So you’ve heard about the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC). What’s this Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO)? How is VLMPO different from the GLPC?

Well, it’s not exactly the same geographical area. GLPC is exclusively for Lowndes County, including its cities. VLMPO is for the Valdosta Urbanized Area, which does not include all of Lowndes County, but does include parts of Berrien and Lanier Counties. According to VLMPO’s home page:

In April 2003, Governor Sonny Perdue officially designated the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Valdosta Urbanized Area. As the MPO, the SGRC is responsible for carrying out transportation planning in the Metropolitan Planning Area using funding received from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration, administered by the Georgia Department of Transportation. The MPO works with these and other transportation planning partners to fulfill the requirements of various federal, state and local transportation planning laws and plans.

And it’s not quite the same subject area. GLPC mostly hears rezoning cases, although it also deals with larger planning issues such as the Comprehensive Plan, which includes transportation. VLMPO is focused on transportation, but gets into all sorts of related issues: Continue reading →