A geographic information system (GIS) is a combination of hardware, software, data and people for the collection, storage and management of spatially referenced information about the earth, GIS benefits the Stark County Region by providing a means to share data and a method of visualizing geographically related problems, and subsequently, leads to better planning.

GIS can help us interpret and visualize spatial data by identifying relationships patterns or trends, help model scenarios to test various hypotheses and display possible outcomes, help to integrate systems by bring together disparate data and technology, and helps to facilitate and improve decision making.

A GIS can be particularly effective as a decision-making tool in such areas as:

  • Economic Development
  • Management of environmental and natural resources
  • Infrastructure management – transportation, water and sewer utilities
  • Property records management
  • Comprehensive Planning and Zoning
  • Public Safety

A GIS can also help us to answer spatial analysis questions. For Example: “Where is a particular feature located? (facility, fire hydrant, parcel, street, etc.)” or “What features are within x-number of feet or miles of a point of interest?” or “How many linear miles of roads will be resurfaced?” or “What is the shortest route between two locations?”, etc.

Data can be downloaded at the County Open Data Portal located here.

Please contact the GIS department at Stark County Regional Planning commission to request a specific map.  Maps are available for a fee.

Aerial photography is available in MrSID format dating back to 1934. Requests for historic aerial photography can be made by contacting Dan Slicker at (330) 451-7346. More information is available here.

The GIS Department has many functions and utilizes the Esri ArcGIS software to perform mapping and analysis. GIS is a useful tool for supporting operations such as managing and updating County Land Use and Zoning data, mapping Storm Water and Sanitary Conveyance Systems, mapping Water Utilities, creating a Street Sign Inventory and many other tasks.

In 2024, a new drone program and 3D CityEngine software have been implemented.

SCRPC occasionally hires students from local universities into the GIS Department to gain practical internship and field experience related to GIS while they complete their degrees

We provide many different services to Stark County and its affiliates cities, villages and townships.

For example:

  • Infrastructure mapping (storm, sanitary and water)
  • Drone mapping
  • 3D mapping
  • Zoning and Land Use maps
  • Census maps
  • Transportation maps
  • Economic Development 
  • And much, much more

Please contact the GIS Manager, Sean Phillips at 330-451-7331 for further information.

The SCRPC Web Applications are available here.

Requests for hard copy aerial maps can be made by contacting Dan Slicker at (330) 451-7346. These maps are available for a fee.

All of the GIS data is updated as needed and as changes occur.

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a technology that uses the position of satellites to determine locations on earth. GPS is an essential tool for GIS because it allows for the gathering of data that is highly accurate. The use of GPS units by GIS Department staff has become an integral part of data collection and quality data checking out in the field when mapping utilities and other resources throughout the County.

Not quite. GPS is a navigation system that can determine where you are on the Earth. A GIS can utilize data collected from a GPS unit. Some GPS units have simple GIS systems in them, but they are not the same. Products that you may be familiar with that use geospatial technology include Google Earth, Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Bing Maps and many other internet and mobile device applications.

In ArcGIS we use the Predefined Projected Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Ohio_North_FIPS_3401_Feet. 

The following defines each component:

  • NAD 1983 – is the North American Datum created in 1983. It is based on the world Geodetic Reference System 1980 (GRS80) ellipsoid; an ellipsoid derived from satellites. A datum is defined by a spheroid, which approximates the shape of the Earth, and the spheroid's position relative to the center of the Earth.
  • State Plane – SPC is the coordinate system used in America. Each State is broken into zones with its own coordinates. SPCS was designed for a conformal mapping system for the entire country to maintain a maximum scale distortion of 1 part in 10,000.
  • Ohio North - Ohio has north and south zones. Stark County is in the north zone.
  • FIPS 3401 – is the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Codes for states derived by the U.S. Census Department of Commerce. The FIPS number 4601 is the SPC zone number for Ohio North.
  • Feet – SPC uses the “U.S. Survey Foot”. It is almost exactly equal to a standard foot, but its definition is slightly different: standard (or "international" ) foot:  .3048 meters U.S. survey foot: 1200/3937 meters/

Most digital orthophoto imagery is captured from aerial photography. Scanned images are rectified to remove distortion so the images are at a consistent scale.