Amendments in Landscape can be tracked using Amendment Property Assets. If you'd like to track due diligence during the process, you can also use projects to check things off your list.
This article covers the workflow of using that Amendment asset to track amendments. However, some organizations prefer to create entirely new property records to track amendments. If this is the case, then property groups can be useful in tying the two property records together.
Amendments that do not change acreage:
Go to the Property Assets tab and click the (+) button to add a new asset. Select 'Amendments' and click 'OK'.
Amendment status is at the top. By default it is set to 'Not Started'. Note that setting the status to 'Completed' will 'finish' the asset and commit the changes to the property record and parcel history. Do not set the status to completed until you have captured all of the details of the amendment.
Give the amendment a name and a type. By default, the available types are 'Amendment', 'Correction', and 'Affirmation'. You can add more types through Settings --> List Items --> Properties (must be an Administrator). Fill out a summary of the amendment and the circumstances surrounding it.
Since your amendment does not change the acreage of the easement, keep 'Modifies Geography' set to 'No'.
When the details have been filled out, the asset will look something like this:
When the amendment is completed, remember to set the status to 'Completed'. See below for additional details on Approvals, Documents, Notes, Expenses and Personnel.
Amendments that change acreage:
Landscape has the ability to show users how the acreage is changed through the amendment. You can do this in two ways:
1) Altering an existing parcel (rare - best used if subtracting acreage/re-orienting an existing parcel).
2) Adding a parcel to denote the added area (recommended).
Fill out the details as necessary, and then change Modifies Geography to 'Yes'. The map opens on the right (if your screen resolution is large enough) along with a list of existing parcels.
If the amendment simply modifies the existing parcel:
If the amendment changes the boundaries of the existing parcel (re-orients or subtracts, in most cases), keep the 'Modify' field set to 'Yes' and enter the new acreage of the existing parcel under New Acres. When the status of the asset is set to 'completed', landscape will update the size of the parcel indicated. If you want to map the updated amended parcel, click on the layers button on the map, find the layer called 'This Amendment's Layers', click the three dots next to it and select 'Edit Layer'.
You can then draw or import the amendment parcel using the tools on the editor toolbar:
More on mapping here.
In the following screenshot, you can see that the amendment is subtracting acreage from the northeast corner of the easement.
Once the amendment is completed, change the status field to 'Completed'
A message will appear informing you that changing the status of the amendment will modify the size and boundary of associated parcels. Click 'Yes'. The Amendment parcel that you added will then become the main parcel boundary (1). The original boundary is then transferred and captured in the amendment layer (2) allowing you to see the original state of the boundary if needed.
If the amendment adds a parcel:
Set 'Modifies Geography' to 'Yes', and where the existing parcel is listed select 'Modify' --> 'No' (unless the amendment both modifies the existing parcel AND adds new acreage). Click 'Add New Parcel'
Enter the details of the parcel that represents the acreage added through the amendment:
It can be useful at this point to add geography associated with the amendment parcel. Click on the map layers to see and edit/add the amendment parcel. More on mapping here.
When the amendment is completed, change the status of the asset to 'Completed':
You will be asked to confirm that you want to change the size and boundary of the associated parcels. Click 'Yes'. Landscape will then automatically add a parcel to the property record with the appropriate details. Go to the main details page of the property record to see the parcel. Click on it to add additional information, like address, project area, etc., and to associate it with an active contact. You'll probably also want to add it to the appropriate stewardship site.
Additional Fields
The Approvals section is a quick place to note approvals related to the amendment. However, note that if you'd like to capture more details related to the approvals, you can also add approval assets in the property record. Approval assets have their own status, place for documents, and date fields.
Documents, Notes, Personnel, and Expenses pertaining to the amendment can be captured in the additional fields provided. Note that, as with approvals, you may wish to create assets to capture information related to the recording of the amendment. For example, in the screenshot below I've captured the expense for a Survey, however I may instead wish to create an independent Survey Asset, which can be used to store the survey document, capture who did the survey, in addition to the expenses.
If you'd like to use Projects to track amendments, the workflow will be very similar to a regular project, with different tasks being associated with different work like Surveys, Appraisals, Approvals, etc., which will all end up as assets. It will be important to name and categorize the work items appropriately as you're creating them so that future staff members can distinguish between the original work items (if there are any) and the amendment work items.
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