CONSERVATION LANDS

JUSTIFICATION FOR USE:

Another important factor we considered in determining areas that were most suitable for development was the presence of conservation areas. We decided that developing in these areas would not be feasible or appropriate, and might even be prohibited by law. Therefore, we felt that it was crucial for us to identify these areas and to not allow development in them.

PROCESS:

This information layer, which we obtained from the Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL), showed the location of all of conservation areas in the three county area which we could analyze or display on the computer. The information from this coverage was used differently than most of the others. This coverage, along with the Archaeological and Historical Sites, Flood Potential Areas, and Wetland Areas, was used to eliminate areas from consideration. These four coverages acted together to "mask out" those areas that, for some reason or another, were highly inappropriate for development and so should not be considered.

RESULTS:

The result of our work is a map that shows the three county area with all of the wetland areas identified. This map then became one of many different information layers that were weighted and combined to give us our Residential and Commercial Intermediate Suitability Maps.