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Aerial photos put properties in focus
(by Joan Demirjian - October 29, 2008)
Aerial photos put properties in focus
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Local zoning, police and fire departments in Geauga County now have 360-degree pictorial views of buildings and houses in their service areas.
While it has been likened to "Big Brother," Bainbridge Zoning Inspector Michael Joyce said the system is a "powerful and useful zoning tool."
Officials are working with Pictometry, a system that gives a clear picture, from many angles, of any building or house in the county.
"We can call up any given view of a property," Mr. Joyce said. It also provides a view straight down, he said.
When police use it, they can see how many doors and windows a building has, which would be useful in a hostage situation, he said.
If officials in the county auditor's office see that a structure has been added or even removed, they can check, and it could mean a change in property tax status, Mr. Joyce said. "It's a very impressive program."
Homeland Security grant money funded the program in which aircraft flew 3,500 and 4,500 feet above the ground and at 40- to 45-degree angles, giving three-dimensional views.
"They have done the whole county," said Mr. Joyce, who He started using it about two months ago in Bainbridge and used it earlier when he was the zoning inspector for Chester Township.
It provides better visuals for the board of zoning appeals, enabling members to see the area and understand the impact of requests that they might grant, Mr. Joyce said.
He recalled a case in Chester in which he was looking at a picture of one property and noticed that, on an adjacent property, there was a small junk yard with 15 to 20 vehicles. One would not otherwise have seen back in the woods, he said. "I confronted the owner, and it's hard to say, 'No, they are not there,' when it is right in the photo," Mr. Joyce said.
In a zoning case that went to court, the township used enough photographs to win, he said.
The program and laptop computers have been provided free of charge to all police and fire departments, Mr. Joyce said.
The most recent photos for Pictometry were taken last spring, when leaves were not on the trees. County appraisers can see this year's and last year's views of properties, and the photos indicate if any changes have been made.
If there are changes, the township and the county building department would be notified to determine if zoning and building permits were issued, according to Mr. Joyce. "It's one more tool we have."
Geauga County Auditor Tracy Jemison said Pictometry has "made our office so much more efficient." It helps the office to fairly and correctly assess properties, he said. "It gives us a 360-degree view of a building" and enables them to compare properties from year to year, he said.
Police and firefighters can access the photos from mobile terminals or laptop computers.
"It's a win-win situation for safety and zoning and our office," Mr. Jemison said. "It has been a wonderful tool."
Scott Yamamoto, chief appraiser at the auditor's office, said the office began using the program in 2005, and it has helped increase the county's tax receipts. Between 2005 and 2007, "we found $5.6 million in buildings and improvements that would not have been found otherwise," he said.
It resulted in approximately $97,000 in additional taxes, Mr. Yamamoto said. And $62,000 worth of buildings that had been removed without notifying the auditor's office were taken off the tax rolls, he said.
"Once we see something, we send an appraiser out there," Mr. Yamamoto said. The appraisers will take the measurements of the addition and make changes to the property record card to bring it up to date, he said. It could be anything from decks to barns and outbuildings or an addition to a house, he said.
The auditor's office is aided in finding those changes through a change-detection program embedded in Pictometery, he said. "It's a snapshot in time that we can compare to see if anything has changed," he said.
"We found a house that had been built without a permit in Parkman," Mr. Yamamoto said.
Property values are increased or decreased, depending on whether something has been built or removed, he said. Changes done without permits would not be detected until reappraisals are carried out, and that could for up to six years, Mr. Yamamoto said.
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