGIA

1985
Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's base hit record 1st ReaganlGorbachev summit Waner Payton sets all-time rushing record for NFL French agents sink Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior
1986
Nuclear catastrophe at Chemobyl Corazon Aquino is elected president of Phillipines; Marcos exiled Greg LeMond becomes first American to win Tour de France bicycling race Nicklaus wins Masters at age 46 Haley's Comet returns Space shuttle Challenger explodes
1987
Abdul-Jabbar passes Wilt Chamberlain as all-time NBA scoring leader Black Friday stock market crisis Oliver North testifies in Iran-Contra hearings Palestinians launch the Intifadah

At the state level, DCA was reorganized to incorporate a new Office of Coordinated Planning. The DCA Board was also reorganized. A new Governor's Development Council was created with the governor as chairman.
The Planning Act required DCA to recommend to the General Assembly more effective RDC boundaries. To carry out this directive, DCA developed a collaborative process which began with two conferences. In the first, atechnical panel made up ofplanners, geographers, and otherspecialists suggested three alternative plans, with 14, 11, and 12 RDCs. Then a policy group made up of City and county officials and state legislators considered the advice of the first group, and recommended two alternative plans, one to divide the state into 14 RDCs and the other to maintain the status quo. DCA held 20 public hearings throughout the state to gather reaction to these recommendations.
Opposition to the 14-RDC proposal at the hearings was intense. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," was an often-heard phrase. Many, however, believed the RDC system needed fixing and continued to push for changes. Mter much debate, the DCA Board decided to not recommend any changes in RDC boundaries, recognizing that they had, as one observer put it, "gotten hold of a dog that just won't hunt."
Afew voluntary boundary changes took place, however, in the Atlanta region. In 1989 Henry County joined the Atlanta Regional Commission, followed in 1991 by Fayette County. Cherokee County joined ARC in 1993.
THE 19905
The 1990s began inauspiciously with amajor state government budget crisis as Georgia struggled under the impacts of a national economic recession. In the first legislative session under new governor ZeU Miller's administration, the General Assembly had to cut state funding in many areas, including a cut of 7.5% in money for RDCs and a 16% cut in DCA funding.
Comprehensive planning also got offto adifficult start. Some ofthe RDCs were unhappy with various provisions ofthe PlanningAct, and only reluctantly began to undertake their roles in implementing it. In 1991 DCA Commissioner Higdon alluded to this at an RDC Board Training Conference when he charged that a few RDCs had "an attitude of contempt towards the entire coordinated planning system, which was viewed as just another job to be performed with the minimum possible effort, so that resources may be

18

A BRIEF HISTORY

conserved for more important things like federal grants management." He further noted that most RDCs were doing a good job on planning review, but that a statewide planning system "must work everywhere or not at all."
S trains in the DCA/RDC relationship also resulted from the Planning Act requirement that DCA conduct performance audits of RDC operations. While state agencies had long been subjected to such audits, RDCs had remained largely free of such oversight. Matters came to a head in 1993 when one RDC refused to allow DCA to do a performance audit. Litigation soon followed. In early 1994, the Georgia Supreme Court handed down a final decision on the matter. The state's right to audit the RDCs, as well as their subsidiaries, was affirmed unanimously.
Another 1993 event added to concerns over RDC/state relations. The Oconee RDC ceased operations for a variety of reasons, some of which had been earlier documented in a DCA performance audit. Its counties were divided between the Central Savannah RiverArea and Middle Georgia RDCs. Oconee's demise reduced the number of RDCs to seventeen and marked the first time an APDC or RDC had closed its doors.
Athird major event in 1993 also unsettled the RDCs. The Governor's Development Council established CEDO, the Council of Economic Development Organizations, as its outreach program for economic development planning. CEDO's eleven regions had boundaries that bore little resemblance to those of the seventeen RDCs. Many began to wonder if the state was again planning to reduce the number of RDCs and rearrange the jurisdictions of those remaining.
Legislation introduced in the 1995 session of the General Assembly sought to do exactly that. It would have adjusted both RDC and CEDO boundaries to make them the same. The number of RDCs would have been reduced from seventeen to thirteen and the number ofCEDO regions would have been increased from eleven to thirteen. As the session ended, however, the bill was held in a senate committee and a decisive vote was not taken. If boundary changes are to occur, the DCA Board will once again have to make such a recommendation to the General Assembly.

