Zoning Map Modernization with GIS Marc Watson GIS Coordinator, Elkhart County

Agenda Background Project Objectives Methodology Project Products Workflow Scripts Project Products Zoning Map Book Zoning History Wrap Up

Background – Old Maps Original zoning maps adopted on 10/30/1959 Letter size (8.5x11 inches) 2291 rezoning petitions 71% (1632) of which were approved Official zoning maps large 24x36 inch sheets Most 1:4800 (1” =400’) scale Rezoning Petitions tracked on “Q-map” Scanned in 2004 to create GIS layer

Official Zoning Map Example

Q-map and Index Page

Background – Problems / Issues Two zoning maps (GIS layer and Paper Maps) Maintained by two different people Lack of attributes No indication of source ordinance for most zones Questions about accuracy of maps Both GIS layer and Paper Maps

Background - Project Initiated to compliment Zoning Ordinance update Verification milestone took 895 days to complete Approximately 1061 man hours (7.37 months) Usually 2-3 people working on different phases Primary Project contributors Liz Gunden Tasha Dennis Marc Watson New maps derived from this project were officially adopted along with the ordinance update.

Project Objectives Create a GIS zoning feature class Complete zoning ordinance attributes for all features Verify accuracy of zoning map Standardize and reorganize folders Create a new 11x17” paper map from GIS features Publish zoning layer to public web map Generate Zoning History

Methodology Key Attributes File ID Status District Planed Unit Development (PUD) Commitment Final Action Date Each folder was given a sticker to track workflow progress

Folder Organization Old Method New Method Organized by Township and Petition’s Name New Method Organized by File ID, which is based on the Ordinance Number Folders without an Ordinance (withdrawn, etc) were given a unique ID based on the final action date and a sequential number

Workflow – Three Phases 1 – Data Entry Completed by Planning Staff 2 – GIS Phase Completed by GIS Staff only 3 - Relabel and reorganize folders Date Entry GIS Phase Reorganize Folders

Phase 1 – Data Entry Access Database used to capture attributes Created Form to control entry of data Allowed some fields to auto populate Kept track of sequential numbers for W and GIS File IDs Generated new folder labels Access Database allowed non GIS staff to enter all attributes. Planning staff filtered out non approved folder. So GIS staff could focus on approved folder first.

Access Database Form

Phase 2 – GIS Phase Due to technical nature only one person work on this phase Used stacked polygon feature class Allowed capture of zoning history Folders could be processed in any order. Didn’t require editing of overlaps Attributes pulled into GIS from Access Database using the File ID

Phase 3 – Relabel and Reorganize Used Access Database to generate new labels Reorganized by File ID (generally the Ordinance Number) and PUD Name Straight rezoning were stored by File ID Rezoning tied to a Planned Unit Development were stored with the other PUD documents

Scripts Import Attributes from Access DB Sort Stacked Polygons by date (newest on top) Create a derivative feature class showing only the most current approved zone (no overlaps) Read in directory of zoning documents and relate to zoning polygons Create Zoning Map Book pages

Zoning DB Attribute Transfer Use to compare or transfer values between the Access DB (DB) and Feature Class (FC) Reads in File IDs from both DB and FC then looks for duplicates and missing ID in the sets. Outputs a CSV file with File ID discrepancies and value differences

Zoning Sort Inputs Derived Outputs Stacked zoning polygons Aggreated zoning districts Non Overlapping polygons Spatially sorted stacked polygons Stacked zoning polygons Inputs Stacked zoning polygons City boundaries Derived Outputs Spatially sorted stacked zoning polygons Most recently approved zoning on top Non overlapping zoning polygons Aggregated zoning districts District, PUD & Commitment must match to aggregate

Link Zoning Documents Scans a folder of zoning documents Appends new file paths to Table in File GDB and flags file paths that have been removed Extracts the File ID from file name FGDB Table is used in relationship class linked to Zoning polygons

Generate Zoning Map Book Uses a derivative zoning feature class in which similar zones have been dissolved Uses Data Driven Pages and two map documents to create facing pages Appends all 256 pages together into a single PDF

Project Products – Map Book Created an empty template in Word Used Heading to Create Bookmarks Generated Table of Contents Page Exported to PDF Used script to generate maps with alternating page number locations (for duplex printing) Used Replace function in Adobe to replace empty map pages and preserve bookmarks

Map Book Example

Project Products – Zoning History Since we used stacked polygons we’re able to use the Time functions in ArcMap to visually review how zoning has changed over the last half century. We can create reports of past zoning petitions Can easily lookup zoning prior to annexation

Zoning History Example

Project Products – Miscellaneous A complete zoning layer is published to our public web map Our permitting software (EnerGov) can automatically pull in current zoning Faster processing of approved rezoning ordinances Single authoritative source for County zoning

Thank You Questions?