The following are some of the more notable GIS/GPS projects that have been undertaken by the SPDC GIS & Mapping Department:

Local Redistricting - Brunswick and Halifax Counties
SPDC Staff has been assisting both of these Counties with their local redistricting plans. This primarily consists of preparing maps for use by the redistricting committees, providing population counts for plans being considered, and assisting with making changes to boundary lines. GIS software is used that updates population and racial counts as boundaries are being adjusted. (The software is ESRI's Districting Extension, and it is a free download from ESRI. Many counties are using commercial third-party software that costs $5,000 or more).

Chase City Water & Sewer System Mapping
Using GPS and GIS to map the water meters, water valves, hydrants, and manholes of the Town of Chase City. At this time the GPS data collection is about halfway complete, with approximately 2400 points collected. Final product will be GIS data and map books for the Town. The GPS fieldwork thus far has taken about 25 days to complete. Base station is set up daily on a stud mounted on top of the town Police Department roof. Town provides a golf cart for our use and any assistance we may need.

Enterprise Zone Amendments - South Boston and South Hill
Both of these towns are applying for amendments to their Enterprise Zones. SPDC GIS staff were used to create the maps needed for the planning of this process, as well as the application.

Halifax County Needs Assessment
Project to identify potential CDBG eligible housing projects in Halifax County and prepare a Strategic Housing Study. Staff used GIS data and local knowledge to identify areas of housing need, and visited many areas to obtain housing inventory and collect GPS data for analysis and inclusion in the Study. GPS data was used with a laptop in the car to take a windshield survey of each house as well as address information. This project resulted in approximately 30 housing condition maps for use in the Needs Assessment.

Boydton Historic District Map
Large map that shows each home that is participating in the Hull Street Improvement Project, that is also listed in the Boydton Historic District. Homes were color coded by the status of whether they were contributing to the Historic District or not. The project did require some fieldwork to verify that the addresses were correct. Map was completed for Department of Historic Resources.

Lawrenceville Historic District Map
Large map that shows each business that is participating in the facade improvement program of the Lawrenceville Downtown Revitalization Project, that is also listed in the town's Historic District. Structures were color coded by the status of whether they were contributing to the Historic District or not. The project did require some fieldwork to verify that the addresses were correct. Map was completed for Department of Historic Resources.

Buggs Island Telephone Coop. - Regional Wireless Project
A number of large maps have been created for BIT that show proposed tower sites, as well as various demographics such as population density and housing unit density. This project has also required extensive environmental mapping in the past, showing features such as flood zones, wetlands, and topography.