Hanover GIS Viewer

Town of Hanover, Massachusetts

Andrew R. Port, Town Planner

Created in ArcMap 9.1, and Published with ArcPublisher Extension

for free installation and use by all Town Departments

As a small town, Hanover has limited financial and staff resources to develop and maintain a broad GIS.  As such, the Hanover Town Planner (in 2004) arranged for the purchase of several full ArcView licenses, as well as one license for the ArcPublisher extension for ArcMap.  The initial funding for these applications was intended to establish an efficient, low-cost, industry standard GIS platform for the Town to build on.  Several times a year the Town Planner updates the Hanover GIS Viewer (an ArcMap project "published" using the ArcPublisher extension) for distribution, installation, and use by any and all Town departments.  While customized, detailed, and complex maps can always be developed by the Town Planner (on an as-needed basis) the primary purpose of the GIS Viewer is to allow other municipal staff regular access to the maps and the ability to view, export or print basic maps on their own.

Data sets include features developed by the Hanover Town Planner, Department of Public Works, and Assessors Department (parcel layer).  Hanover currently maintains a town-wide parcel layer (at the MassGIS Level II Standard) incorporating updates from CAD subdivision and site plans required as part of the permitting for all new development projects.  In addition, like most communities, Hanover has taken advantage of the numerous datasets and layers available from MassGIS.  In general, only the Town Planner, Assessors Department (through their GIS Consultant), and DPW Superintendent have a direct and regular need to develop new layers or edit existing ones.  Users of the GIS Viewer are generally those who do not maintain the data sets but desire regular use of the maps and other ArcReader tools without a detailed knowledge of GIS or the more advanced ESRI applications.

The following screen shots from the Hanover GIS Viewer (with captions) illustrate the map layers and functions currently available free to all town departments.  This page does not discuss the other standard menus, buttons and toolbar functions available in ArcReader such as Print, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Find, Identify, Measure, Pan, etc.

For additional information, please contact Andrew R. Port, Town Planner, at 781-826-7641 or port.planning@hanover-ma.gov .

At start-up the GIS Viewer opens to a simple map of the town boundary/line (red) overlaid with the Assessors Map tiles (yellow).  To the left users have access to all available map layers, which they can turn on and off, as needed query for specific map features (find), and manipulate transparency for easier viewing of overlays.  It is assumed that all users will determine which layers are needed, and that they will adjust the map view as necessary from this starting point.

Switching to the Print Layout view allows the user to print a given map at any time using the customized map view and layer selections within a template (8.5 x 11 inch) page layout which includes a title block, north arrow, legend, scale bar, and standard disclaimer language.

Hanover has high quality Orthophotos from 2000.

This layer can be added to the map by clicking the layer selection box under Images.

Users often use these images as a base for other map layers.

USGS maps are available (MassGIS).

Land Use layer and legend by year (MassGIS).

FEMA Q3 Flood Zones (MassGIS).

Hanover Voting Precincts (Town Layer).

Hanover Topography at 2 ft. Contours (Town Layer).

Vernal Pools, Water Bodies, Setbacks and Buffer Zones (Town Layers).

Buildings & Structures (Town Layer).

Town Sidewalks & Condition Rating (Town Layer).

Municipal Facilities, Critical Facilities, Churches, Schools, Fire Stations, and 1/4 mile radius. (Town Layers).

Historical Village Names & Significant natural Features (Town Layer).

Rivers & Streams with Buffer Zones & Setbacks (Town Layers).

Hanover Subdivision Projects, Over-55 Developments, Cell Towers, Auto Dealerships and Liquor Licenses (Town Layer).

Also shown are 21E Sites and Groundwater Discharge Permits (MassGIS).

Hanover Zoning Districts (MassGIS).  An accurate (definitive) Town Layer is currently under development.

Hanover Parcels (Town Layer meeting MassGIS Level II Standard).

Adult Use Zoning Overlay District (Town Layer), Zone II Areas (MassGIS), and Designated Scenic Roads (Town Layer).

Users can search by Subdivision Name, Year or File Number.

Users can search for parcels of land by map and lot, then tell the map to zoom into that location.

Users can obtain tabular information about parcels (Owner, Address, Acreage, Book & Page, etc.)

Users can also zoom to that location (Parcel or address) on the map revealing a more detailed aerial photo of that site, with (among other layers) parcel boundaries and topography.

Users can switch to the Map Layout view to see how the map will look when printed.

The standard layout includes a title block, north arrow, legend, scale bar, and standard disclaimer language.

Zooming into the map will cause certain labels to appear, such as subdivision names (when the layer is turned on).

Users can search for subdivision names and ask the map to flash that location for quick identification or zoom to it.

Users can print a scaled map depicting a given street and the surrounding lots, with any number of additional layers as overlays.

Users can print the same maps in Black and White (outlines) without the aerial photos.

Users can zoom into a specific parcel or property with any number of additional layers as overlays.