I wrote this short guide on how to make a vicinity map to help permittees create high-quality vicinity maps that allowed us to more rapidly identify project sites and complete the GIS screening process.

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InstrucṋĀons for CreaṋĀng a Vicinity Map for Joint Permit
ApplicaṋĀons (JPA) with Google Maps
Procedure:
1. Access Google Maps on the internet: https://www.google.com/maps
2. Turn the Earth layer on by clicking “Earth” in the lower left corner of the map.
3. Type the address of the project location that is to be on the JPA into the search bar,
located in the upper left corner of the map. Once the location is searched, a red pushpin
will appear marking the selected location (Figure 1).
a. If the project location has a name (e.g. Maryland Dept. of the Environment), you
can type this into the search bar to 䮗퀰nd the project location.
b. If the project address is unknown you can search for a nearby address or named
location to 䮗퀰nd the project location (e.g. Carroll Park).
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4. On the map, scroll to the desired location for the project site (e.g. Montgomery Park
Visitor Entrance) and left click. This creates a small grey pushpin marking the newly
selected point (Figure 2).
a. It may be helpful to zoom in to make clicking the precise location easier if the
project area is small.
5. Towards the bottom of the screen there will be a dialogue box containing site
information, and coordinates. Scroll over the coordinates (numeric) until the
coordinates are highlighted in blue, and left click. This will re-center the large red push
pin, and bring the information from the small dialogue box to the main search bar.
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6. Click the three horizontal lines in the left corner of the main search bar to open the
Google Maps menu (Figure 3).
Scroll down and left click “Print”. This will open a preview of the map to be printed
(Figure 4).
a. If the map is zoomed in too far, exit the preview and zoom out to the desired level
before clicking “Print” again.
7. At the top of the print preview are geographical coordinates. Copy and paste them into
the latitude and longitude section of the JPA.
a. Latitude is the 䮗퀰rst number and runs North (N): (e.g. 39°16'29.7"N)
b. Longitude is the second number and runs West (W): (e.g. 76°38'35.0"W)
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8. Underneath the site coordinates, there is text that says “You can enter notes
here”. In this box, enter the project name (e.g. MDE Visitor Entrance).
9. In the upper right corner, click “Print”. This will open the print preview for the
map. Ensure “Destination” is set as “PDF”, and click save. Choose a name for the
document, and select the folder where the document will be saved.
10. Open the newly created PDF and Print Seven (7) Copies of the vicinity map to be
attached to the JPA.
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