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Background Information Report

Land Use and Demography

On Site

CSSA is a restricted-access installation that requires authorized clearance to go on site. Currently, about 115 people work at CSSA, most of who are present only during normal working hours.

General land uses are shown on Figure 12. The inner cantonment of CSSA, comprising 1,760 acres, is used for storage of ammunition in igloos, light industrial activities, such as mainte­nance and cleaning of weapons, warehouse storage, and offices. Seven houses where personnel and their families live are located within the western inner cantonment. The 2,244 acres of the outer cantonment is used for test ranges, wildlife hunting, and cattle grazing. Much of the east and north pastures is unimproved to provide a protection area around the firing range. Wildlife is hunted by military and civil service personnel, retired employees, and other persons authorized to go on site.

Off Site

Bexar County is dominated by agriculture, covering approximately 60 percent of the total acreage. Developed land accounts for approximately 27.6 percent of total county land use (15.5 percent residential, 1.5 percent commercial, 3.0 percent industrial, and 7.6 percent military, institutional or cultural/recreational). The remainder of the land is either open space (e.g., parks, water), vacant, or used for trans­portation (City of San Antonio, 1991).

San Antonio has seen most of its recent development occur to the north and northwest of the city. Although the area surrounding CSSA is primarily rural, the density of residential development on the west and south of the installa­tion is increasing. Adjacent communities include Fair Oaks, a large-lot single-family subdivision to the west and northwest, and Leon Springs to the south. Several communities have had approvals for over one thousand additional lots to be developed from 1980 to 1992 (City of San Antonio, 1993). On the eastern and part of the northern and southern boundaries of CSSA is the Camp Bullis Army Installation, which comprises 27,880 acres. Camp Bullis serves as the field training installation in support of all military activities in south Texas. Eleven major training areas are located on Camp Bullis. Activities are conducted for weapons training, field training, and maneuvers.

Additional information regarding land use is provided in the Section 3 of the Technical Approach Document for Risk Evaluation.