Online property information will speed up county business

Friday, Aug. 13, 1999 | 10:51 a.m.

Getting information about a property will soon be a lot easier through two new systems offered by the Clark County Division of Current Planning.

One of the systems will offer an interactive map and will be online, Current Planning Director Lesa Coder said. Armed with a tax number for any piece of property, people will be able to find zoning information, building permits, pending use applications, and ownership information. It will also have easement and variance information.

The system, tentatively dubbed "Openweb," should be accessible by the end of August, she said.

Sometime next year, the online system will expand to include full case files for any pending use or zoning application, Coder said.

Potential users of the system include anybody who now has to go to the county's Current Planning offices. Among those who now make frequent visits are real state agents, title companies, architects, engineers and developers.

But individual property owners -- or would-be property owners -- also will have access to immediate information, Coder said.

Hilarie Grey, county spokeswoman, said the system will be user-friendly and will not require any esoteric software. Anybody with a recent Internet browser will be able to look at the site, she said.

People will also be able to find which jurisdiction, town or commissioner's district they are in, Grey said. That will help people seeking a business license or unsure how to get a building permit, she said.

"It will also have a certain 'whiz-bang' value because people will be able to look at aerial views of their house, for example," she said.

Some of the same information, although in less detail than the online site, will also be available through a phone call. "Zone Phone" will tie into the same Current Planning database to give information on how a property fits into the county's master plan, what county commissioner's district the property is in, the development rules for the parcel and other information.

The system can give detailed information on what is necessary to design or build a property, she said. It will even tell property owners how many dogs, cats, chickens or horses can be on the property, Coder said. Zone Phone can respond to the information over the phone or by fax, she said. Zone Phone is in addition to the new on-line service because it is quick, and not all property owners have access to a computer, she added.

As with the Openweb system, a property tax number is needed to get information on a property. Those numbers are easily accessible through the online tax information available from the county tax office.

The two systems will help ease the crunch in Current Planning, Coder said. That means staff members should be able to spend more time with the public who call or come into the division's offices seeking information, she said.

"Our goal is for the general public to have access to the same information we have," Coder said. The Openweb is essentially an extension of an information system already used daily by Current Planning staff members, she explained.

For many businesses and property owners, that access could save time and money.

Title searches and other information can cost hundreds of dollars for an hour of work, Coder said.

Andy Hrycyszyn of Century 21 Moneyworld's Flamingo Branch said real estate agents and their customers should find the information helpful. "I think any information about the property itself or any of its neighbors is important for a buyer," Hrycyszyn said. "It will certainly aid in the discovery of the future of that property."