RPVCCA_CC_SR_2014_11_18_06_Public_Benefits_Of_GISCITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
REVIEWED:
HONORABLE MAYOR & CITY rS9 UNCIL MEMBERS
DAN LANDON, IT MANAGER w
NOVEMBER 18, 2014
PUBLIC BENEFITS OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
CAROLYNN PETRU, ACTING CITY MANAGER ~(eR
~
RECOMMENDATION
Receive and file.
BACKGROUND
On September 16, 2014 the City Council authorized several changes and enhancements
to the City's Geographic Information System (GIS). At that time, Councilman Campbell
suggested that Staff return at a future meeting with an informational presentation
regarding this technology and how it is used by the City to benefit the public.
INTRODUCTION
Anyone who has viewed an online map, looked up the closest restaurant, or routed a
destination on a mobile phone app has realized the benefits of GIS. Combine GIS maps
with aerial images and data plotted to Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates and
municipalities too can realize a vast array of productivity and decision making benefits.
DISCUSSION
California State Geographic Information Officer, Scott Gregory recently explained, "GIS
is the single most transformative technology that government can use to understand and
respond to the dynamic needs of our State." Because of the land use focus of local
government, Gregory further says that fully 70% to 80% of all the data that is used in
municipal government can be mapped in GIS. City data can then be shared with County
or State agencies where it is already assisting in hundreds of aspects of policy making,
from drought analysis and water resource management to tracking of sexual offenders
and earthquake damage predictions.
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PUBLIC BENEFITS OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
November 18, 2014
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Locally, GIS is used in almost every aspect of land management from street and trail
management to sidewalk repair and brush clearance. The local importance of GIS has
been demonstrated on maps in practically every Planning Commission and City Council
meeting requiring a land management decision. As an "information infrastructure", GIS
is used to visually describe situations to decision makers and the public, and is used daily
to improve productivity and save taxpayer money while at the same time providing
superior customer service to residents. In Community Development and Public Works,
opening GIS is often the first step when a resident or contractor steps to the counter, or
before driving to a location after receiving a service request.
One of the more powerful aspects of GIS is the shared taxonomy model. Information
gathered in one agency can be easily shared among other agencies. The City recently
received a request from Los Angeles County Fire for GIS trail maps to assist with the
Abalone Cove Safety Task Force. As a central source for data, the City is currently in
process of providing trail maps from the Land Conservatory for use by the task force,
thereby increasing public safety.
GIS use has spread rapidly over the last 10 years, and as municipalities face greater
challenges from growth and pressured by increasing citizen expectations for cost control,
transparency and improved services, cities are turning to GIS solutions as the answer.
According to system developer "ESRI",
their flagship product, "ArcGIS" is present
in over 90% of cities with populations
over 100,000 and in 80% of cities with
populations between 25,000 and 50,000
including the City of Rancho Palos
Verdes. Imagery is another aspect of a
robust GIS system . Municipalities that
have either purchased or are in progress
of purchasing imagery from the Los
Angeles Regional Imagery Acquisition
Consortium (LARIAC), some of the most
advanced images in the industry, are
depicted in color on the GIS produced
map to the right.
GIS is particularly critical in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes because of the wide variety
of land management issues the City faces. From the continually active Portuguese Bend
landslide, to fire suppression activities, trail management, view preservation activities and
many more aspects of the community, Rancho Palos Verdes is unique. Digital aerial
imagery and the hundreds of information datasets or "layers" owned by the City provide
quality decision making support and enhances the City's "do more with less" philosophy
by making Staff more productive.
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City Uses of GIS
• Public Works: Reduces the need for field visits, supports traffic, street and storm
drain management and enhances project planning, communication with vendors
and infrastructure management activities;
• Planning: Used continually in daily operations, improves land use and code
enforcement decisions and assists staff in understanding of impacts of new
projects for better predictive analysis;
• Disaster Planning and Response: Improves planning and response before,
during, and after disasters, and provides the foundation for a common operating
picture between various agencies and the City; and
• Community Outreach and Transparency: Improves communication with
residents by providing a comprehensive "picture" of the discussion and related
information to increase citizen input and understanding of decision making
processes.
GIS provides further synergies when integrated with Land and Asset Management
Systems, Work Order Systems, and Permit and Planning systems as day to day activities
can be efficiently planned, managed and reported on as they related to mapped features.
Costs of GIS
In September of 2014, City Staff recommended the migration of GIS services from
PVNET servers to City hosted servers necessitating a one-time implementation cost of
about $125,000. The most significant portion of the cost and benefit derived from the
implementation included the City's licensing participation into the LARIAC consortium
along with other governmental agencies in Los Angeles County, providing some of the
most advanced aerial images in the industry.
Ongoing costs include approximately $72,000 per year for GIS management, including
the transfer of GIS data updates provided by contactors upon completion of projects (e.g.
the GIS data provided with the update of the Master Plan of Drainage), City acquisition of
data points in the field, services for GIS software updates, new feature and viewer
implementation and configurations, as well as GIS project management and end user
support and training. On-going costs also include about $9,000 annually for maintenance
and support for GIS software. Additional services are included in various approved
projects for the field acquisition of data provided by outside contractors throughout the
year as well.
CONCLUSIONS
A GIS system with the capabilities of integrating with other business systems and data
layering has numerous direct and indirect benefits to the public. GIS allows for public
outreach, giving residents a complete and accurate picture of land use and capital
improvement projects so residents can clearly see recommendations in advance of
implementation in time to provide feedback. GIS provides operational efficiencies in day
to day activities such as the integration of GIS data with land and asset management
systems and in reducing the amount of required on-site visits by staff. Finally, GIS 6-3
PUBLIC BENEFITS OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
November 18, 2014
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benefits decision makers because of the ability to share data between agencies and to
display that information such that decision makers are in the best position to make, and
to demonstrate, the thought process behind strategic decisions.
FISCAL IMPACT
None -receive and file.
Attachments:
Exhibit A-Example City Uses of GIS
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Exhibit A -Example City Uses of GIS
• Extensive use of GIS was required in the creation of the recently adopted City
Zoning Map;
• Land Use and General Plan maps are being cooperatively updated by GIS Staff,
Community Development Staff, and the City's Geologist using many informational
layers in making decisions;
• GIS was used to create the City preserve boundary lines, vegetation designation,
neutral lands, fuel mod areas, sensitive species identification and more for the
Natural Communities Conservation Planning (NCCP). The preserve data prepared
by the City is being shared with the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservatory
(PVPLC), LA County Fire and Resource Agencies;
• The Public Work's storm drain master plan is fully linked to GIS, Staff can view and
look at storm drain data such as videos and damage assessments in GIS;
• GPS enabled portable devices were used to collect and map data after the 2009
Portuguese Bend Fire which was eventually used as evidence to obtain a large
settlement with Southern California Edison;
• Community Development staff use the GIS user interface daily when interacting
with the public in discussing boundary lines, topography, and parcel lines;
• The City regularly supplies GIS maps to residents for reference information;
• The City's Emergency Incident Management System displays each incident
mapped on GIS for display in the Emergency Operations Center; and
• Assessor data is regularly verified against parcel data in GIS and City Staff notifies
the Assessor of discrepancies to correct information.
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