(a) At the request of the Governor, the Office shall solicit applications from municipalities and unincorporated areas to have an area designated as a Downtown Development District. Such application shall include a description of the area to be included; the need for district incentives; the district plan; local incentives offered; and such other information as may be required by the Office.
(b) The Office of State Planning Coordination shall administer the application process and establish criteria to determine what areas qualify as Downtown Development Districts. The Office is authorized to take such actions as may be necessary or convenient to fulfill its responsibilities hereunder, including but not limited to promulgating rules and regulations relating to the establishment, amendment, and termination of districts and providing assistance to municipalities and unincorporated areas in connection with the application process.
(c) The criteria for designating areas as Downtown Development Districts shall include:
(1) The need and impact of such a designation for such area, including but not limited to income, unemployment rate, homeownership rate, and prevalence of vacant or abandoned housing units in such municipality or unincorporated area. Need and impact factors shall account for at least 50 percent of the consideration given to applications for district designation;
(2) The quality of the municipality's or unincorporated area's district plan;
(3) The quality of the local incentives offered; and
(4) Such other criteria as may be determined by the Office.