As a result of the vision of Governor Joe Frank Harris's Growth Strategies Commission,  the Georgia State Legislature passed the Georgia Planning Act in 1989 establishing a coordinated planning program for the State of Georgia. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs was thereafter appointed to provide administrative guidance on the implementation of the ACT. The Georgia Planning Act created a three tiered experiment in "bottoms up" planning and mandated the development of local comprehensive plans, regional plans and a comprehensive State plan.

The adoption and upkeep of local comprehensive plans insures retention of the local government Qualified Local Government (QLG) status. This status enables local governments to remain eligible for State grants and loans. All governments in Southwest Georgia have developed and adopted a local comprehensive plan with the exception of Riverside in Colquitt County. Riverside did not complete a plan due to its small population.

The development of the Southwest Georgia Regional Plan was begun in FY 1997 with planning funds from the Georgia Community Affairs and matching funding from local RDC member dues. The regional planning process is a two phase project resulting in the adoption of a Technical Staff Report (TSR) and a Regional Agenda. The Technical Staff Report will be submitted to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for review in July 1997. The adoption of the Regional Agenda is scheduled to be completed by April 1998.

During FY97, the Technical Staff report was developed to cover the planning period 1997-2017. The TSR is based largely on a compilation of information in the local plans and additional information contributed by regional planning committees. This report inventories and analyzes the Southwest Georgia Region's population growth, economic development, housing, natural, historic, and archaeological resources, public facilities and land use. Human services, an optional element, was also added to the planning process.

Prior to the development of the TSR, three public hearings were advertised and held in the Region. Public participation has been great throughout the planning process. Very active committees and an RDC Board Steering Committee have helped guide the development of this plan. Solicitation of comments on the draft TSR were made through the RDC Board members, committee members and three public hearings announcing the completion and availability of  the draft TSR.

The purpose of the TSR is to analyze population growth characteristics, the adequacy of existing housing, infrastructure, economic development tools, environmental protection measures and land use management strategies. Projections over the twenty year period are also made and analysis of the adequacy of existing and planned infrastructure and programs is made. Identification of conflicts, inconsistencies and opportunities between local government comprehensive plans is made. The preliminary identification of issues, needs, problems and opportunities developed in the TSR will be utilized during the development of the Regional Agenda, the regional action plan.

The Southwest Georgia RDC Board of Directors will define the Regional Agenda during FY98. The goal of the Regional Agenda is to refine the preliminary set of issues, needs, problems and opportunities and to use this list to develop focused goals and objectives for regional projects over the twenty year planning horizon. A five year work program will be developed by the Board of Directors to guide the Center's activities and funding.

This document includes an executive summary of each of the planning elements. The preliminary listing of subregional, inter and intra-regional issues problems, needs and opportunities is provided for review in the executive summary. For more information, the Technical Staff Report should be consulted. The following lists the sequence of planning element summaries.