(See map titled: "Slope") Dr. Jo Mano contributed these data sets to the open space inventory. While this data is useful, its applications in the open space inventory are limited due to discrepancies in scale and projection with existing GIS data.

SCENIC VIEWS

(See map titled: "Scenic Views/Scenic Roads") Members of the Open Space Committee led by Al Wegener, along with others, generously compiled an exhaustive inventory of scenic views in New Paltz. This data set is extremely useful in the open space inventory as a tool to identify valuable open space resources. This data set is a point file with a directional component that "points" to the direction of the scenic view. This data set was manually mapped in-house at various scales.

NEW PALTZ RESOURCES

Resources such as the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and other New Paltz landmarks have been manually added to base mapping data sets. These data sets serve to reference map viewers and identify areas of significance to New Paltz.

AREAS OF IMPORTANCE AS DESIGNATED BY THE NEW PALTZ PUBLIC

(See map titled: "Publicly Identified Land") This data layer has been compiled by the New Paltz Open Space Committee based on areas identified during the January 15, 2003 public participation meeting. Parcels included in this layer have been identified by the people of New Paltz as including areas with significant open space resources. This data set was manually mapped based on the County parcel file.

ZONING MAP

(See map titled: "Zoning") In addition, the zoning maps were obtained to enable an identification of the zoning districts affecting the various open space resources contained in other data layers. The Town of New Paltz and Ulster County were the primary sources of the zoning maps that were ultimately incorporated into the GIS data base. The map titled "zoning" presented in this report must not to be construed as or used as the official zoning map adopted by the Town or the Village of New Paltz, and is included in this report for illustrative purposes only.

(See map titled: "Wetlands and Hydrology") The surface hydrology file, originally obtained from Ulster County, represents rivers and streams in the Town of New Paltz. This data set was re-drawn manually by a labor-intensive process based on the USGS aerials. Rivers and streams were manually traced from the aerial photographs at various scales. This new hydrology file is the current standard in the open space survey. Two wetland inventories are represented in the open space survey. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) maps wetlands of 12.5 acres or more. The data layer showing DEC Wetlands was downloaded directly from Ulster County, and did not require modifications. Smaller wetlands (greater than 5 acres but smaller than 12.5 acres in size) have been mapped by Dr. Jo Mano, and are included as a separate data set. Dr. Mano used aerial photo interpretation to identify the wetlands of 5 to 12.5 acres in size. Both wetland files are geographically accurate to the extent possible and are included in the Open Space Inventory analyses.

FLOODPLAINS

(See map titled: "Floodplains") The U.S. Government's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided the data for the mapping of the floodplain of the Wallkill River. This data layer is the standard floodplain mapping used for planning and other purposes.

PROTECTED OPEN LAND

(See map titled: "Protected Open Land") A file that identifies open and protected land in the Town of New Paltz was created based on Comprehensive Plan data that was updated to reflect current protection status of Town, Village, and land trust properties.

AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS

New York State Agricultural District Boundaries, drafted at a scale of 1:24,000. This data was downloaded from the CUGIR website and manually re-projected to align with other data sets. This data set outlines land within the New York State Agricultural Districts. Although this data set is accurate for the purpose of outlining the Agricultural District, it does exclude certain parcels that are currently used as agricultural land (as evidenced by their obtaining agricultural tax exemptions), as well as include certain parcels that are not used for agricultural purposes.