Appendix B - Basic Demographic and Land Use Data - Buildout Calculations

This appendix presents some of the basic data used in developing this plan.

Table B-1 - NE Santa Cruz County Building Activity

These data were taken from individual building permit records examined at the Santa Cruz County Building Department.

Table B-2 - 1990 Census Household Size Data

The local household size used in the planning process was calculated from 1990 Census data for Block Group 99601, which includes most of the planning area. Total household size as calculated by dividing the population by all housing units was used because the current population estimate, water consumption, and other planning calculations based on household size should be based on housing unit counts, not counts of occupied homes. Using 1.77 instead of 2.29 accounts for the fact that some units are vacant and some (there were 65 in 1990) are seasonal.

Table B-3 - Sonoita-Elgin Emergency Services, Inc. (SEESI) Calls

These data were provided by SEESI.

Table B-4 - Regional Population Change

These data come from Bureau of the Census Current Population Estimates at:

<< http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/county/co-98-2/98C2_04.txt >>.

Figure B-1 - The Retirement Wave

This chart is based on 1990 Census age data. It shows the rapidly increasing number of people who will potentially - no mortality adjustment was applied - reach retirement age during the first quarter of the 21st century. graphic appears here

Table B-5 - NE Santa Crux County Land Ownership

Land ownership is given as measured from Bureau of Land Management Surface Management quadrangles at a scale of 1:100,000. Acreages are approximate. Note that the acreage of private land given in this table does not match that given in Table B-6 because the private land use data in that table come from a different source, covering a slightly smaller area.

Table B-6 - NE Santa Crux County Private Land Use - Residential Buildout Calculation

This table is based on tax assessment data for Elgin Elementary School District 2500, as provided by the Santa Cruz County Assessor's office and the Arizona Department of Revenue.

The number of additional homes permitted on vacant lands was obtained by counting the number of vacant residential parcels and assuming one home per parcel, then dividing the remaining vacant land (that which is not divided into residential parcels) by 180,000 square feet: the minimum lot size permitted by the General Rural (GR) zoning that applies in most of NE Santa Cruz County. The number of homes permitted on ranch lands was obtained by deducting lands that are not available for development, primarily the private lands of the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, from the total of ranch lands, deducting 180,000 square feet for each existing ranch home, then dividing the remaining ranch land by 180,000 square feet. A development efficiency factor of 75% was applied to both calculations to reduce buildout to account for the land that must be devoted to roads, wells, and other accessory uses, and the presence of floodplains, slopes, and other natural features that tend to reduce density regardless of zoning. These buildout numbers are conservative because development efficiency may run higher than 75% and because unplatted areas that are zoned for higher densities were treated as being zoned GR to simplify the calculation.

Table B-7 - Traffic Counts on Arizona State Highways 82 and 83

These data come from the Arizona Department of Transportation's Traffic on the Arizona State Highway System.

Next: Appendix C: Authorities for Federal Cooperation With Local Governments

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