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one of the east coast's major north-south mil lines which connects Washington, DC with Atlanta and New Orleans. The Town administers zoning powers in the extra-tenitorial areas that abut the Town and Cabarms County has zoning regulations that cover the remainder of the planning area (Map 2). The extra-territorial area extends for one-mile fi:om the Town in three directions (north, south and eas0. Virtually all development in the extra-territorial area has been residential in nature. Historically, much of Harrisburg's development lay north of Highway 49. The major exceptions were a residential are~ in the southeast comer of the Town and an industrial area in the southwest comer which has access to the Railroad. Presently, residential growth has been occurring at a rapid rate d/reetly to the south of Town where several new subdivisions are being developed on Tom Query Road. Natnral Featnres and Soils The Harrisburg area lies atop a ting dike, a number of which are found in Cabarrus County. A ridge is found along an east-west line just north of Highway 49. The Rocky River is the arm's (and the County's) primary water artery. The River flows the entire length of Cabarrus County coming south fi:om Iredeli County and flowing within a mile northeast of Harrisburg. Other streams in the Harrisburg area include Back Creek, Fuda Creek, and Reedy Creek all of which are found to the south of Harrisburg and Mallard Creek and Coddle Creek which are found to the north of Highway 49. All of these streams eventually flow into the Rocky River. Soils found in the Harrisburg area are mostly of the Mecklenburg, Enon and Iredell variety. These soils are generally not well-suited for septic tanks and structural foundations. All three soils have high clay content which tends to diminish the amount of water movement pcindtted. In addition, these soils have a high shrink-swell factor meaning that the soils tend to contract and expand over the course of time. Although these soils are found throughout much of Central North Carolina and Cabarrus County, they are heavily concentrated in the Hamsburg area and in adjoining portions of Mecklenburg County. Floodplains are located on the Rocky River and its major tributaries listed above. Unfortunately, some floodplain areas have been developed with residential neighborhoods. This development will surely present problems for government agencies that deal with flood recovery. Fortunately, the recently adopted Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance will make it more difficult for floodplain development to occur in the future. In addition, The Town of Harrisburg and Cabarrus County have put into place open space policies that, in conjunction with the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, encourages developers to set aside flood plain areas as pemianently protected open space. Population and Housing Growth The planning area's 1990 population and housing figures and the Planning Services Division's January 1, 2000 population and housing estimate for the planning area are found in Table 1 below. Between 1990 and 1999 1,579 new housing units were built and occupied representing a 58 percent increase in the number of housing units in the planning area. Using the 1990 census figures for the number of persons per household (2.68) it is estimated that the population in the planning area increased by 4,234 persons to 11,591 persons. This represents an average yearly population increase of 5.8 percent. Based on building permit locations the vast majority of this growth has occurred in close proximity to the Town of Harrisburg (Map 3). 4