HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2010-10-01 Digitization of approved plans
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Betsy Fields
Research & Communications Manager
bfields@leesburgva.gov
703-771-2734
Leesburg Plan Review Department Converts
Approved Plans to Digital Format
Leesburg, VA (October 1, 2010) – Town of Leesburg officials announced the completion of a
year-long project to convert all of the Town’s approved land development plans to digital
format.
Every construction project in the Town of Leesburg – residential subdivisions, shopping centers,
office buildings, churches, schools – has an approved land development plan. The oldest plans
that the Town has on file date back to 1974. Since each set of plans may have 100 or more
pages, and each page is typically 36 inches by 24 inches, storing approved plans had become a
space challenge for the Town. In addition, as plans get used and copies made, the originals
often become wrinkled, smeared or torn. In order to free up storage space and to improve
public access to the plans, staff from the Plan Review Department created new digital versions
of all approved plans.
The process of converting the approved plans involved sorting through the tens of thousands of
plans on file. Staff compared multiple copies of plan sets with the same project name to create
a single master set of each plan. Duplicate copies and earlier versions of plans were recycled.
Staff then catalogued the master plan sets, assigning each a unique tracking number in the Land
Management Information System (LMIS). Each page of the approved plans was digitally
scanned and the image files transferred into Laserfiche, a digital records management program.
In total, Town staff scanned over 40,000 full-size land development plan sheets. Finally, the
original approved plans were packed in numbered, catalogued boxes and sent to the Town’s
off-site document storage facility.
Town staff across all departments now have access to every land development plan approved in
the Town. Rather than having to search through rolls and rolls of paper plan copies, staff now
can pull up digital versions of plans right on their office computers easily and quickly. Outside
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TOL PR 2010-10-01 Digitization of approved plans
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customers – property owners, developers and contractors – have improved access to the plans
as well. Staff can now provide digital copies of plans, on disc, at a fraction of the cost and time
previously required to make paper copies. Of course, the Town will still make paper copies of
plans, if requested. In addition, a customer service station has been installed on the second
floor of Town Hall, providing the public with self-service access to not only approved plans, but
also recorded deeds and plats, property files and active land development applications. Plans
and applications can be searched by project name, parcel number, street address or LMIS
tracking number.
“It took a huge effort on the part of staff to back-scan all of the approved plans, but now that
this monumental task is complete, staying up to date will be relatively effortless,” explained Bill
Ackman, Director of Plan Review. “We are also hopeful that the public will take advantage of
our new self-service customer service station which will provide them with efficient open
access to land development information. While our Central Plan Intake Staff will still be there
to assist, we anticipate this station will also enhance customer service as well as staff efficiency
and productivity.”
“This project is a great example of how Leesburg is utilizing technology to improve customer
service without requiring additional staff,” commented John Wells, Leesburg’s Town Manager.
The Town’s Public Works Department will begin the process of converting the plans of all
existing construction (houses, buildings, streets, storm sewers, etc.), or “as-built plans” to
digital format later this year.
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