Latest Contributions by ChrisBuscaglia

I was noticing around cul de sacs and on most curves on our data that the curves have been broken into many segments.  I have tried the merge courses tool without much luck.  Has anyone else dealt with this?  Is there a way of getting back to 2 point curves without pulling everything out of the fabric and using the Curves and lines tool and then loading back into the fabric?  Would that help?  Would it be worth it? Jake, in this particlar case I'm not sure why the merge courses tool didn't work for you.  Can you have a look at the radius values of the curves along the cul-de-sac?  Are they all curves, or are there straight-line-segments also thrown in? Please send along a CadastralXML file of this subdivision so we can get to the bottom of it. Thanks Chris ... View more

John, currently there is no fillet tool for Parcel Fabrics.  We're getting together some customer ideas for the next release, would you be willing to provide a more detailed example of the use-case for this tool?  Is this a cleanup routine?  For example, replacing a densified arc with a two-point curve? Thanks Chris ... View more

I am trying to determine if it would be beneficial to my organization to migrate our data into the parcel fabric, mainly so that we would be able to use the existing templates to share our data with other offices and the public.  I am a one woman show and we do not have IT staff on site.  Currently we do not possess a server license or an organizational account on ArcGIS online.  We are entertaining the idea of purchasing an organizational account but that is only if we would be able to share our parcel maps with the public at a cheaper cost than our current vender.  So my question is, what are the benefits of migrating?  Are there applications/templates that can be used with an organizational account or is server required?  As is the issue with most government offices today, a server license is not an option with our current budget constraints.  Thank you. Laura Laura, this is quite the loaded question. I think that an organization account would be a great way of pursuing the idea of a hosted map service via arcgis online for Parcels.  The Parcel Editing solution works efficiently in conjunction with the local government information model.  The parcel data maintained with the Parcel solution could be used to produce a set of maps and apps that can be utilized by the County Assessor, or citizens of the community. Here are 2 sample configurable maps and apps that are available with the Local Government Information Model. Parcel Viewer: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/communities/local-government/01n40000001r000000.htm#GUID-7D12A2DE-5372-4719-BCFD-06E5BC226357 Value Analysis Dashboard. http://resources.arcgis.com/en/communities/local-government/01n40000001t000000.htm#GUID-E9A61553-DA79-4D63-8100-20D8CC56A05D Value added benefits of using the Parcel Editing Solution: http://forums.arcgis.com/threads/63462-Benefits-of-Parcel-Fabric-vs.-Topology Hope this helps Chris ... View more

All you really need to do is make sure that the proper parcel 'type' is set on the source data before you load.  For example, type 6 is conveyance divisions, you'll have to calculate thay value.  The 'Name' field is just like the type field, but it's aliased in the map document to make sense for what parcel type you are working with (Lots, Parcel Identification Number, etc.). Does that answer the question? ... View more

Question 1: Lots are definitely different than tax parcels, since you work for the city most likely you have a mixture of platted lands (subs, blocks, lots) and metes and bounds descriptions from deeds.  Tax shops will sometimes "merge" two adjacent lots to create a new Tax Parcel for the purpose of sending one tax bill. Sometimes tax parcels reference existing lots, blocks, subdivisons but don't correspond to the original platted lot(s) shape.  Sometimes Tax Parcels don't follow legal subdivision rules and regulations as the City/County may require, these are for taxes only.  Does that clear up the first question?  By the way, Tax Parcels are not necessarily required and you can bypass the last step to create tax parcels.  Moreover, would you ever merge lots at the city?  Would't that be a new subdivision, replat, tract, etc.? The image attached shows that lots 6, 7, 8 were combined to create a new Tax Parcel (selected).  Most likely the same dude/dudette owns all 3 parcels and want's a single tax bill.  They will most likely need to go through the legal subdivision process to build anything new, and you'll have a new subdividion with new lots, blocks, etc. Question 2: Think of the PLSS as the "Survey Framework" in the example data from the Bloomfield Township.  You'll actually see this change with the 10.1 version of the resource center download.  The term "PLSS" could be replaced with "OTLS" in your example (Old Texas Land Survey).  This parcel type also contains many other types of "survey framework" parcel types that may apply to the republic of Texas.  This again is a non-required parcel type, but we urge you to give them a whirl. ... View more

Thanks, that makes it a bit clearer, but the still confusing part is where the line on one side is marked 500' , but on the other side the two parcels add up to 499.01'. Maybe not a big difference, but it seems inconsistent. I can see how it could happen from two different surveys, but it looks odd. Well, that was sort of the point (no pun intended).  Many times surveyors will not agree on the bearing and distance of a particular boundary, or they may be using different basis of bearings, making the recorded bearings/distances different for the same boundary. You can think of the survey that states N90-00-00E 100.00 ft. (N89-45-00E 100.65 R) or something similar to designate 'as recorded' vs. 'as surveyed'. ... View more

#4 refers to parcels sharing a common boundary with differnent record measurements.  Typically and historically this has been done with annotation representing the opposing dimensions.  This gives you the opportunity to use feature-linked annotation effectively and even labels for dimensions. See attached pic. ... View more

This is a known issue, what you are experiencing is an incorrect error message.  This is meant to report that you are attempting to adjust parcels/lines with accuracy 7. http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/#/About_accuracy_in_the_parcel_fabric/001t00000145000000/ ... View more

just wanted to be clear here, is it true that i cannot edit features other than a fabric when there is a fabric feature in arcmap? i have some test lines that i want to draw over the fabric, in another feature class, in the same geodb. when i right click on them and go to edit nothing displays in the template, the parcel editor is active and i can edit parcels in the fabric by double clicking in them. joy. This is NOT true, you should be able to edit feature classes that are in the same workspace (GDB) as the Parcel Fabric dataset. Chris ... View more

Yes, the schedule number is the assessor's tax account number. The parcel id will identify the parcel, the schedule number will identify the associated tax record (if applicable). Not all parcels are tax parcels, but all parcels will have a parcel id. I am a bit concerned with Option 1 as it does not seem logically consistent with the fabric model. Plans and parcels are in a 1:M relationship according to the model, not a M:M relationship according to the documentation. So how would you handle a subdivision or a survey containing multiple tax lots? Can you have a parcel associated both with the Green Acres Subdivision Plan and with the Schedule R100128 Plan? How would you assign the parcel to the second plan? Theoretically, I should only need to maintain the parcel id (1088-231-00-001) and then link back to the assessor. Unfortunately, the current parcel data sometimes only has a schedule number but no parcel id, vice versa, or none at all. I'm still cleaning up that. I may need to go with option 2 during the transition but always open to other suggestions. To get back to my first question, when importing, should I import all parcels as Owner Parcels and then duplicate the import for the Tax Parcels or not? Yes, I'm in Colorado. Thanks for the input. Thanks for the response. I figured that you were in Colorado since you use the same terminology as the City and County of Denver, who has implemented the Parcel Fabric. The schedule number is not a depiction of ownership, correct?  It's just the last document of record that caused the land transaction (deed, sub, etc.). You are correct, for every "parcel" there is an associated plan (1 plan for 1 or more parcels). There are many types of parcels stored within a Parcel Fabric.  Let's look at parcels constructed with a new Subdivision: Subdivision: 1 Parcel, related to a single plan called "Green Acres Subdivison" Lots: 20 lots contained within the bounds of the above subdivison related to the above plan called "Green Acres Subdivision" Tax Parcels: 19 tax parcels (Public ROW excluded) contained within the bounds of the above subdivison related to the above plan called "Green Acres Subdivision" For lands not included within a platted subdivision (unplatted lands) each new tax description (deed) would be associated to a single plan (Schedule number). Sorry if I wasn't clear, does this make sense? ... View more

I am delving into the Parcel Fabric for the first time. I understand the difference between the two but a little confused how the fabric handles these features Both owner and tax parcels have been stored together in a shapefile. The shapefile contains two key fields. The APN field is a standard 12-digit PIN system (Twp-SecQtr-Block-Lot) and a Schedule number (assigned by the assessor). As I am preparing the parcels to import into the fabric, I am a little confused how to separate/code these? My first thought was to assign a type of 7 (Tax Parcel) to all features with a schedule number and a type of 8 (Ownership) to features with only a APN number in the same dataset. Or should I duplicate the parcels into two datasets and assign all parcels with an APN type 8 and on the second set delete all the features without a schedule number and assign the remainder type 7? The later seems to be a bit redundant but what is intended. Hope that makes sense. I look forward to your input. Tom, Thanks for the post, I have a few comments and questions. Is the schedule number the "recorders number"? If so, Option 1 (Recommended best practice): This number should really be tied into the parcel as the "Plan" for the tax parcel.  The plan table can be populated with this schedule number an then tied to the parcel via the "PlanID" field.  The catch...the plan ID is only editable when you upgrade to 10.1.  If you don't move forward with 10.1, you could adopt a "day-forward" approach to this and tag all incoming tax parcels to their respective schedule (recorders) number as a plan.  You can also group all platted lands (lots, subs) within a plan...for example, "green acres" subdivison would have all the lots included within (PlanID on each lot matches the plan of record). **Plans can be loaded to the Parcel Fabric (10.0, 10.1) by adding a field called "Plan" to the Parcels that you are loading.  You'll have to calculate the schedule number into this field, the loader does the grouping and plan table population for you! Option 2 Carry the schedule number on every parcel. On a related note, are you in Colorado?  Chris ... View more

Hello Justin, This is a good enhancement request, at 10.1 the Parcel Fabric can be edited by the 'editor attributes' window that has this capability. Another quick note, the 'Stated Area' field is calculated using the bearings and distances as recorded (with a compass rule adjustment applied).  If this calculated value is not the legal value, you can simply overwrite it in the Parcel Details before saving your work.  This would eliminate the use of your 'legal acreage' field, and simplify the workflow (having to maintain 2 fields). Chris ... View more

Hello BarronCo, You first hunch was logical, you'll want to code your 16th sections Parcel Type = 3 (Quarter Sections) with the 2nd Division set to "Sixteenth". I've attached a screenshot of this additional domain. Chris ... View more

When attempting to merge two parcels, I get the above message, and they do not merge.  What does this message mean? Thank you for any help you can provide. Carol, please do me a favor, select the two parcels and go to the Parcel Editor dropdown - 'Save as XML' and attach the file (you'll have to zip it).  Once I have that I can debug the problem, thanks! Chris ... View more

Jacob, Could it be that you are using the default 'Minimum Line String Segment Count' during the load process?  Sounds like something from a 1950's science fiction movie doesn't it? Anyway, If you are using the default (10) the parcel(s) may have been loaded with line-strings.  Line-strings are really supposed to be used for natural boundaries and other non-2pt. line features.  This could explain why these parcel appeared to be missing points.  If so, you can bump this number up and then re-load the ROW parcels to see if they come in correctly. As for once you are using the Parcel Editing tools.  If you need to repair parcels that may have accidentally recieved line-strings for boundaries, you can open the parcel, right click the line (in the grid or map) and "split line-string".  This will restore the parcel to its former 2-pt. line glory (and restore the points). Chris ... View more