Parcel Data
Washington County Parcel Data
Developed by
Washington County Public Works Department
These metadata were created using the Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines .
Go to Section:
1. Identification Information
3. Spatial Data Organization Information
4. Spatial Reference Information
5. Entity and Attribute Information
7. Metadata Reference Information
Section 1 | Identification Information |
| Originator | Washington County Public Works Department |
| Title | Washington County Parcel Data |
| Abstract | This data set is a parcel cadastre. It contains map features similar to those previously shown on hand drawn tax maps. County Auditor's parcel descriptions were collected, interpreted and analyzed. Using coordinate geometry software the descriptions were correlated with survey controlled coordinate values of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). The data structure includes point, line, polygon and text features, with each graphic symbol representing a data layer. Several layers may overlap; e.g., a lot line, easement boundary and right of way limit may coincide and appear as a single line on a hard copy plot. Similar features grouped as major theme categories are designed to collectively represent that theme as an independent unit. For example, municipal, county and state road features combined as a theme are functionally complete as an independent road or transportation layer. |
| Purpose | The parcel map base is vital in supporting property and land record operations of Washington County. |
| Time Period of Content Date | |
| Currentness Reference | New plats, lot divisions and other updates of parcel boundary detail are entered based on their recording or official entry in the County record system. Map Maintenance is performed on a weekly basis. |
| Progress | Complete |
| Maintenance and Update Frequency | Weekly |
| Spatial Extent of Data | Parcels features are shown for the entire area of Washington County. Mapping limits on border rivers extend to shorelines of Dakota County and Wisconsin. |
| Bounding Coordinates | -93.017 -92.733 45.300 44.733 |
| Place Keywords | Afton,Bayport,Baytown,Cottage Grove,Forest Lake,Grant,Mahtomedi,Lake Elmo,Lakeland,Marine,Newport,Oakdale,Oak Park Heights,Pine Springs,St. Marys Point,St. Paul Park,Stillwater,Willernie,Woodbury,Washington County,Minnesota |
| Theme Keywords | parcel, roads, easements, water, PLSS, centerlines, railroads, subdivisions |
| Theme Keyword Thesaurus | None |
| Access Constraints | The data set is available to anyone. Fees are charged according to Washington County pricing policy. |
| Use Constraints | All users of the digital parcel data are licensees. Licensees agree to certain terms which define limitations on the use and handling of the digital parcel data. See license agreement for complete information. THE DIGITAL MAP IS FURNISHED ON AN AS IS BASIS, WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT WHATSOEVER, AND WITHOUT REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, INCLUDING BUT NOT IN ANY MANNER LIMITED TO FITNESS, MERCHANTABILITY AND COMPLETENESS. The information is neither a legally recorded map nor a survey and is not intended to be used as one. The information is a compilation of records, information and data from various city, county and state offices and other sources and should be used for reference only. No representation is made that the features presented accurately reflect true locations. Washington County or any other entity from which data was obtained assumes no liability for any errors or omissions herein. If discrepancies are found, contact the Washington County Survey and Land Management Division. |
| Contact Person Information | Ryan Olson, Senior Survey Technician Washington County Public Works Department, Survey Division 11660 Myeron Road North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082 Phone: 651-430-6765 FAX: 651-430-6888 E-mail: ryan.olson@co.washington.mn.us |
| Browse Graphic File Name | none available |
| Browse Graphic File Description | none available |
| Associated Data Sets | Property ownership, tax records, digital aerial photography, digital 2-foot contours, administrative and political boundaries. |
| Section 2 | Data Quality Information - - - - - - Go back to top |
| Attribute Accuracy | Point and line features are analyzed for completeness through the use of software programs. Parcel geocodes are tested for match by total count per PLSS section and compared to the total count from the Washington County Tax System listing. Attributes from the Washington County Tax System database such as: taxpayer name, address, value amounts, district codes, etc., are not provided or managed by the Survey and Land Management Division. This information is acquired separately and any association with the parcel data set is the responsibility of the user. |
| Logical Consistency | Each symbolic layer is individually examined for completeness. An independent manual check of the parcel data was made at the time of its initial development whereby all geocoded parcel legal descriptions in a PLSS section were reinterpreted and examined for accuracy and completeness on the hard copy check plot. As each new plat or lot division occurs a similar process is repeated for the new additions during the maintenance period. Multiple lines of ownership indicating ambiguity in property line location are merged into a single line if falling within 3 feet of each other. Gaps or overlaps in these situations are not shown. In some cases where two lines converge; e.g., where at one end the two lot lines are within 0.50 feet of each other and at the other end they are within 6.00 feet of each other they may be merged because the average discrepancy is 3 feet or less. Where gaps or overlaps exist in excess of approximately 3 feet in width they are shown with text notation indicating APPARENT GAP or AREA OF DISCREPANCY. Vacated street right of way adjoining parcels is included in the parcel polygon for those cases where the tax system description refers to it and/or where a recorded document is available. Road right of way polygons are created with designation of road intersections assigned to the highest road authority. At intersections of roads where there is a single road authority, individual polygon limits extend up to but not including the intersection with a separate polygon created for just the intersection area. All road, trail and railroad right of way polygons have a separate label code designation. Polygons were created for all waters and wetlands that have been designated as protected areas by the State Department of Natural Resources. Every water and wetlands polygon has a label code. |
