 D'Andrea was pleased to announce the completion of the "redesign,
revised and expanded GIS mapping site." The new tools are available
for those who are looking to find information about properties in
Logan County. Any computer user can view the dozens of mapping
layers that have been created over the past few years. No special
software is required. He said there are about a dozen new features
running on the site now.
D'Andrea then quickly demonstrated a few of those.
The site is readily findable anytime for anyone by going to the
Logan County website,
http://www.co.logan.il.us/. Choose "GIS" from the bar at the
left side and then "Internet Mapping."
You may want to open your browser to the site now and follow
along at
http://www.centralilmaps.com/LoganGIS/.
On the right-hand side:
There are several navigation tools you will use for zooming in
and out of the big picture, panning, moving screens, and also for
zooming in and out of different scales in order to get closer to
whatever property you want to look at.
It might take a little practice to get acquainted with these, and
you will learn that you will need to allow a moment for some of the
tools to respond.
Going to the top toolbar:
Across the top toolbar you will see
eight icons that offer:
-
The ability to
identify parcels by number as well as find owner information
on a particular property.
-
An enhanced
search for information, allowing you to look for a property
by address.
-
Expanded
drawing and measuring tools that help calculate acreage or
distances.
-
Buffering
tools to help you to find a particular distance or point from a
property, such as 200 or 500 feet away.
-
The street view feature is a
Google view. With this you can see what the property looks like
at the street level and pan around.
To the left side you will find the overlay options:
Each of these overlays also has sublayers you can choose. Where
you find a plus button (+), click, and it opens additional layers.
You can keep all the layers on once you turn them on, or you can
turn them off as preferred.
The primary overlay sections are
Transportation, Environmental, Political, Property, Tax Districts,
Miscellaneous GIS Data, Aerials. Below is an abbreviated review.
The addition of K-12 schools and all the colleges in Logan County
is new, as is the precincts layer.
Did you know that we have three TIF districts in the county:
Mount Pulaski, Elkhart and Atlanta? Turning that on, you can go in
and see which parcels are in the TIF districts.
These tools are great for potential homebuyers and businesses
with specific needs when they want to buy, rent or lease property.
"So, all that is available just at the click of a button now,"
D'Andrea noted.
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Under miscellaneous data, there is a category just for wind
farms. Rail Splitter is in place, and room has been left for Sugar
Creek. Precise tower locations are shown. Survey data for the
control points, sections and township range can be turned on and
off.
Another important layer that took considerable effort is zoning.
The default layer is for unincorporated areas of the county.
Additionally, it is also available for the communities of San Jose
and Hartsburg.
"I'm also working with other municipalities to get their (zoning)
layers on as well," D'Andrea said. "This is parcel-specific parcel
zoning,"
Something new that is of special interest is the historical data
that has been added. D'Andrea went to the Illinois Department of
Transportation site and found aerial photography of all the
populated areas, going all the way back to 1940. "I thought it was
kind of fun," he said.
He also found some original township plat maps from the 1800s.
Combining the plat maps with different years of aerial photography,
"you can see how things looked and changed and compare to today's
parcel layouts."
The above information was delivered in about a 10-minute
introductory session. D'Andrea explained that he took an hour
showing the site to the Logan County Regional Planning Commission
earlier this month. He would welcome sitting down with others who
would like to see more about how to use the site.
There are many uses for the GIS system for both governmental
agencies and the private sector. You are welcome to contact D'Andrea
to explore the possibility of adding layers or how to use what is
already in the system.
The GIS committee has regularly hosted an open house with
demonstrations each year in November.
Several board members commented on their appreciation of what
D'Andrea has accomplished and uses of the site:
The finance chairman, Chuck Ruben, who is a hog farmer and
staunchly anti-computer, complimented D'Andrea.
"This has been a lot of hard work for Will," Ruben said. He
added: "You'd be amazed at all the information on this (site). I
know you guys are going to find this hard to believe -- I've even
pulled this up on the computer and looked at it a little bit."
In response, there was a genuine-sounding "Wow!" and laughter
through the room.
Sally Litterly, county clerk and recorder, said her office has a
lot of searchers who come in and use that feature now.
Kevin Bateman said, "It's nice when you want to buy a house." He
particularly likes looking for rental property. He said that when
checking real estate that is available, "you can find the address,
zoom in on it, see the boundary lines and what it looks like before
you even go look at it."
Litterly added that with subdivisions added, you can now find out
which school districts the property would be in.
D'Andrea can be contacted at the Logan County Zoning Office, 529
S. McLean St., Lincoln, IL 62656; or by calling 217-732-8835.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST] |
