State Agencies

Howard County: J. Hugh Nichols, County Execu-
tive; Ruth U. Keeton, Chairperson, County
Council; Helen E. Ruther, Chairperson, Plan-
ning Board.

Alternates:

Anne Arundel County: Florence B. Kurdle, for
Mr. Lighthizer; Carole Baker, for Mr. Childs.

Baltimore City: Larry Reich, for Mayor Schaefer;
Vacancy, for Mr. Burns.

Baltimore County: Honora M. Freeman, for Mr.
Hutchinson; Ronald B. Hickernell for Ms.
Bachur.

Carroll County: George A. Grier, for Mr.
Armacost; Vacancy, for Mr. Griffith.

Harford County: Vacancy, for Mr. Freeman; Va-
cancy, for Mr. Hardwicke.

Howard County: Thomas G. Harris, Jr., for Mr.
Nichols; James H. dark, for Ms. Keeton.

Walter J. Kowalczyk, Jr., Executive Director

John W. VanDerveer, Director, Administrative
Services

Alfred P. Gwynn, Deputy Director and Director,
Development Planning

Naomi S. Russell, Director, Housing and Commu-
nity Development

Joel Reightler, Director, Transportation Planning

Josef Nathanson, Director, Economic Research
and Information Systems

Harold 0. Wright, Director, Fiscal Services

2225 N. Charles Street
Baltimore 21218 Telephone: 383-5838

The Regional Planning Council was created by
Chapter 753, Acts of 1963, as the official succes-
sor to the Baltimore Regional Planning Council,
which was terminated in August 1964. The prior
agency had operated as part of the State Planning
Department since 1956. By Chapter 7, Acts of
1967, the requirements for membership on the
Council were changed to provide that a majority
of the Council members be elected officials. By
Chapter 497, Acts of 1971, the Secretary of State
Planning, the Secretary of Transportation, the
Secretary of Natural Resources, and the Secretary
of Health and Mental Hygiene were made non-
voting, ex-officio members of the Council. By
Chapter 699, Acts of 1975, the Council also in-
cludes a representative of a municipal corporation

State Planning/303

within the regional planning area appointed by
the Governor on the advice of the chief executives
of all the municipalities in the area.
The Council's area of jurisdiction covers all of
Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore,
Carroll, Harford, and Howard counties, and
encompasses an area of 2,259 square miles. The
1980 Census showed that this metropolitan area
had a population of 2,174,000. The Regional
Planning Council is in effect a council of local
governments with State participation. Its voting
membership of twenty-three persons consists of
three representatives from each of these six juris-
dictions, a member of the State Senate, a member
of the House of Delegates, an elected municipal
official, and two members-at-large. The last five
members are appointed by the Governor. Of the
three members from each of the six jurisdictions
the following are members: the mayor of the City
of Baltimore, the county executives of Baltimore,
Anne Arundel, Harford, and Howard counties,
the president of the Baltimore City Council, the
chairperson of the County Council in Baltimore,
Anne Arundel, Harford, and Howard counties,
the president and a member of the Board of
County Commissioners from Carroll County, and
a member of the planning commissions or adviso-
ry boards of each of the six jurisdictions. The
elected officials representing the six political sub-
divisions have the right to designate an alternate
to act in their absence.

The Regional Planning Council provides an op-
portunity for its member governmental units to
work together with the State in dealing with com-
mon problems and planning for the future devel-
opment of the region.

The Council is required by law to reexamine,
revise if necessary, readopt, and republish the
General Development Plan for the region every
five years, with the next revision scheduled in
1987. Transportation, housing, recreation,
water/sewer, solid waste, energy and environmen-
tal planning are all facets of the Regional Plan-
ning Council program. The Regional Planning
Council's work also encompasses socio-economic
analysis and evaluation of regional problems and
opportunities. Housing, regional economy, and
coordination of statistical data resources are in-
cluded (Code 1957, Art. 78D).

The Regional Planning Council publishes re-
ports on transportation, demographics, housing
characteristics, economic forecasts, and similar
matters. Copies of these and of the 1982 General
Development Plan are available through the
Council's library at nominal cost.