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Protected Open Space Data

Frequently-asked questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
Protected Open Space Data

Abstract:
This layer includes polygon features that depict protected open space for towns of the Protected Open Space Mapping (POSM) project, which is administered by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Land Aquisition and Management. Only parcels that meet the criteria of protected open space as defined in the POSM project are in this layer. Protected open space is defined as: (1) Land or interest in land acquired for the permanent protection of natural features of the state's landscape or essential habitat for endangered or threatened species; or (2) Land or an interest in land acquired to permanently support and sustain non-facility-based outdoor recreation, forestry and fishery activities, or other wildlife or natural resource conservation or preservation activities. Includes protected open space data for the towns of Andover, Ansonia, Ashford, Avon, Beacon Falls, Canaan, Clinton, Berlin, Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bloomfield, Bridgewater, Bolton, Brookfield, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Canton, Chaplin, Cheshire, Colchester, Colebrook, Columbia, Cornwall, Coventry, Cromwell, Danbury, Derby, East Granby, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Hartford, East Windsor, Eastford, Ellington, Enfield, Essex, Farmington, Franklin, Glastonbury, Goshen, Granby, Griswold, Groton, Guilford, Haddam, Hampton, Hartford, Hebron, Kent, Killingworth, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Litchfield, Madison, Manchester, Mansfield, Marlborough, Meriden, Middlebury, Middlefield, Middletown, Monroe, Montville, Morris, New Britain, New Canaan, New Fairfield, New Milford, New Hartford, Newington, Newtown, Norfolk, North, Norwich, Preston, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stonington, Oxford, Plainfield, Plainville, Pomfret, Portland, Prospect, Putnam, Redding, Rocky Hill, Roxbury, Salem, Salisbury, Scotland, Seymour, Sharon, Sherman, Simsbury, Somers, South Windsor, Southbury, Southington, Sprague, Sterling, Suffield, Thomaston, Thompson, Tolland, Torrington, Union, Vernon, Wallingford, Windham, Warren, Washington, Waterbury, Watertown, West Hartford, Westbrook, Weston, Wethersfield, Willington, Wilton, Windsor, Windsor Locks, Wolcott, Woodbridge, Woodbury, and Woodstock. Additional towns are added to this list as they are completed. The layer is based on information from various sources collected and compiled during the period from March 2005 through the present. These sources include but are not limited to municipal Assessor's records (the Assessor's database, hard copy maps and deeds) and existing digital parcel data. The layer represents conditions as of the date of research at each city or town hall. Protected Open Space Data includes the following attribute information: object id (system-generated ID), assessor's map number, assessor's lot number, assessor's block number, official name of the open space parcel, the street number, street name, town, grantor, grantee, the deed volume and page numbers, survey reference, area of parcel reported on a survey, area reported in deed, area calculated by the GIS, assessed area, open space type*, project specific parcel ID number (PAR_ID), comments collected by researchers during city/town hall visits, the title of the survey map, the CT DEP researcher, the type of deed, date of recording of the deed, the date a record was revised, the survey map class, and a unique pin no. assigned by the town, if applicable. Some attributes that were included in Phase 1 were not included in Phase 2. These are water frontage and coastal frontage. Attribute data are based on information from sources collected and compiled during the period from March 2005 through the present. These sources include municipal assessor data, both paper and electronic, any other appropriate town records, such as deed data and survey map information. This table does not contain records for parcels that do not meet the definition of open space as defined above. In addition, developed recreation areas such as ballfields, playgrounds, and swimming pools were not included if less than 10 acres, and, if over 10 acres, were not included if the developed portion of the parcel exceeded 50% of the total parcel area. *Open space type has 11 possible entries. These include: Land Trust, Land Trust with buildings, Private, Private with buildings, Federal, State, Municipal, Municipal with Buildings, Conservation Easement, Other, and No Data.

Supplemental information:
For additional information, contact the Land Acquisition and Management Division of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection at 860-424-3016.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (data compiler, editor and publisher), Applied Geographics, Inc. (data compiler and editor), 20110831, Protected Open Space Data: State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

    Online links:
    Other citation details:
    Protected Open Space was compiled as a result of the Protected Open Space Mapping (POSM) Project. This project was a joint venture between the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Applied Geographics, Inc. The intent of this data is to provide attribute information that was collected at a specific time. This dataset is not updated. For more current information, please contact the appropriate town.

