City’s GIS team helps track growth, gather data
The Santa Clarita, Calif., Planning, Building and Safety Department formed a four-member GIS team in 1999 to help manage development data in the city. After creating applications for its own department, the team began reaching out to other departments to show how GIS can help organize their information.
Santa Clarita is one of the fastest growing cities in Los Angeles County, with 20 annexations over the last 13 years. With so much development, the city’s planners and engineers demand access to the most up-to-date information available.
Shortly after the team was formed in February 1999, it surveyed members of the department to determine the services provided to residents as well as to city employees. Based on its investigation, the team created a Web-based GIS that allows planning staff to view the latest information on all development projects. Using the online GIS, staff can check on all major subdivision activity and related zoning as well as view documents such as conditions of approval and subdivision plans.
In addition to helping the planning department track subdivision growth, the team has looked for ways to introduce GIS to other city departments. In late 2000, the GIS team began working with Los Angeles-based Psomas to help streamline the city’s entire development process.
The consultant mapped out all the functions involved in the permitting process, including data capture, data flow, data automation, data transfer between departments and reporting. Once all the business functions were identified, the consultant made recommendations about which problems could be solved using GIS.
Based on the consultant’s findings, the GIS team encouraged the city’s Streets Division to begin using handheld computers to capture storm drain maintenance data in the field. Last spring, the team developed a custom Web-based application for the division using ArcIMS from Redlands, Calif.-based ESRI.
The team also is developing a Web-based GIS application to support the joint city/county general plan process. The application will allow city staff and elected officials to see exactly where and how growth is taking place, which will help them plan future infrastructure needs.
Placing strong emphasis on customer service, the GIS team meets frequently with different city departments to demonstrate the value of the latest GIS applications. “Since they are out there meeting across all city departments, they are one of the few groups that actually knows what everyone in the city is up to,” says Jeffrey Lambert, director of the Planning, Building and Safety Department. “Consequently, they help the city to integrate, to put all the pieces together.”
