Visualization of Geospatial Regulations Customized Visualization of GeoSpatial Government Regulations N. Adam, V. Atluri, F. Artigas, P. Mazzoleni, S. Chun Customized Visualization of GeoSpatial Government Regulations (to be submitted to The Second National Conference on Digital Government, May 2002)
Problem Statement What are the possible locations for my business (in accordance with all zoning regulation)? How can I identify the appropriate permits I have to obtain?
Example An entrepreneur wants to open an Autobody shop in a vacant lot on the bank of the Hackensack River. (1) USER PROFILE (1) USER PROFILE: Bigger than 1000 square feet In an area with high volume of traffic Not Closer than 2000 feet to a competitor
Example (2) ZONING REQUIREMENTS (2) ZONING REQUIREMENTS: Autobody is permitted only in Neighborhood commercial zone Light industrial … Highway commercial Zone as exceptional Use The minimum lot area shall be square feet If closer to a residential area, the rear yard distance has to be at least 25 feet instead of the usual 20 feet. In Neighborhood commercial zone an autobody cannot be built closer than 1000 feet to a competitor
Current Status Zoning Regulations –Rules are divided by Zone area GIS Products – Information about the Area (zone-name, lot dimension)… – Information about the competitors WHAT IS LACKING: Zoning Regulations that apply to the area WHAT IS LACKING: Information organized by type of Business
Proposed Solution Develop zoning rules database Visualization of the permitted zones for a particular business Dynamic Evaluation of Buffer and Lot-size requirements Automatic extraction of the relevant permits and the sequence for completing the procedure
Customized selection of zoning regulations Regulations based on the USER PROFILE requirements Show me ALL the Rules that apply if I want to Open an Autobody shop in a High-way Commercial Zone, and I would also like to sell retail products.
Customized selection of zoning regulations Autobody shop Neighbor commercial
Visualization of potential Business Locations Geographical Map Customized according to the user’s preferences and the zoning rules Show me the zones in the map where I can open an Autobody shop according to the zoning rules; in two cases: (1) With no special permit requirement and (2) Where some special permits such as variance are required
Visualization of potential Business Locations Autobody shop
Size and Buffer Regulation Size and Buffer Regulation Visualization of the lots that satisfy dimension and distance-based requirements Lots bigger enough to include my business Distance from a competitor Other rules specific for an area like Waterfront Distance Requirements
Size and Buffer Regulation Size and Buffer Regulation Autobody shop Neighbor commercial
Waterfront Regulation Autobody shop Neighbor commercial Passaic River
Tools Oracle DBMS –Rules database and profile session info ESRI ARC IMS (Internet Map Application Server) –Map Data server Perl and JavaScripts –Back end database/GIS/Web connectivity Client Web Browser interface + Javascripts
Future Work Integrate into geospatial workflow system and MyNJbusiness system Extension of the Zoning Regulation database for increasing the portability Build a concept model for regulatory rules using a knowledge modeling tool Enhance the visualization with additional funcionalities Building regulations and elevation related features