Features and Functions of

Clallam County Parcel and Critical Areas Map

 

Selecting or Activating Map Layers:

You can choose from many available map "layers", to see just the combination of map information that you want to see. There is a default configuration, but you can change it.  At scales where the Critical Areas are visible, there are locations where the map can be very busy. In order to see some layers better, you can always turn other layers off by clicking in the square box next to the layer name in the Layers list at the bottom right section of the screen. You can also turn layers on by clicking this box. A check in the box means the layer will be visible, empty means that layer will not be visible. To make changes effective, click the Refresh button at the top or bottom of the Layers list.

 

Just as the square box makes the layer visible, the round box makes it the "active" layer. Most of the tools work on the "active" layer only. To make a layer active, click on the round dot next to it. Active =   Inactive = Only one layer can be active at a time.

Scale Dependent Layers: Some layers are only available when zoomed in the right amount. Some appear automatically at the appropriate scale, while others become available in the layer list, but still must be checked to become visible. (See above)

• The map opens at a small scale (about 1:800,000, depending on your screen size) that fits the entire county.
• At all scales, both maps show county base map layers, like roads, streams, boundaries and townships.
• When zoomed out to scales beyond 1:2,000,000 scale, a graphic of the world from space appears keeping Clallam County in context at any scale.
• When zoomed in beyond about 1:10,000, a warning will appear each time the screen redraws to remind you that at such large scales, the display precision is much higher than the true accuracy. (Press "Enter", click "OK", or click the "x" to close the warning window.)

Critical Area and Parcel Map:

• When zoomed in to at least 1:125,000 scale, the county zoning layers appear.
• When zoomed in to at least 1:50,000 scale, the Critical Area layers appear. (These include wetlands, geo-hazard, flood hazard, wildlife sites, soils, etc.) Also, at this scale topographic contours become available on portions of the map.
• Between 1:100,000 and 1:3,000 scales, a detailed hill shading image is available on portions of the map.
• Between 1:30,000 and 1:1,000 scales, Aerial Photo images are available. (year 2000 photography)

Jurisdictions and Boundaries Map:

• In addition to the base map layers listed above for the both maps, Parks and Wilderness Areas are also included as base layers on this map.
• All other layers are optional for the user to turn on if desired.
• Once you are zoomed in to at least 1:300,000 scale, all layers are available.
• Many layers have labels that will only show when zoomed in close enough to make them useful, but the identify tool can be used to identify any visible feature at any scale.

Zooming to a specific scale or location:

• When the map first appears, the Zoom In tool is active. Clicking on the screen will zoom you in by half to that location. Using it to draw a box on the screen will zoom you to that box.

• You can zoom to several pre-selected locations by selecting from the Zoom to… box at the top right corner, above the legend. (Scroll to see the entire list.)

• The current map scale is shown in the scale box at the bottom right corner of the screen. To change to a specific scale, enter a new number in the box, and click Go. (The Enter key will not work!) The map scale is represented by a ratio, such as 1:24,000, (24,000 will appear in the box) which means that 1 inch on the map represents 24,000 inches on the ground. The larger the number in the box, the smaller each feature is (small scale), and the more land is visible on the map. A smaller number makes features larger (large scale), with less land visible. Note: Sometimes this box behaves funny, you may need to get the mouse pointer well out of the box before typing the scale number.

• The   Pan tool will drag the map view to cover an adjacent area

• The Back to Last Extent button will return you to your previous location and scale.

Finding an Address Location:

• Click the Locate Address tool, and fill in the box. The zip code can be important if the road name has been used on more than one road in the county.

• The map will center on a dot, labeled with the address. This is the approximate point where the driveway leaves the road.

• To remove the dot, click the Clear Selection button.

Finding a Parcel by Assessor Parcel Number:

 

• Type parcel number into Zoom to Parcel box at bottom of screen, and click Go button.  (The enter key will not work.)

• If the parcel exists on the map, the parcel info. will show in a data window, the map will center on the parcel, and it will be highlighted in yellow.
• (Note that in some cases, the parcel is split, and the parcel will appear 2 or more times in the list. To highlight and zoom to the parcel, click on one of the  small blue numbers in the "Rec" column, as in the address example above.  After the parcel highlights, you can go back and click the other record to highlight the rest of the parcel.)
• To remove the yellow highlighting, click the  Clear Selection Tool button.

 

Obtaining pop-up Assessor Records for a parcel:

 

• To obtain assessor information by typing the parcel number, repeat the first step above.
• When the data window opens, click the 12 digit blue number in the "PNUM" column. 

• Another window comes up with information about the chosen parcel. For more details, click the TAX HISTORY  and  SALES HISTORY buttons at the bottom of the page.

 

• To obtain assessor information by selecting parcel graphically from the map: zoom in to your area of interest, until you see parcel lines.
• On the Layer List, scroll down to Parcels, and click the round button to make that layer active .
• Select the    Hyperlink from Active Layer tool, and click on the parcel for which you want assessor information.
•  Another window comes up with information about the chosen parcel. For more details, click the TAX HISTORY  and  SALES HISTORY buttons at the bottom of the page.

Obtaining a Zoning Summary (for a location within the County’s Zoning jurisdiction):

• Zoom to a scale where the zoning layer is visible on the screen

• On the layer list, scroll down to Zoning, and click the round button to make that layer active.

• Select the Hyperlink from Active Layer tool, and click anywhere in the zone for which you want the summary.

Viewing Assessor Parcel Map Images:

 

•  Zoom In to your area of interest (at least 1:12,000 scale)

• On the Layer List, scroll down to Assessor Map Images, and click the square button to make that layer visible. and refresh the map.

• A scanned image of the Assessor Map will be superimposed on any other visible map layers.

 

Printing a Map: 

To print the map image, the built-in printing doesn't work very well, so we recommend you do one of the following:

• Right click on the map, and choose " copy", then open any application that will print an image (Word, Photoshop, Paint, Irfanview, etc) and "paste". Then print from that application.
• Right click on the map, and choose "save picture as" and choose a file location and either accept the default name, or give it a more recognizable one. Then you can then open that file with any image viewing or editing software, incorporate it into a document, or print it.

Identifying features on the Map: A Geographic Information System stores information about every feature on the map (such as the name of a road or stream, or the characteristics of a wetland). This can easily be obtained by clicking on that feature.

• Zoom to a scale where the feature is visible on the screen.

• Click the round button to make that layer active.

• Select the identify tool from the upper left corner of the screen.

• Click on the feature that you'd like to identify. A data window will pop up with all the available information associated with that feature.

Linking to County Park Information (Jurisdictions and Boundaries Map Only)

• Zoom to a scale and location where you can click on the County Park of choice

• On the layer list, scroll down to Parks (County & State), and click the round button to make that layer active.

• Select the Hyperlink from Active Layer tool, and click on the park for which you want information (not all parks have a web page).