Digitzation of the Land Classification Map Into The Maps System-1987

DIGITIZATION OF THE LAND CLASSIFICATION MAP
INTO THE MAPS SYSTEM
New Hanover County Planning Dept.
August 26, 1987
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Division of Coastal Management
The preparation of this -document was financed, in
part, through a Coastal -Area Management Act grant
provided by the North Carolina Coastal Management
program, through funds provided by the Coastal Man-
agement Act of 1972, as -amended, which is administered
by the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

DIGITIZATION OF THE LAND CLASSIFICATION MAP
INTO THE MAPS SYSTEM
I. Purpose
The purpose of this report is to discuss the process and importance of
digitizing the boundaries of the Land Classification Map, as adopted as part of the
1986 Wilmington - New Hanover Land -Use Plan, into the County's MAPS system.` MAPS
(Management and Planning System) is a computerized geographic -based information
management system that is being established in a joint effort by the City of
Wilmington and the County. This report gives some background on MAPS, explains the
process.by which digitization took place, and discusses the -importance to the County.
II. MAPS
The City of Wilmington and New Hanover County have a combined population of
approximately 115,000 people and cover 185 square miles, divided into some 60,000
land parcels. The area is experiencing a rapid growth in population and
corresponding pressures and complexity surrounding land use.
Like many growing urban areas, Wilmington and New Hanover County face increasing
difficulties in attempting to access and use geographically -referenced information in
its day-to-day work. Planning, land records, public works, emergency services and
other essential functions all require information of better currency and accuracy in
order to provide acceptable levels of service with available resources. In a growing
number of cases, however, the information needed to make a planning decision, address
an emergency situation, or assess new development simply could not be accessed within
an acceptable time frame. As a result, the City and County were experiencing less
than efficient deployment of service delivery, uncertainty with respect to the
condition and/or need for upgrading public service, and less than satisfactory
monitoring of land development.
To address these problems, the administrations of the City and County embarked
on a joint program to acquire a modern system for handling the geographic -based
information needs of the community. The resulting system, called MAPS (Management
and Planning System) will be supplied by Geovision of Ottawa, Canada, a company
specializing in automated mapping/geographic information systems for City/County
administrations. Installation of the systems commenced in early 1986.
The MAPS system is based upon two software packaged developed by Geovision.
The first System operates on a Digital VAX-11/750 Computer System installed in
Wilmington's Data Processing Department. Several "layers" of information (including
street network, land parcels, storm drainage, water system, and sanitary sewer
network) covering both the City and County are being entered into the MAPS database.
This database is being created through the digitizing of approximately 1,000 paper
maps by.a second contractor, GeoBased Systems of Raleigh, North Carolina. Extensive
attribute information related to both the land parcels and the utility outside plant
networks is being supplied by,_GeoBased along with the graphic data, and then entered
by Geovision into the MAPS database.
The second software package, an Advanced Mapping System, operates on each of

two HP 9000 color graphics workstations installed in the City's Engineering
Department and in the County Land Records Department, respectively. These
workstations, may be used to refine and maintain the initial database, as well as
adding additional layers such as planning districts, zoning, demographics, and
ultimately dozens of other special layers.
Interconnections between existing IBM resident computer applications maintained
by both the City and the County will also be established by Geovision during the
installation of the GIS package. County applications, such as appraisal, land
records, and property maintenance on the 4361 computer system will be interconnected
to the Digital VAX computer system. Likewise, existing IBM-S/38 City applications
including service requests, utility billing, and event monitoring will also be able
to access MAPS in this environment.
Thus, the investment in existing operational systems will be enriched through
the addition of both geographic positions and graphics describing facilities,
resources and assets now administered through the IBM system. As funds become
available, additional terminals will be established in various departments throughout
the City and County Administrations. Terminals are presently being installed in the
Planning Department.
A variety of application -specific software is available for custom -tailoring of
the system. MAPS software will also provide plan and profile sheet generation, and
translate the GBF/DIME file to a useable format.
The following non -exhaustive list of applications/system activity elements
describes the types of attributes that may be associated with MAPS:
(1) Parcel Boundaries - Computerized map of parcel boundaries, including parcel
identifier or geographic centroid coordinator.
(2) Tax Records - Tax information, such as property value and land use.
(3) Parcel Addresses - Official address of each parcel with associated parcel
identifier or geographic centroid coordinator.
(4) Street Network - Digitized rights -of -way, center lines, and intersections.
(5) Census Polygons - Census geography.
(6) Demographics - Census data.
(7) Service Requests - Location, type, and cost of requested service, e.g.
trash pick-up.
(8) Watersheds.
(9) Utilities - Networks of water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, electricity,
and gas.
(10) Traffic Counts - Vehicle movement data.
(11) Zoning - Boundaries and types of zoning districts.
(12) Right-of-way improvements - Right-of-way width, type
(13) Proposed Thoroughfares - Projected location of future streets.
(14) Transit - Ridership characteristics -and routing optimization.
(15) Environmental - Flood plains, soil characteristics, vegetation cover, etc.
(16) Building Inventory - Location, square footage, conditions
(17) Existing Files - Application of geographic codes to existing data files,
such as street signs, rehabilitation loans, fire calls, etc.
(18) User -Defined Area - Definition of areas for special'studies, e.g.
annexation.

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III. Process of Digitization of Land Classification Map
This section describes the process of digitizing the Land Classification Map
boundaries into the MAPS system The Maps first was registered to the digitizing
table. The digitizing table is essentially an electro-magnetic field that registers
movement of a hand-held "pointer". Specific points, such as road intersections, were
selected and recorded into the computer. These points allowed the computer to
establish a scale and to track input of MAP boundaries in relation to these reference
points.
The digitizer then was used to record points corresponding to boundary line
segment end points. The computer was instructed to establish line segments between
these points and to connect them into polygons corresponding to the different land
classes (Developed, Transition, Conservation, Resource Protection, Rural, Community)
of the Map.
Centroid points then were placed within each land class polygon and assigned a
value. This value is used to identify each land class and can be assigned various
colors for graphic presentation. Finally, a key describing each land class was
inputted with the Map.
IV. Importance of the Digitization of the Map Boundaries
Digitization of the Land Classification Map will integrate the Map into the same
data base to be used by the County's planners, developers, County Commissioners,
Planning Board, interested citizens, and other persons involved in decision -making
for future land -use development. The Map's boundaries will become part of the set of
geographic attributes listed in Section II of this report. Another potential benefit
will be allowing developers, realtors, utilities, and others to establish terminal
hook-up with MAPS.
This data base may be used for many different purposes including:
1. Look -up functions for a parcel's characteristics with regard to its land
suitability, based on its land class;
2. Analyses, such as correlations between different land classes and soil
characteristics and zoning.
3. Production of color maps at any scale with relative ease, using the
computer's multi -color printer.