Neighborhood Concerns Zoning Code Enforcement Application

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Roanoke County has modernized its Zoning Code Enforcement Program through development of a comprehensive management system that prioritizes citizen transparency and staff accountability, while maximizing efficiency. The system was built in-house, leveraging technologies already deployed by the County, at a minimum cost. The requirements for the new system fell into four major categories: citizen engagement and ease of use, enforcement inspections, workflow automation, and reporting. Citizens desired an online application to submit their concerns that was both easy to use and provided status updates on submitted complaints. The new system leverages GIS application technology currently in use by the County, using a map-based interface and street address integration to help citizens easily and accurately report concerns. With the use of iPads, the new system allows inspectors to take photographs, enter notes and update complaint status in near real time. The back end system accepts online submissions from citizens, handles inspector scheduling and prints violation notices through an automated process that runs each night. This process also generates daily reports of inspections due including a priority destination and citizen follow-up information. Having this information readily available increases the overall transparency for Roanoke County citizens, and increases staff efficiency to inspect, process, and resolve zoning code complaints.