Alcohol-establishment spacing rules are the kind of zoning detail that's easy to state in an ordinance and hard to actually check without a map: how close is too close to a school, a church, or another licensed establishment? This project turns Millcreek's spacing requirements into a map first, then a public web application on top of it.
How the buffers were built
Community-asset data — places of worship, schools, and parks — comes from Millcreek's 2022 Digital Divide Index mapping, combined with authoritative UGRC datasets. Two buffer distances, 300 feet and 600 feet, are generated around each asset, while the zoning layer itself combines multiple zone queries with spatial joins against the relevant overlay zones (C, M, and MD zones, plus CCOZ and OHW-VCSD) and parcels — the combination that actually determines where a new alcohol-serving establishment can legally locate.
From static rule to interactive tool
The base map shows zoning and spacing requirements for alcohol-serving establishments across the city. Rather than stop there, the same data feeds an online application that lets city planners, prospective business owners, and residents interact with the regulations directly — checking a specific address or area instead of interpreting the ordinance and a static map side by side.
Designed to be found
A QR code on the printed map links straight to the live application, so the two versions — reference map and interactive tool — stay connected instead of living as separate, disconnected resources.
View the live application: Millcreek Alcohol Spacing Regulations.