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    Bounding coordinates:
    West: -73.724797
    East: -71.828931
    North: 41.584260
    South: 40.980005

  3. What does it look like?

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning date: March 2005
    Ending date: Ongoing
    Currentness reference:
    publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial data presentation form: tabular digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      The map projection used is .

      Projection parameters:
      Standard parallel: 41.866667

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair.
      Planar coordinates are specified in survey feet.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Protected Open Space Data
    Protected Open Space Data is the attribute table for Protected Open Space feature class. (Source: State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection)

    OBJECTID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)
                      

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    PAR_ID
    Parcel identification number comprised of a three-digit state assigned town ID number and the respective parcel's 1-4 digit Object ID number.  This parcel ID field is used to link POSM2 with POSM2_Details, which also contains the unique parcel ID number. (Source: Applied Geographics, Inc.)
                      

    MAP_NO
    Assessor's map number (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    BLOCK_NO
    Assessor's block number (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    LOT_NO
    Assessor's lot number (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    OFFIC_NAME
    The full, official name of the open space parcel. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    ST_NO
    The street number of the open space parcel. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    ST_NAME
    The street name of the open space parcel. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    TOWN
    The town in which the parcel is located. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    GRANTOR
    The previous owner of the open space parcel at the time of research at town/city hall. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    GRANTEE
    The current owner of the open space parcel at the time of research at town/city hall. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    DOC_VOL
    The assessor's deed volume number. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    DOC_PAGE
    The assessor's deed page number. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    SURV_REF
    The Town Clerk's survey tracking number. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    AREA_SURV
    The area in acres reported on a survey of the open space parcel. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    AREA_DEED
    The area in acres reported on the deed for the open space parcel. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    AREA_GIS
    The area in acres calculated by the GIS. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    AREA_ASSES
    The assessor's assessed area in acres (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    OS_TYPE
    The open space type of the parcel. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    ValueDefinition
    Land Trust
    Parcel owned by a land trust
    Land Trust w/Bld
    Parcel owned by a land trust and containing one or more structures
    Private
    Parcel that is privately owned but is considered open space.
    Private w/Bld
    Parcel that is privately owned, is considered open space, and contains one or more structures.
    Conserv. Easement
    Parcel that is preserved via a conservation easement only.
    Federal
    Parcel that is owned by an agency of the United States government.
    Municipal
    Parcel that is owned by the municipality.
    Municipal w/Bld
    Parcel that is owned by the municipality and that contains one or more structures.
    State
    Parcel that is owned by the State Department of Environmental Protection.
    Other
    Parcel type does not conform with any other value.  
    No Data
    No Data exists for this town.

    COMMENTS
    The comments provided by the CT DEP researcher at the time of town/city hall research. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    GATHER_BY
    The initials of the CT DEP researcher. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    DEED_TYPE
    The type of deed referenced during research. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    DATE_RECORDED
    The date of recording of the deed referenced in DEED_TYPE. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    DATE_FORM_REV
    The date of revision for any specific record in the database. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    SURV_CLASS
    The class of the survey on file in the town's land records.  Example:  A-2, D, Other.   (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    PIN_NO
    An additional unique identifier that the town uses for their parcel identification.   (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    MBL
    Combination of Map, Block and Lot Numbers. (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    Town_No
    The official state and federal identification number of the town.  (Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection)
                      

    Entity and attribute overview:
    Protected Open Space Data includes the attributes of the parcels defined as open space in Phase 2 of the CT DEEP Protected Open Space Mapping (POSM) Project.  This table provides detailed information to accompany the Protected Open Space layer about each parcel's collection, standardization and storage.  
    This table can be joined to Protected Open Space in ArcMap using the Par_ID field.  Detailed information in the table includes ObjectID (system-generated ID), Assessor's map number, Assessor's lot number, Assessor's block number, Official Name of the open space parcel, the street number, street name, town, grantor, grantee, the deed volume and page numbers, survey reference, area of parcel reported on a survey, area reported in deed, area calculated by the GIS, assessed area, open space type, project specific parcel ID number, comments collected by researchers during city/town hall visits, the survey map title, the CT DEP researcher, the type of deed, date of recording of the deed, the date a record was revised, the survey map class, and a unique pin no. assigned by the town, if applicable.  Some attributes that were included in Phase 1 were not included in Phase 2.  These are water frontage and coastal frontage.
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Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)


  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Land Acquisition and Management
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3016 (voice)
    860-418-5906 (FAX)
    Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time
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Why was the data set created?

