Commercial Parcels were selected out using the query below:

UseType = 'Commercial'

This was then dissolved with further analysis to determine which ones are actual shopping centers (as opposed to just individual retail parcels). Quality Control was done on this layer to try and reduce some of the false positives that show up in the data that is inherent in the Assessor 'Use Description' field. Many polygons are marked in the 'Shopping_Center_Type' field as "REMOVE" and the 'QC_NOTES" will have a short explanation as to why. Any polygon less then 5,000 square feet was flagged for removal as these are isolated stores. This layer was published in an app on 6/23/22 with a Comments field so that planners can enter in their further comments.

Below are the main fields in the data layer with a brief explanation:

• Num_of_Businesses - Business points were extracted out for all areas within 50 feet of a commercial parcel using ESRI's Business Analyst. These extracted points were then used to fill in this field. It should be noted that if a point was in the right-of-way, and was within 50 feet of a 'shopping center polygon' then that was included in the count (since, in many cases, the business points don't fall exactly within a parcel).

• QC_NOTES - this was the first round of QC that was done to try and remove some of the 'false positives' from this data (the Assessor sometimes codes things as stores that are actually schools, libraries, or industrial uses). Also, this field shows the shopping centers that also contain the Assessor Code "Shopping Center (Regional, Neighborhood, or Community)" as these are the most likely to be larger shopping centers.

• Shopping_Center_Type - based on certain criteria, these are the main types:

  • More than 5 tenants - based on the 'Num_of_Business' counts, these are typically larger shopping centers

  • Less than 5 tenants - based on the 'Num_of_Business' counts, these are typically smaller shopping plazas or clusters of parcels with shopping uses.

  • No Business Point - these polygons did not have any business points within them, and these are indicators of a false positive. Often they are incorrectly coded by the Assessor, or they may be stores / shopping centers that have been abandoned

  • REMOVE - flagged for removal based on QC.

Data extracted on 6/7/22