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Track: Local/State Government, Cadastral, Land Records
David Streb
City of Fitchburg
718 Main Street
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Telephone: 508-345-1018
Fax: 508-342-0161
E-mail: dstreb@ci.fitchburg.ms.us
Selling a Zoning Change with GIS
The City of Fitchburg's Redevelopment Authority proposed a zoning change from rural residential to limited industrial zoning in order to develop an industrial park. Opposition to this change was intense, particularly among residents of the affected neighborhood. City planners used their UNIX ArcInfo GIS to prepare a visual analysis of the amount of unrestricted land in industrial zones available for development. This analysis incorporated a visual depiction of property protected by the Rivers Protection Act, FEMA 100 Year floodplain, parcels already under development (from Assessor's data), and protected open space restrictions. Plotted on Mylar, this information had a significant impact on the final decision by City councillors and shows one of the many purposes to which a broad-based municipal GIS with sufficient data can be put.
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