Amherst officials finish GIS mapping system

After more than two years of often-tedious work, Amherst County officials have completed an exhaustive online mapping system that enables anyone to obtain information on more than 18,000 county properties.

The geographic information system enables people to visualize data, including assessed value, sales data, property boundaries and zoning classification, in the form of street and topographic maps, globes, reports, charts and satellite images.

“We’re really excited, really proud, and looking forward to getting this out to the public,” said Jeremy Bryant, the project manager, who is director of zoning and planning in Amherst County. “The ability to query all of this information at their fingertips is really going to help the public.”

Some parcels will even have actual street views online via Google.

“It’s really the first time we’ve taken the data that is spread out through the county and put it into one system,” Bryant said. “Each parcel is full of information.”

The site, at http://amherstgis.timmons.com, has a disclaimer, because the available information is not survey-grade information –– for instance, it doesn’t say exactly where a water line is.

But it’s very close, and information is current as of the 2008 reassessment, said Bryant and Vickie Hickman, a 25-year employee of the commissioner of the revenue office, who with Bryant reviewed every single parcel in the county to ensure the information was as accurate and current as possible.

Eventually, information from 2009 and 2010 will be updated in the system.

“One of our biggest accomplishments was that paper tax maps are now digital,” and residents can read them online instead of in thick books at the county’s administrative office, Bryant said.

Everyone from residents to real estate agents now can obtain information and make more informed decisions about growth, development and property improvements.

“This is going to be a huge help for making decisions for everyone,” Bryant said.

The GIS site enables users access to multiple layers of data with just a few clicks, and they can look up a parcel by address and name, among other ways. Users can identify fire hydrant locations, zoning districts, water and sewer lines, 911 locations, hiking trails, federal forest roads, flood plains and parcels in no-shoot zones (a common question), watersheds, and the growth boundary and policies associated with it, such as where the county intends to expand water and sewer service.

“We’ve had to work collaboratively to get all of the data,” from other agencies including the commissioner of the revenue and the sheriff’s offices, to create the extensive data overlays, Bryant said.