The Regional Commission annually assists a few selected communities in preparing their land use plans; recreation plans; comprehensive master plans; GIS mapping; other locally based plans; and special projects.

Plan Writing
The Commission does not as a policy respond to requests for proposals issued by local governments, and only provides this service where local communities cannot afford the cost of services from the private sector, or choose not to.

These projects are not a significant part of the Commission’s work program, or a major focus of the agency’s mission. However, the Commission provides this local government service as less than five of the 120 local governments in the region have their own professional planning staff, and many communities have very limited resources to hire private consultants.

Costs vary depending on the project and staff hours required.

GIS Mapping
If your community has a land use or zoning map that you would like digitized (computerized) using GIS technology, would like to create a new land use or zoning map, or overlay other community information on to maps, the Regional Commission is offering local governments a much needed new service in this area.

The Commission has recently expanded its GIS capability and resources to offer this service to local communities in our region, at cost. Products could include poster or wall size land use and zoning maps in color. The primary advantage of digitized maps is the ease with which maps can be updated as your community makes land use and zoning decisions, as well as its professional appearance. Furthermore, the data can be stored at our local planning office for you to access when needed.

The cost of this service ranges depending on the products desired and tasks involved. Maps prepared for communities in our region are available for review at the Commission’s offices.

For more information concerning Local Government Services, please call (231) 722-7878 ext. 14 or contact: