For nearly 50 years, Sussex County staff has relied on dog-eared paper zoning maps large enough to cover a table.

County Administrator Todd Lawson said when he discovered there were no other copies of the maps, an alarm went off in his head. “That was the launching point for this project to move into the digital world,” he said.

During county council's Jan. 31 meeting, Lawson unveiled the results of an 18-month project to convert the maps to a digital, geographic information system (GIS) format. Lawson said the old maps – complete with handwritten notes – were photographed in high resolution and scanned.

The GIS mapping system is such a drastic change from the paper maps that a new ordinance is required to fully implement the system. Council introduced the ordinance at its Jan. 31 meeting and public hearings will be scheduled in the near future.

It's the first comprehensive electronic version of the map – and the first new map since the original paper maps were adopted in 1971. The digital map outlines more than 160,000 parcels, including information on zoning categories, acreage, parcel IDs, lot dimensions, aerial images, addresses and approvals. The map includes all municipal parcels as well. The project cost $18,655.

Lawson said all references to paper files for more information have been eliminated from the map because the information is now either on the map or included in a link.

Staff from the county’s planning and zoning and mapping and addressing departments worked with specialists from the Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative and Salisbury University to digitize and update the zoning map, which shows all of the county’s 13 zoning categories in different colors.

“We are playing catch up,” Lawson said. “This is a more advanced way to do business in Georgetown.”

The new map is more accessible and easier to use not only by county staff but by the public, Lawson said.

Staff is working on including even more information on the map, including parcels with zoning changes, special-use exceptions and conditional uses. “That's still a few months away,” Lawson said.

When asked by Councilman Rob Arlett, R-Frankford, Lawson said it would be possible to include code violations. “It can be done on the map if you so choose,” he said.

The map is available on the county's website at https://maps.sussexcountyde.gov/OnlineMap/Map.html.