Asheville offers online map for new development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2007

City of Asheville Information Technology Services Department

Contact: Jason Mann Day: (828) 259-5722

NEW TOOL AVAILABLE TO TRACK DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY

The City of Asheville introduces a new mapAsheville online mapping and information retrieval tool, Development Mapper. The mapAsheville-Development Mapper feature provides greater access to information about development activity across the city. Realtors, developers, architects, investment bankers and neighborhood association groups will benefit from the new features. Large-scale development projects are displayed on an interactive map, with detailed information including meeting dates and links to city staff documents. Stakeholders from the community participated in testing the new tool and found the improved information provided by mapAsheville-Development Mapper led to improved decision-making. "Increased access to information is crucial in creating sustainable economies... the mapAsheville-Development Mapper provides a streamlined view of development locations, staff documents and meeting dates," said Ray Bailey, president of A-B Tech and a member of the city's Sustainable Economic Development Advisory Committee. Asheville's mapAsheville is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) web-based mapping capability designed to be user-friendly. It provides electronic maps that can display multi-layered pictures and information about a specific area. The mapAsheville - Development Mapper is available at: www.ashevillenc.gov/mapAsheville/DevelopmentMapper <http://www.ashevillenc.gov/mapAsheville/DevelopmentMapper> For questions relating to GIS/Mapping, contact Jason Mann at (828) 259-5722; for questions relating to Planning/Development, contact Blake Esselstyn at (828) 259-5798. ###