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

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

3. 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

4. Official Zoning Map Example

5. Q-map and Index Page

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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Folders without an Ordinance (withdrawn, etc) were given a unique ID based on the final action date and a sequential number

11. 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

12. 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.

13. Access Database Form

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. Map Book Example

24. 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

25. Zoning History Example

26. 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

27. Thank You Questions?