Spring 2019 ZAP Search Improvements
Improved project mapping + distance search + easier filtering + access to more documents
We’ve recently launched several important improvements to NYC Planning’s Zoning Application Portal (ZAP) Search app — a public tool for searching through active and historical zoning and land use applications that are subject to the City Planning Commission. This post highlights these updates, so users can get the most out of our app.
Featured updates:
- We’re improving data quality for mapping projects and have included the option to download spatial data
- The filtering interface has been redesigned, including a new radius filter!
- Comments from Community Boards, Borough Presidents, and Borough Boards are available on project profiles
- Letters to approving agencies (i.e. Dept. of Buildings or Dept. of Housing, Preservation and Development) are also available on project profiles
Improved project mapping + spatial data downloads
In the previous iteration of ZAP Search, each time a user loaded a project profile, the app did a real-time query to MapPLUTO data to grab lot boundaries to display on the map. This wasn’t ideal, because tax lots change over time, getting merged and split. Project BBLs (unique lot IDs) stored in ZAP won’t always find matches in the current version of MapPLUTO.
We’ve set up a new data collection process to address this. Moving forward, NYC Planning will record the spatial data for a project at the time of application filing. This way we can accurately map the project without being dependent on the associated BBL(s) existing in the future. When you zoom in closer, instead of only seeing project centroid points, you can now see the tax lots associated with a project.
However, it’s important to note that historical projects may still be missing some lot boundaries, because they don’t have matching BBLs in the current version of MapPLUTO. Improving the quality of historical data, by backfilling spatial data from archived versions of MapPLUTO and the Digital Tax Map, will be a future project for NYC Planning. More details on ZAP Search data limitations are captured in this disclaimer.
Recognizing those data limitations, we still want to make it easier to use and analyze. You can now download the spatial data in ZAP Search by clicking the download button on the project listing.
Happy mapping!
Filter redesign + radius search
Through recent user research, we gained several important insights that steered a redesign of our filtering functionality.
Many users weren’t using all the filters we had made available. Several felt that there was an overwhelming number of options, making the usefulness of any of one of them stand out less. The default filters that were applied in the app also caused confusion and annoyance. Users often searched for a specific completed project, but got zero results because they didn’t realize the default filter state was excluding completed projects.
Based on these conversations, we decided to remove and combine some filters, allowing users to search for more things using the “text match” filter, such as keyword, BBL, ULURP number, or CEQR number. We also turned off the default filter that only showed projects that were recently filed or in public review. Showing all completed projects slowed down the app performance and was too much info for most users, so we applied a new default filter that only shows projects that were certified in the last 5 years.
Conversations with users also surfaced a new idea that makes it easier to do research for preparing a land use application: a radius search. Applicants are required to identify and discuss land use application activity near their proposed project site. We’ve built a radius filter that allows you to search for all projects within a specified distance of an address or existing project record. You can apply this filter by zooming to an address (using the search bar on the map), clicking on an existing project record, or toggling the filter on and then clicking anywhere on the map. This new feature also solves the problem of not being able to easily explore projects that directly overlap with each other — You can apply a smaller radius to see all projects that have taken place on the exact same lot.
Access to documents capturing official correspondence
Getting access to official comments submitted by land use participants (Community Boards, Borough Presidents, and Borough Boards) was a popular feature request. Similarly, users wanted access to letters sent by NYC Planning to approving agencies that finalize the project (i.e. Dept. of Buildings or Dept. of Housing, Preservation and Development). NYC Planning has done a lot of work to digitize and archive these documents. We have now made the documents available alongside the milestone on the project profile. NYC Planning will continue to digitize these records and provide them through the app as they become available.
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We hope you find these improvements useful. As always, we welcome feedback and suggestions! Tweet @nycplanninglabs or create GitHub issues for bugs or ideas.