| Completeness | Entire County is complete. |
| Horizontal Positional Accuracy | Digitized features tested 8 feet horizontal accuracy at the 95 % confidence level using National Standard Spatial Data Accuracy (NSSDA). All other features are generated by coordinate geometry and based on a framework of accurately located PLSS corner positions used with public information of record. Computed positions of parcel boundaries are not based on individual field surveys. Although tests of randomly selected points may show high accuracy between field and parcel map content, variations between boundary monumentation and legal description of record can and do exist. Caution is necessary in use of land boundary data shown. Contact the Survey and Land Management Division for more information. |
| Vertical Positional Accuracy | n/a |
| Lineage | Parcel boundary locations are derived from subdivision plats, registered land surveys, condominium plats, certificates of survey, right of way plats and Washington County Tax System parcel descriptions for metes and bounds ownership. These documents range in date from the late 1840's to the present. The PLSS coordinate control used to support the COGO analysis originated from an in place, survey controlled network of the PLSS corners on NAD27. Prior to the commencement of creating this digital information, these NAD27 values were rotated, transformed and least squares adjusted using the NGS program LEFTI to the NAD83 datum. These adjusted (NAD27 to NAD83) values were used for the digital parcel base mapping and were termed, 'Preliminary NAD83 Coordinates'. Field verification of discrepancies found in deed analysis for parcel mapping is not performed. Information is strictly based on documents of record in the Government Center. |
| Source Scale Denominator | 1200 |
| Section 3 | Spatial Data Organization Information - - - - - - Go back to top |
| Native Data Set Environment | ArcGIS, AutoCAD |
| Geographic Reference for Tabular Data | Parcel reference: the property geocode, a code based on the Public Land Survey (see Section 5, Entity and Attribute information for subset variations of the parcel reference) Road r/w polygon reference: road authority group Water polygon reference: MnDNR Protected Waters and Wetland number |
| Spatial Object Type | Point |
| Vendor Specific Object Types | 'arc' 'area' 'cell' 'column' 'network' 'node' 'label' 'line' 'point' 'polygon' 'row' |
| Tiling Scheme | Public Land Survey System section |
| Section 4 | Spatial Reference Information - - - - - - Go back to top |
| Horizontal Coordinate Scheme | County Coordinates |
| Ellipsoid | GRS80 |
| Horizontal Datum | NAD83 |
| Horizontal Units | Feet |
| Distance Resolution | Less than 0.01 feet |
| Altitude Datum | Not applicable |
| Altitude Units | Not applicable |
| Depth Datum | Not applicable |
| Depth Units | Not applicable |
| County Coordinate Zone Identifier | 44 |
| Coordinate Offsets or Adjustments | Not applicable |
| Map Projection Name | Traverse Mercator |
| Map Projection Parameters | False Northing in meters = 30481.2751 False Easting in meters = 152406.3759 Central Meridian = -92 50 00 Latitude of Grid Origin = 44 44 45 Grid Scale Factor at Central Meridian = 1.000039836799 State Plane Zone = 4326 |
| Other Coordinate System's Definition | n/a |
| Section 5 | Entity and Attribute Information - - - - - - Go back to top |
| Entity and Attribute Overview | The data set contains a variety of features including parcel lines, parcel geocodes, parcel dimensions, subdivision plat boundaries, road centerlines, road right of way lines, documented public (not private) easements 20 ft. or more in width, railroads, lakes, wetlands, rivers and streams. Washington County Tax System records (acquired separately) can be attached via the parcel geocode. Note: Private easements are not mapped. Also, any public easement less than 20 ft. wide is not mapped. |
| Entity and Attribute Detailed Citation | Listed below are additional pages which can help identify our naming scheme for Geodatabase Feature Classes, Subtypes and AutoCAD Layers used in the development of our parcel database. The AutoCAD data dictionary gives a detailed explanation of each layer used in our parcel database. Geodatabase Feature Class names and Subtypes with their corresponding AutoCAD Layer name. |
| Section 6 | Distribution Information - - - - - - Go back to top |
| Publisher | Washington County Public Works Department, Survey Division |
| Publication Date | Periodically revised |
| Online Linkage | Welcome - Minnesota Geospatial Commons (mn.gov) |
| Contact Person Information | For distribution contact the Minnesota Geospatial Commons For other inquiries contact: Ryan Olson, Senior Survey Technician Washington County Public Works Department, Survey Division 11660 Myeron Road North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082-0006 Phone: 651-430-6765 FAX: 651-430-6888 E-mail: ryan.olson@co.washington.mn.us |
| Distributor's Data Set Identifier | Digital parcel map |
| Distribution Liability | THE DIGITAL MAP AND ANY ASSOCIATED REFERENCE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED ON AN AS IS BASIS, WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT WHATSOEVER, AND WITHOUT REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, INCLUDING BUT NOT IN ANY MANNER LIMITED TO FITNESS, MERCHANTABILITY AND COMPLETENESS. SEE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR COMPLETE LIABILITY INFORMATION. |
| Transfer Format Name | Geodatabase, Shapefile, DXF, and AutoCAD formats |
| Transfer Format Version Number | Varies |
| Transfer Size | Varies |
| Ordering Instructions | Send a written request to the distributor identifying the area required, including the desired file format. A license agreement may be required before the data will be shipped. |
| Section 7 | Metadata Reference Information - - - - - - Go back to top |
| Metadata Date | 03/03/2021 |
| Contact Person Information | Ryan Olson, Senior Survey Technician Washington County Public Works Department, Survey Division 11660 Myeron Road North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082-0006 Phone: 651-430-6765 FAX: 651-430-6888 E-mail: ryan.olson@co.washington.mn.us |
| Metadata Standard Name | Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines |
| Metadata Standard Version | 1.2 |
| Metadata Standard Online Linkage | |
This page last updated 03/03/2021.