Protected Open Space Data consists of attribute information about parcels designated as permanently protected open space by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection in Phase 2 of the Protected Open Space Mapping (POSM) project.  Phase 2 initially comprised of inland Connecticut towns, but has broadened to include towns along the Connecticut coastline.  

Use this table to view the attribute data for the open space parcels in the corresponding Protected Open Space feature class.  Join the feature class to this table using the PAR_ID field.

Protected Open Space Data contains 26 attributes that describe each feature.

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How was the data set created?

  1. Where did the data come from?

    Source 1 - Tax Records (source 1 of 5)

    Municipal Assessor's Departments, Assessor's Tax Records.

    Type of source media: Paper or electronic media
    Source scale denominator: None
    Source contribution:
    Assessor's data, such as CAMA (computer aided mass appraisal) data and hard copy tax maps on file with the municipal assessor were used to verify or identify attribute information about a parcel.

    Source 2 - Deeds (source 2 of 5)

    Town Clerk's office for each municipality, Recorded Deeds.

    Type of source media: Recorded Deeds (Hard copy Documents)
    Source scale denominator: None
    Source contribution:
    Hard copy deeds on file with the town clerk were used to verify or identify attribute information about a parcel.

    Source 3 - Surveys (source 3 of 5)

    Town Clerk's office for each municipality, Surveys.

    Type of source media: Recorded Surveys (Hardcopy Maps)
    Source scale denominator: Varies according to Survey
    Source contribution:
    Surveys on file with the town clerk's office were used to verify or identify attribute information about a parcel.
    

    Source 4 - Protected Open Space Data preliminary table (source 4 of 5)

    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Applied Geographics, Inc., 2005 to present, Protected Open Space Data Preliminary Table.

    Other citation details:
    Preliminary table used by researchers when beginning town hall POSM data research.

    Type of source media: database table
    Source scale denominator: None
    Source contribution:
    Table produced by either Applied Geographics, Inc. or DEP GIS staff to provide a basis for initial research in town halls by POSM researchers (DEP staff).  

    Source 5 - Protected Open Space Data table (source 5 of 5)

    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Ongoing, Protected Open Space Data.

    Other citation details:
    Final table.

    Type of source media: database table
    Source scale denominator: None
    Source contribution:
    Final product - attribute table for Protected Open Space feature class.

  2. What changes have been made?

    Date: 2005-present (change 1 of 4)
    Electronic CAMA (computer aided mass appraisal) data was collected from each town.  This was then entered into appropriate fields in the POSM database, depending on the type and quality of the data received.  For example, if the electronic data contained a map, block, and lot, this data was entered into the map, block and lot fields in the POSM database.  This initial CAMA data table served as the basis for subsequent research by CT DEP researchers.  This step was performed by Applied Geographics, Inc. from 2005 through 2007 and by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection from 2007 through the present.  

    Person responsible for change:
    Steve Anderson
    Applied Geographics, Inc.
    Vice President
    48 Purnell Place, Suite 16
    Manchester, CT 06040
    United States

    860-463-4401 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 1 - Tax Records
    • Source 2 - Deeds
    • Source 3 - Surveys

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 4 - Protected Open Space Data preliminary table

    Date: Not complete (change 2 of 4)
    Field researchers from the CT DEP visited each town and collected more complete data than that collected in Process Step 1.  One record was created for each open space parcel in each town.  The parcel id from the Protected Open Space data layer (see metadata for the Protected Open Space feature class) was then assigned to each record in the Protected OpennSpace Data table.  The Protected Open Space GIS layer could then be joined to Protected Open Space Data via the unique par_id to display attribute data for each mapped parcel.

