Residents can view the snowplow route for their neighborhood, look up zoning information and locate the nearest bike trail all in the same mouse click.
Online mapping is now available for Golden residents, in collaboration with the city of Lakewood.
The tool was developed in Lakewood in 2003 after resident calls on similar topics swarmed city offices:
What district do I live in? What school should I send my child to?
In response to repeated questions, the city of Lakewood put ezMaps online. The program costs about $5,000 plus an annual $2,000 maintenance fee.
Property information was collected and made accessible through graphic user interfaces on the city’s Web site.
“We tried to make the tool as easy as possible,” said Carlos Vulgamott, GIS coordinator for the city of Lakewood.
All residents must do is enter their street address to see an aerial view of their property, along with zoning, school, council district, trail and snowplow information.
After the program was implemented in Lakewood, calls were reduced by 50 percent, Vulgamott said, allowing him time to working on planning cases. In late January, Lakewood offered the program to the city of Golden for a minimal fee.
“It’s information that you would have to go to multiple sources to get,” said Golden spokeswoman Sabrina Henderson. “We’re trying to make it as convenient for people as possible.”
Golden GIS Coordinator Quint Pertzsch said the city pays about 10 percent of the cost of buying separate mapping software, while helping Lakewood recover development costs.
The black-and-white aerial imagery was based on a 2000 flight, but has been updated three times since. Pertzsch predicts the zoning data and other public information will be revised as it changes and progresses.