This presentation will examine GIS-based zoning administration at various locations, including a resort town, a rural county, and a regional planning commission. We will examine the issues that planning and zoning personnel face with zoning administration, and how automation with ArcView GIS has assisted them. Some of these issues are technical, but many are political and/or financial. We will discuss three case studies of ArcView GIS-based zoning administration, from their individual histories, to paths of development, to their ultimate solution.
Suburban City
Laguna Beach, California
Rural County Lyon County, Kansas
Regional Planning Commission
Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission
History
Population 24,000
30 miles south of Los Angeles
Devastating fire in 1993 destroyed or damaged nearly a quarter of a million acres.
GIS Software and data donated to help city with damage assessment.
GIS has been in place for over 6 years.
History
Population 36,000
100 miles southwest of Kansas City.
Serves only the unincorporated portions of the county (844 square miles).
System was developed incrementally due to personnel and financial resources.
GIS has been in place for 3 years.
History
Population 150,000
Across Ohio River from Cincinnati
Serves 20 municipalities and the unincorporated portions of the county.
Provides multiple GIS services.
GIS has been in place for 10 years
GIS Development
City used ArcCAD and ArcView for data editing, development, and display
As GIS spread from a Departmental GIS to Enterprise level, Community Development Dept. became interested in using GIS to deal with zoning and land use regulations.
Solution would have to be an extension to ArcView.
GIS Development
County used ArcInfo for data development
Later brought in ArcView for display and spatial analysis abilities.
After parcel and zoning database was developed, there was a need for an application to deal with land use management on either the ArcInfo or ArcView end.
GIS Development
CAD was initial data development tool
Later brought in ArcView for display and spatial analysis abilities.
Needed to find a way to automate processes dealing with land use cases, as they were dealing with these for twenty municipalities.
The need was to automate functions that were being performed manually:Public Notification Letters
Case Processing
Map Production
Document Management
Zoning Ordinance Research
Zoning Analyst version 2.0An extension of ArcView GIS 3.1 and 3.2
Modified interface allowed novice to beginner GIS users to be able to use the application with minimal training.
Full functionality of ArcView was still available to experienced users.
Improved information and mapping services for the public.
Puts ArcView GIS in the hands of personnel that normally wouldn't use it.
Digital record of all aspects of zoning and land use cases.
Improved efficiency in handling cases.
William (Sonny) Beech
Local Government Consulting Manager
Geographic Information Services, Inc.
www.gis-services.com
sbeech@gis-services.com