Put yourself on the map
Display permitting and code enforcement visually.
We’ve seen plenty of parcel legal descriptions that are more than a thousand words so perhaps it’s time to give the old adage a cost-of-living increase. How about, a picture is worth two thousand words? Although when it comes to jurisdictional mapping we suspect the value is much higher.
As a local government official you spend a lot of time explaining things to applicants, citizens, contractors, councilmen, and co-workers. So much so that it sometimes interferes with your other work. It would be great if you could just pull up street maps and aerial photography of your jurisdiction that showed groups of records plotted with color coded bullets representing status, or if you could just draw and annotate maps to be saved and used in presentations.
If you have a GIS system at your jurisdiction this is theoretically possible. But in practice, access, querying, and configuring the proper layers often makes it impractical for ad hoc presentation. What you need is a GIS mapping system integrated into your permitting and code enforcement software that would allow you to quickly create the needed visuals.
SMARTGov Community by Paladin Data Systems is that software. It manages all of your permitting, planning, inspection, and code enforcement needs while providing integrated GIS functionality at no extra cost. The software displays a variety of lists or tables that allow you to easily query specific records according to complex criteria. Once the records you want are displayed in the list, they can be instantly plotted on a map of your jurisdiction with a single click. Each marker on the map contains thumbnail information about that particular project, parcel, and applicant.
SMARTGov Community comes with two GIS layers already built in, street map and aerial, but you can add as many other layers as you like. For example, if you got a shape file of your parcels from another GIS they could be imported to SMARTGov Community’s GIS. Then you could create permits and code enforcement records directly from the map.
Analyze building patterns and high violation areas, then draw on and annotate the map and save it to be used in presentations. Incorporating maps into your day-to-day operations will promote a quicker understanding between all parties and lead to informed decisions. Change the way you look at your jurisdiction. Contact Paladin Data Systems for more information on SMARTGov Community today.
