By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager
The San Juan County GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Team and E-911 recently completed map books for emergency responders. A map book is a detailed road atlas showing the location of all public and private roads in the County as well as building locations, associated addresses, and driveways.
These maps assist first responders find the location of an emergency and greatly improves response time.
This is the first time the map books have been created for all islands through a coordinated effort. In the past, various agencies worked independently to create map books for their district. In some cases, it has been years since new maps were created for a particular area.
The map books have also been made available to County staff, such as building inspectors, road crews, appraisers, and other personnel who routinely visit properties throughout the County.
The maps books are saving personnel time and improving efficiency by making it easier to get around the islands. Many real estate agents, surveyors, delivery personnel, and others are finding the map books helpful in their day-to-day work. Y
ou can purchase a map book at the Public Works Office located at 915 Spring Street in Friday Harbor or mail in an order form (available at: https://www.sanjuanco.com/docs/MapBook_OrderForm.pdf) with your payment.
Other features in the map books include a road index for each island, fire station locations, parcel boundaries, contour lines, lakes, docks, public lands, helicopter landing zones, airports, ferry landings, trail locations, and fire hydrants.
Please note that only the four ferry- served islands and a few outer islands have addresses. A number of other outer islands have expressed interest in receiving addresses and are working with the County’s addressing staff. The map books will be updated annually and any new addresses and features will be added at that time.
Friday Harbor addresses are not included in the map books because they are maintained by the Town of Friday Harbor.
Available Map Books:
(Prices do not include tax)
San Juan County (all islands): $55.00
Lopez Island: $19.00
Orcas Island: $ 25.00
San Juan Island: $ 30.00
Shaw Island: $ 8.00
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