After years of manually updating their Zoning Ordinance and Planning and Design Ordinance in InDesign and then exporting the updates to PDFs for citizens to view online, the staff of Des Moines, Iowa, knew there must be a better way. Many solutions for online ordinance presentations were not suitable for the two- column layout used in the documents. Staff placed a high priority on maintaining the original appearance of the city’s zoning documents and were not willing to compromise the look, feel, and flow of the original design. Finally, the perfect solution appeared when the Des Moines staff decided to partner with enCodePlus. This partnership produced an eye-catching website that closely adheres to the original document while also including user-friendly features that are exclusive to online platforms.
Some of the features on Des Moines’s site include Quick Table links that allow users to instantly reference a specific table, an interactive zoning map, custom indexing that identifies regulations by district, and a development calculator for signage regulations. A new feature exclusive to Des Moines is an icon at the end of edited text that links to an Amending Ordinance record at the end of each Article. Additionally, like other enCodePlus portals, an Ordinance History Table at the end of the code provides a comprehensive record of all amending ordinances for easy access.
The Des Moines staff and enCodePlus are still collaborating to keep their one-of-a-kind zoning documents current online.
Automatically archives and provides historical versions of code sections.
