Richland County has adopted geographic information systems (GIS) technologies to store, manage, and maintain spatially-related (geographic) data. The land development, engineering, and surveying communities have also embraced digital technologies in their respective professional communities. Because development plans are now created using computer aided design and drafting (CAD), it is the goal of Richland County to leverage such advanced techniques to expedite the design and plan review processes within the County. For such an effort to succeed, standards must be implemented to allow CAD data to be integrated into the County GIS while preserving the referential and positional accuracy of the original measurements.

All developments are required to submit preliminary (proposed) and as-built (plan of record) digital plans in accordance with the standards outlined below. Proposed digital submissions must be accepted by the Planning Department GIS staff by the last business day of the month to be placed on the following months Planning Commission Agenda. Three business days are required to review each digital submittal package to ensure that it meets the digital data submission standards (example: submitted by developer on August 25, 2004, accepted by Planning GIS Staff on August 30, 2004, placed on October 4, 2004 Planning Commission Agenda). Similarly, digital as-builts (plan of record) in accordance with the standards outlined below must be accepted by Planning Department GIS staff prior to the scheduling of the final inspection and prior to the transferal of right-of-way maintenance duties. For commercial developments, a digital 'as-built' submission must be accepted by Planning Department GIS staff prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.

These data submission standards are intended to improve the process of reviewing plans and help maintain a digital database of geographic information for the County. As the GIS program develops and foundation data are established, the County will be able to offer base layers to the development and engineering communities. The County understands that these GIS layers cannot be used for construction; however, the multiple layers of data are expected to provide potential users with descriptive information that will be invaluable in planning and property valuation.

The mission of the GIS Department is to establish a foundation of geographic information to support community decision-making. The resulting foundation of fundamental geographic data elements will be a representation of features that comprise our community and is not intended to convey legal boundaries of any kind.