Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, but can anyone read it? That's the question Harford County's Planning and Zoning Department has been asking about its signs that provide public notice about developments and zoning changes.
The public notices have long featured detailed information on each project, typically in black marker, but some county leaders have long worried they are nearly impossible to read while driving past the sites where they are planted in the ground.
The new signs will prominently read "Public Notice," and will be blue for Board of Appeals cases, black for community input meetings and red for Development Advisory Committee meetings.
Last year, a bill passed by the County Council made the signs a tad bigger. On Tuesday, however, the Planning and Zoning Department unveiled a new solution: color-coded signs that go along with an interactive map system.
Known as "Track-it," the department's activity tracker lets the public pull up information on projects in the development pipeline based either on the sign's color, information or location.
It is part of an enhanced online database that features historical information from the department's GIS, or geographic information system, compiled by mapping and data services chief Bruce Johnson.
The system is prominently featured on the county home page and is also available at http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/GISMap/developmentactivitytracker.
Accessible by computer, phone or other mobile device, Track-it users can access any one of three maps that have color-coded icons to match the colors on the new public meeting notice signs.
According to the county, Board of Appeals cases will remain on the tracker for approximately 30 days after a final decision has been rendered; community input meeting and Development Advisory Committee notifications will remain on the tracker for approximately 30 days after projects are approved or otherwise no longer subject to the county review process.
"When I got into the department, I knew there had been some discussion internally regarding development activity that was sometimes not always easily available, and perhaps there was a better way to disseminate and deliver that information," P & Z Director Bradley Killian, who joined the government with County Executive Barry Glassman, told the County Council in a presentation Tuesday night.
"We decided to step back and look at the problem differently and perhaps address it from a different angle," Killian said, explaining the department hopes to re-brand how it uses GIS.
The department previously posted information on more high-profile cases, which led staff members to respond to individual requests for more detailed information, he said.
"We think this is a great way to actually increase transparency, provide much larger volumes of information, as well as keep us out of it," Killian said.
Johnson, who has worked on the county's GIS since 1992, said his section has "an enormous amount of maps and things that we have generated over the years."
"One of the things we are doing right now is using new software that allows us to standardize that information," he told the council. "Prior to this, you wouldn't even know we had that information."
Another component of the new tracker includes "storymaps," which are compilations of resources and photos from county events or activities, such as Arbor Day over the years. Killian said storymaps will provide stories and context around the data.
Killian said after the meeting the activity tracker did not cost any additional money, as it was designed by Johnson, as well as planner Eric Vacek, during their existing work time.
He told the council: "This was a team effort, in terms of how to go about it in such a quick turnaround."
Killian said the department is "excited" to present the project and people have been "clamoring" for it.
"We are trying to re-brand our GIS section and this is an excellent start," he said.
Council members praised Killian and his team on the innovative approach to the sign problem.
"You have been doing a lot behind the scenes," Councilman Chad Shrodes said. "I think it's great. I think it's going to serve the public extremely well into the future."
Councilman Jim McMahan said he knows constituents have long been asking for bigger signs and the council was getting frustrated because "we knew there was no way we were going to erect a billboard."
McMahan called the new program "an alerting system" instead of "an epistle."
"That's the alert system we needed," he said, adding it encourages younger residents to do research.
"You are bringing much-needed change and good things to planning and zoning," he told Killian.