1988
Salman Rushdie publishes The Satanic Verses Televangelist Jim Bakker is convicted of fraud and conspiracy Geneva Accords set timetable for Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan U.S. cruiser Vincennes shoots down Iranian airliner
1989
Khomeini dies Berlin Wall comes down Demonstrators are killed in Tienanmen Square in Beijing San Francisco earthquake suspends play in World Series U.S. invades Panama Ceaucescu is deposed as ruler of Romania
1990
Flawed mirror discovered in Space Telescope Hubble East and West Germany are reunited Iraq invades Kuwait launching Gulf War Nelson Mandela released from prison Lech Walensa wins first direct presidential elections in Poland's history

19

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCIES IN GEORGIA

1991
"Magic" Johnson announces he is HIV-positive
Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian Republic
Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia declare independence from Yugoslavia
Gorbachev gives up presidency of USSR
1992
Clinton defeats Bush and Perot to become president Hurricane Andrew slams Florida; Iniki strikes Hawaii
Johnny Carson retires from The Tonight Show
Toronto Blue Jays become first Canadian team to win World Series
NAFTA signed
LA riots follow acquittal of police in Rodney King case
1993
World Trade Center bombing Michael Jordan leads Chicago Bulls to "Threepear
Israel and PLO sign peace accord
U.S. troops launch Operation Restore Hope in Somalia
Great Flood of 1993 ravages the Midwest
ATF agents storm Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas
David Lettennan jumps to CBS for $16.5 million

THREE DECADES OF CHANGE
The history of any planning organization may be properly examined by looking at four factors: area ofoperation, mission, funding, and accountability.
In the case ofthe APDCs/RDCs, their individual areas ofoperation have changed over the years, but not radically. In most cases, RDC boundaries have remained largely as they were created. Only one merger ofAPDCs or RDCs has taken place, and only one, the Oconee RDC, has ever closed its doors. For the most part, the RDCs have successfullyresisted efforts to change their boundaries or their numbers.
Their mission has changed, or more specifically, it has evolved and expanded. Planning was the first APDC mission and it remained the primary responsibility for a number of years. However, beginning in the 1960s, the APDCs became adept at acquiring federal grant money not only for local governments, but also for themselves. As a result, they became heavily involved in the delivery of services unrelated to planning, which became a minor function at many APDCs. As planning was not a major source ofgrant money, it was not at the top of their priority list. This situation changed somewhat in 1989 as a result of the Georgia Planning Act, but planning remains something of a stepchild at most RDCs.
Funding has changed somewhat in that local dues have been increased and the dues system has been put on afairer basis. State money to RDCs has generally kept pace with inflation, rising from $35,000 to $130,000 per RDC since the late 1960s.20 In addition, state funding passes through DNR to help pay for regional historic preservation planners21 and through DOT for staff work related to transportation planning. Several RDCs have been given stateappropriated funds to help communities damaged by 1994's disastrous floods. The degree of reliance on federal dollars has remained roughly the same for many years now.
Lastly, accountability has changed. In the earliest years, APDCs were accountable mostly to those local governments paying APDC dues and to the federal agencies funding their programs. The State, through the State Planning Bureau, encouraged APDC growth and development and worked jointly with them on some projects, but it had no legislative mandate to oversee their operations. Since the late 1960s, however, the General Assembly has gradually asserted the State's interests in the RDCs. Legislation passed in 1957-1960, 1970, 1972, 1989,1992, and 1994 has firmly established these interests.

20

A BRIEF HISTORY

THE FUTURE OF REGIONAL PLANNING IN GEORGIA
What will be the status of the RDCs ten or twenty years from now (assuming they exist at all)? Very different boundaries? Aradically changed funding arrangement? Will regional planning be a primary function? The future, as ever, is unclear. Powerful forces desiring to realign the RDCs have met equally powerful forces determined to preserve the status quo. Cutbacks in federal funding now being discussed may well exceed those Reagan administrations attempts. Cuts in State funding are not out of the question. Funding cuts would likely change priorities among the RDCs' various goals.
Today, Georgians want less government, fewer regulations, and lower taxes. Citizens also want their governments to plan better so that limited (and perhaps reduced) revenues are expended more efficiently. For example, voters recently approved a ballot measure enabling local governments to share revenues to build expensive facilities such as industrial parks and infrastructure systems on a regional, rather than local, basis. Voters recognized that it would encourage more efficient development spending. This desire for cooperation among local governments may bode well for regional planning. It is the same desire that prompted the creation ofAPDCs three decades ago.

