Thursday, October 16, 2003

Statewide Zoning Layer Needed Kory Holdaway, chair of the Public Utilities and Technology committee of the Utah legislature wants a statewide GIS zoning layer (he's also the chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission for Taylorsville City - here's their zoning map).  It makes sense, especially if we want to day any kind of statewide or regional planning.  We also need a layer that identifies key regional facilities and infrastructure such as mass transit.  Currently, this data is not part of the 180 data layers in the State Geographic Information Database supported by AGRC.  This may sound like a lot, but I think that it barely scratches the surface of the potential uses for GIS in the state.  Maybe GISAC needs to add zoning to their priority data layers.  AGRC supports websites for the following organizations: Utah Aerial Photography and Orthoimagery Consortium Geographic Information Systems Advisory Council (GISAC) Quality Growth Efficiency Tools (QGET) - it looks like some local zoning data was once available through QGET G5 (Five County GIS Group) Geospatial Service and Technology Center Canyon Country Partnership In his Masters Thesis, A Spatio-Temporal Data Model for Zoning delivered in 2001, Phillip Uhl presents a case for maintaining spatial data for historical purposes in addition to providing a tool for future planning efforts.  Here's another important role for State Archives if they are able to step up and fill it - in cooperation with AGRC. Jackson County, Oregon, (Medford) is an area that really seems to understand GIS and its potential within government.  Check out their site at www.smartmap.org The Southwest Users Group, a consortium of GIS professionals meets on Oct. 25-27 in Jackson Hole. 7:43:33 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 David Fletcher.