Ledger-Dispatch

By Debbie Dunn (ddunn@volcano.net)=20

The UPLAN map of the county's current = general=20 plan land use designations color codes Amador with urban, = residential,=20 industrial and other designations.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
Amador County has moved to = the head of the=20 class in planning technology, thanks to two cutting edge mapping tools = that will=20 allow county officials to play "what if" before determining the = direction of=20 future growth.

County officials, transportation planners and = members of=20 the public were treated to an illustrative presentation of both tools at = the=20 Amador County Transportation Commission meeting Wednesday night. The = monthly=20 session gaveled open to a packed agenda of 23 items, but the apex of the = evening=20 was the unveiling of UPLAN, a rule-based mapping tool developed by the=20 Information Center for the Environment at the University of California, = Davis.=20 Using complex algorithms, UPLAN can digest various chunks of data and = layer them=20 like a sandwich to see where growth can, and should, take = hold.

The=20 application essentially offers a color-coded blue print of where = development=20 will occur based on current or programmed general plan land use = designators. In=20 2005, the state Department of Transportation awarded Amador, Alpine and=20 Calaveras counties a grant to carry out geographic information systems = mapping=20 and land use modeling. Earlier in the meeting, Timothy J. McSorley, = executive=20 director of the Calaveras County of Governments, presented a resolution = plaque=20 acknowledging the collaborative efforts of the tri-county partnership, = viewed as=20 a model for rural regional cooperation by the state.

Early in = 2006, after=20 a UPLAN software demonstration at UC Davis, the three counties signed = off on a=20 memorandum of understanding that used the $400,000 Caltrans grant to = fund the=20 implementation of UPLAN and an information technology software called a=20 circulation map exercise, otherwise known as CMX.

A unanimous nod = from=20 the board of supervisors in March 2006 authorized transportation staff = to begin=20 collaborating with a new GIS technician, county and city staff, and = EDAW, the=20 consulting firm performing the county's general plan update, on how to = utilize=20 the UPLAN program.

After two years of information gathering and=20 assimilation, county GIS coordinator Keith Johnson and GIS technician = Kimberly=20 Grissom on Wednesday orchestrated presentation of the "base model" that = had been=20 created.

Like looking at a cross section of a novel, UPLAN is a=20 multi-layered programming tool, each page of the novel superimposed upon = another=20 for a cumulative look at regional and county growth. In developing the = base=20 model, specific inputs included exclusions, constraints and = opportunities for=20 future development, a base layer of the current general plan and = geographic=20 slope.

With the base established, the tool can now be used to = show=20 outcomes of current build-out to the existing general plan within a = prescribed=20 time period of 20 years, or until 2030. The next step was to add the = four=20 proposed general plan update land use alternatives into the "base case." = Once in=20 place, a multitude of scenarios can be added and measured for their = effects on a=20 variety of resources, like water and economic conditions. Post process = analysis=20 can also be conducted on traffic models and air quality.

Although = independent, the CMX tool has similar benefits, peeking into a = programmed future=20 and analyzing potential outcomes. Dedicated more toward traffic in = specific=20 locales, the CMX model can visually display signal light timing and = actual=20 vehicle movement.

Commissioner Greg Baldwin, a Plymouth council = member,=20 said a major concern was adding a signal light at the intersection of = Jackson=20 Gate Road and Highway 49 in the Martell circulation area.

ACTC = Executive=20 Director Charles Field offered to provide an in-motion visual model of = the area=20 at the October meeting.

Additional funding is being sought to = continue=20 the work on general plan and circulation mapping. The commission = unanimously=20 carried the motion to submit a funding request to the state in October. = Anyone=20 interested in a first-hand experience of this technology can attend the = public=20 premiere on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the County = Administration=20 Center.

Debbie Dunn
Ledger Dispatch Contributor=20