1994
O.J. Simpson charged with murder; the White Bronco pursuit is televised live
Baseball Strike cancels World Series
Lion King, all-time highest grossing movie, is released
Tropical Storm Alberto stalls in Georgia, triggering the state's Great Flood
1995
Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress
Trade and diplomatic relations reestablished with Vietnam
Oklahoma City rocked by terrosrist bombing attack
Cal Ripken breaks Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive baseball games played

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FOOTNOTES
1. Georgia Laws 1947, p.849. "An act to establish a metropolitan planning district for Fulton and DeKalb Counties, to provide a planning commission for said district; to provide for the making and amending of an overall plan for the orderly growth and development of said district; to define the duties and powers of said commission; to define the relationship between said commission and the governmental units in said district and to define their rights, powers and duties; and for other purposes." The Atlanta region, by most definitions at the time, would have included Cobb County, which long had an interurban trolley connection with the city, as well as Clayton County, the location of the city's airport. Most likely, one or more other counties would have been included in any delineation ofthe region. As far back as 1948 the airport was, during some months of the year, the busiest airport in the nation. See: Franklin Garrett, Yesterday's Atlanta, Miami: E.A. Seemann Publishing, Inc., 1974. The MPC and its successor agencies, ARMPC and ARC, were formed under state legislation that applied only locally. All other area planning and development commissions/regional development centers were formed under state laws having statewide application.
4 Georgia Laws 1957, p. 420. "An Act to authorize the governing authorities of the several municipalities and counties of this State to establish separate or joint planning commissions; to provide for the preparation and amendment of overall plans for the orderly growth and development of said municipalities; to provide for the regulation of the subdivision of land; to provide for the regulation of structures in mapped streets, public building sites, and public open spaces; to repeal conflicting laws, and for other purposes." This was not the first act to authorize local planning. See also Georgia Laws 1946, p. 191 as well as local and special acts.
5 Georgia Laws 1959, p. 335. 6 Georgia Laws 1957, p. 420; Georgia Laws 1958, p. 169; Georgia Laws 1959,
p. 337; Georgia Laws 1960, p. 1037. Anon., "Joining With Neighboring Counties and Municipalities to Form a Regional Development Organization; How Can It Be Done? What Are The Problems?" (1962?), unpublished paper at Georgia Department of Community Affairs. 8 Radford, Paul D., "Georgia's Area Planning and Development Commissions: A Background Report." Georgia Department of Community Affairs, 1981, p. 15. 9 Coastal Plains APDC changed its name to South Georgia APDC in 1978, Slash Pine APDC became Southeast Georgia APDC in 1975, and West Central Georgia APDC changed its name to Middle Flint in 1969.
22

10 Haynie, George S., "The Evolvement of the Regional Council Concept in Georgia," (No date), unpublished paper at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
II Larry Travis, personal communication 11/17/94. 12 Georgia Laws 1957, p. 446. "An Act to create and establish a State Planning
Commission for the State of Georgia; to provide for members and the method of selection, compensation, terms, meetings, and duties; to provide for studies and plans; to provide that the commission may render assistance in making plans, reports and recommendations in planning matters; to provide that the planning commission created herein shall be a part of the State Department of Commerce and under the control and supervision of the secretary ofsaid department; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes." 13 Georgia Laws 1967, p. 252. 14 Chattahoochee River Basin Development Commission, Study of the Potential TraffiC for the Proposed Chattahoochee River Navigation Channel to Atlanta. 15 Georgia Laws 1972, p. 1557. 16 All of the figures in this section include the Atlanta Regional Commission which has historically had a higher level of employment and a larger budget than the typical APDC/RDC. 17 Unpublished paper, 1981, probably by Advisory Committee on Area Planning and Development. 18 Jackson, Edwin 1. and Mary E. Stakes, Handbook of Georgia State Agencies, Second Edition, Athens: Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, 1988, p.15. 19 Ibid., p.16. 20 The actual amount per ROC varies significantly due to a population factor built into the funding formula. Each ROC receives a standard amount under a base contract as well as an amount based on population under a supplemental contract. 21 In 1994 thirteen of the seventeen RDCs had preservation planners on staff with a strong possibility of a fourteenth being added.
1& The timeline material, with the exception of 1993-1995, is drawn from the timeline found in the Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Release 6, 1993.

A BRIEF HISTORY 23

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENaES IN GEORGIA
24

GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF
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