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Conducting a Property Search with Parcel Viewer

Parcel Viewer offers you several ways to search for and select properties for information look-up. Three main choices are presented in the default opening configuration of the Parcel Viewer interface, and they are always accessible by clicking the display search menu button. A fourth option is the ability to navigate on the map, i.e., zoom and pan, to pick a property visually and then select it with the identify tool.

• See How to Search by Address

• See How to Search by Parcel Number

• See How to Search by Street Intersection

• See How to Search by Navigating on a Map

The final option is provided by Parcel Viewer's advanced mode, which combines the preceding search options with the ability to select multiple parcels according to their proximity to another parcel.

• See Using Advanced Mode

See Also...
"Assessor Property Characteristics" and "Districts and Development Conditions" are reports that can be generated within Parcel Viewer for parcels found via one of the search methods, or independently using the following applications.

How to Search by Address
You will submit the street address of the property you are searching for. Parcel Viewer will find the property and display property information and a map.

Here's How
The process is illustrated by the following steps using 500 Third Avenue (the King County Courthouse) as the example (this is the default entry that you will see when you first open the input form).

1. Open the search by address input form one of two ways:

   • either click on "Search by Address" in the search menu 

   • or choose "Search by Street Address" on the Parcel Viewer main page.

2. a) Click in the first text input box and enter a house number.
   b) Click in the second text input box and enter a street name or number. Note these special instructions:

   • do NOT enter a directional designation, for example, East, E., N., South, etc.

   • do NOT enter a street type, for example, Street, St., Ave., Pl., etc.

   

3. Click the Submit button.

4. Parcel Viewer will return a list of properties that match the address number and street you submitted. Choose the particular property you are searching for from that list. Click on its entry to access the property information.

5. Parcel Viewer will respond by redrawing the map display centered on the selected property, and by displaying property information in the results/text display area.

How to Search by Parcel Number
You will submit the parcel number of the property you are searching for. Parcel Viewer will find the property and display property information and a map.

See Also... What is a parcel number and how can I find mine?

Here's How
The process is illustrated by the following steps using the King County Courthouse property as the example.

1. Open the search by parcel number input form one of two ways:

   • either click on "Search by Parcel Number" in the search menu

   • or choose "Search by Parcel Number" on the Parcel Viewer main page.

2. Just type any 10-digit parcel number into the text input box and click the Submit button.

3. Parcel Viewer will respond by redrawing the map display centered on the property that matches the parcel number, and by displaying property information in the results/text display area.

How to Search by Street Intersection
If you do not know the address or parcel number for a particular property, or if you want to select several properties that are near one another, and you know a nearby street interection, you can zoom quickly to the desired area on the Parcel Viewer map by searching for that street intersection. First you will submit one of the intersecting streets and then be given a list of choices for the other street. Parcel Viewer will draw a map that is centered on, and depicts an area several blocks outward from, the specified intersection. You can then use the map tools to find and select parcels.

Here's How
The process is illustrated by the following steps using Second Avenue South and South Jackson Street as the example.

1. Open the street input form field one of two ways:

   • either click on "Search by Street Intersection" in the search menu 

   • or choose "Search by Street Intersection" on the Parcel Viewer main page.

2. Type the name, or part of the name, of one of the intersecting streets. For example, for South Jackson Street you could enter "Jackson" or even just "jac" .

3. Click the Submit button.

4. Parcel Viewer will return a drop-down list of complete street names that match your submission.
   a) At first you will see a blank field, so just click the drop-down arrow at the right of the blank field to expand the list of available street name matches.
   b) Then click on the name of the street that matches the intersection you are searching for.

5. Parcel Viewer will respond by retrieving a list of all streets that cross or intersect with the street you specified in Step 4b. Just as you did in Step 4, click to reveal the drop-down list and then pick the street that matches the intersection you are searching for (scroll down the list using the scroll bar if necessary).

6. Parcel Viewer will respond by redrawing the map display centered on the specified intersection. From here you can navigate on the map to find particular properties.

How to Search by Navigating on a Map
Unlike the previous three search options, this method of searching is entirely visual. You simply use the tools available for viewing and manipulating the map display until you can see the parcel you are looking for and can select it with Parcel Viewer's identify tool.

Here's How

• 
  Use the zoom-in tool to enlarge the scale of the map display. You will probably need to zoom several times until you reach a sufficiently large scale to see individual parcels.

• 
  Use the zoom-out tool whenever you need to see a larger geographic area.

• 
  Use the pan tool to shift the map display as necessary to maneuver into view the geographic area in which the parcel you are looking for is located.

• 
  Once you can see what appears to be the parcel you are looking for (you can read the parcel numbers on the map if you are zoomed in far enough), use the identify tool to retrieve information about that parcel. The information will be displayed in the results/text display area.

Using Advanced Mode

Advanced mode is an extension of the property search options detailed above. It allows you to select one or more parcels that fall within a specificied distance (in technical terms, a buffer) from another parcel (a reference parcel). An example of when this capability is useful occurs when a planner wishes to notify the owners of nearby properties that might be affected by a proposed development.

There are only three basic steps:

1. Start up or switch to advanced mode.

2. Enter a buffer distance.

3. Select a reference parcel which will be the origin for the buffer.

In Advanced Mode you can also...

• Capture and save a table of results.

1. To start up advanced mode, choose it on the Parcel Viewer main page, or if you are already using Parcel Viewer, click the advanced mode button in the mini-menu.

   Note that the Parcel Viewer interface looks almost the same in advanced mode as in standard mode. The main difference is the presence of a buffer distance input form (which already contains the default distance of 100 feet), and two additional tools in the toolbar (see more on these below).

2. Now, before performing a new search in advanced mode, replace the default buffer distance with the distance you need to use for your specific task (note that you can choose between feet and meters as your buffer distance units).

3. Now all you need to do is select your reference parcel using one of the four search methods described earlier on this page.

   As soon as a unique database record is identified or selected, i.e, your reference parcel, Parcel Viewer will automatically generate a list of parcels that fall at least partly within the specified buffer distance relative to the reference parcel. The generated list will appear in a scrollable frame in the results/text display area to the left of the map.

   The map display will depict the buffer as a transparent gray area and the parcels in the buffer area will be highlighted with a contrasting fill color.

• You can carry this task one step further by generating a table of the buffered parcels which you can cut and paste into another application that supports ranges of table rows and columns, such as a spreadsheet program. This is useful for generating a mailing list of affected property owners. The table will list the parcel numbers, addresses, and owner names for the selected parcels.

  Generate the table by clicking on the text link below the buffer distance input form that reads, "Download this list."

  After you click, the list will be replaced by a table.

  To capture the tabular information for use in another application, just click and drag your mouse cursor over the cells that contain information to select the cells. You can then copy and paste the cells into any other compatible application open on your computer.

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Revised June 23, 2003