Site facts

The lookups in the panel ask public services about the site and keep a dated copy of the answer with it. That copy is what the site sheet prints and what other tools read. The answers are a planning read: they're never a survey, a flood determination, a geotechnical report or a zoning answer.

Each lookup needs a site pin or a boundary first. Viewers can read the results but can't run a lookup.

Look up site facts #

Under Site facts, click Look up site facts. It runs every lookup at once: flood, elevation, soils, seismic and historic. Later, the button reads Look up again.

The facts are taken at the site's center: the middle of the boundary (or a point inside it, for an L- or U-shaped lot), or the site pin when there's no boundary. The table shows:

• Location: city, county and state.
• Center: the point the facts were taken at.
• Ground elevation, in feet (NAVD 88).
• FEMA flood zone, with a line on what the zone means.
• Base flood elevation, where FEMA publishes one.
• FIRM panel, with its effective date.
• Site area (square feet and acres) and Perimeter of the boundary.
• Looked up: the date, and the sources.

If a service doesn't answer, the status message names it and that row shows a dash. Run the lookup again later.

For flood questions that matter, ask the community's floodplain administrator. For lines and areas you'll rely on, use a licensed surveyor.

Soils #

Under Soils, click Look up soils. It lists the USDA soil map units on the site, and turns the Soils layer on. For each unit:

• Map unit: its symbol and name.
• % site: its share of the site.
• Drainage · hyd. group: drainage class and hydrologic group (A drains fast, D slowly).
• Water table · flooding · ponding: depth to the water table, flooding frequency and ponding.

Without a boundary, the shares are of the map view. These are survey map-unit ratings, not borings: a geotechnical report governs.

Seismic design values #

Under Seismic design values, set the inputs first:

• Standard: ASCE 7-16 or ASCE 7-22.
• Risk category: I to IV.
• Site class: the classes the chosen standard uses.

Then click Look up seismic values. The table shows the Seismic design category, the design and mapped spectral accelerations, peak ground accelerations, the inputs used and the date.

If you change an input after the lookup, the panel says The inputs changed — look up again.

Seismic values are for planning. The engineer of record confirms the design values.

Historic places #

Under Historic places, click Look up National Register. It lists National Register of Historic Places listings within the boundary and within a short distance of it, nearest first, and turns the Historic places layer on. National Historic Landmarks are marked.

This covers the public National Register only. Local landmarks and districts are separate; ask the city's preservation office.

Climate links #

Under Site facts, Climate here: has Open in Sun, Open in Wind and Open in Rain. Each opens that tool in a new tab with the nearest weather stations to the site's center (or the site pin, or the map's center when there's no site yet). See Weather stations.

Notes #

The Notes box at the bottom of the panel is free text for anything the lookups don't cover: easements, access, views. Notes print on the site sheet.

Related #

• Map and layers
• Export and print
• Weather stations
• AI connector