    Person responsible for change:
    Suzanne Barkyoumb
    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
    Project Manager
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, CT 06106
    United States

    860-424-3016 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 1 - Tax Records
    • Source 2 - Deeds
    • Source 3 - Surveys
    • Source 4 - Protected Open Space Data preliminary table

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 4 - Protected Open Space Data preliminary table

    Date: Not complete (change 3 of 4)
    A series of quality assurance/quality control (qa/qc) steps were performed to verify the accuracy of the table data. These include spelling checks, terminology consistency, typographical errors, grammatical checks, field data omissions, and comparison of data to features in the Protected Open Space feature class.

    Person responsible for change:
    Suzanne Barkyoumb
    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
    Project Manager
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, CT 06106
    United States

    860-424-3016 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 4 - Protected Open Space Data preliminary table

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 5 - Protected Open Space Data table

    Date: 20081204 (change 4 of 4)
    Fields MBL and Town_No added and populated.

    Person responsible for change:
    Eric Apgar
    Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
    GIS Analyst
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, CT 06106
    USA

    860-424-3016 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Source 5 - Protected Open Space Data table

    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Source 5 - Protected Open Space Data table

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How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    Protected Open Space Data retains the information identified by the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection and obtained from towns' Assessor's data, electronic parcel data or hardcopy deed data collected from the associated town clerk's office.  All attributes have valid values.  Values are within defined domains.  The accuracy of the attribute data depends on the accuracy of the source data at the time of collection.
    
    Collection of data consisted of 1) contacting the municipality to request a copy of the electronic data, 2) standardizing the data into the POSM project standard data model, 3) visiting the municipality to identify, verify and correct the open space parcel data that met the CT DEEP's definition of open space for this project, and 4) linking the CT DEEP's researched data to the original parcel dataset from the municipality. 
    
    Data quality assurance and control was preformed by the CT DEEP.
    
    DEP researchers visited each Town Hall and extracted open space parcel data through research of the Tax Assessor's records, Land Records, or other sources such as Engineering or Planning Department records.  Due to the diverse methods of identifying and recording open space data by town officials, the researcher needed to employ methods specific to the town they were researching. Because some towns do not accurately account for tax-exempt land, some attribute data may not be complete or accurate.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    The completeness of the data reflects the accuracy and completeness of the researched municipal data and its linkage to the Protected Open Space features.  The Protected Open Space Data table is complete in the sense that it contains the contents of the source information available at the time the CT DEEP created the table. However, compared to current conditions, the table may not be complete. This data is not updated beyond the original data collection date for each town and each parcel record.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    There is one record per open space parcel.  If a parcel has been split and is not yet shown as such in the town's GIS layer, then that parcel was not included.  No parcels were edited and no new parcels were created in the GIS layer.  As a result, there are a number of open space parcels that were not included in this table.

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How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access constraints: None. The data is in the public domain and may be redistributed.
Use constraints:
No restrictions or legal prerequisites for using the data.  Although this data set has been created by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as to the accuracy of the data and or related materials.  The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. Once the data is distributed to the user, modifications made to the data by the user should be noted in the metadata. When printing this data on a map or using it in a software application, analysis, or report, please acknowledge the State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as the source for this information.

Distributor 1 of 1

  1. Who distributes the data set?

    State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
    79 Elm Street
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
    USA

    860-424-3540 (voice)
    860-424-4058 (FAX)
    dep.gisdata@ct.gov
    Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Protected Open Space Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

  4. How can I download or order the data?

    • Availability in digital form:


    • Data format:
      in format Shapefile, Feature Class (version ArcGIS)
      Network links:http://www.ct.gov/deep

  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

    The data distributor does not provide custom GIS analysis or mapping services. Data is available in a standard format and may be converted to other formats, projections, coordinate systems, or selected for specific geographic regions by the party receiving the data.

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    Geographic information system (GIS), computer-aided drawing or other mapping software is necessary to display, view and access the geospatial data. The table data can be accessed by a database program such as Microsoft Access or a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel.

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Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 20111208

Metadata author:
State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Land Acquisition and Management
79 Elm Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06106-5127
USA

860-424-3016 (voice)
860-424-5906 (FAX)
Hours of Service: Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 16:30 Eastern Standard Time

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata(FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html

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