Geocoding Tools

Tools for processing shapefiles and looking up coordinates by address or parcel ID.

Setup

1. Create and activate a virtual environment:

python -m venv env

source env/bin/activate # On Windows, use: env\Scripts\activate

2. Install required packages:

pip install pandas geopandas shapely

3. Download the Montgomery County GIS parcel shapefile from the Montgomery County GIS website and unzip it.

Usage

Process Shapefile

Convert a shapefile to CSV with centroid coordinates:

python process_shapefile.py

By default, this looks for out.shp and creates output.csv. You can modify the input/output paths in the script.

Look Up Coordinates

The lookup_coordinates script now supports two commands: lookup and process.

Looking up coordinates:

# Search by address (default)
python lookup_coordinates.py lookup "123 MAIN ST"

# Search by partial address
python lookup_coordinates.py lookup "MAIN"

# Search by parcel ID
python lookup_coordinates.py lookup "R72 12307 0032" --field parcel_id

# Use a different csv file
python lookup_coordinates.py lookup "MAIN" --csv path/to/coordinates.csv

Processing and joining data:

python lookup_coordinates.py process --csv output.csv --db parcels.db --output result.csv

Lookup Options:

• search_term: Address or parcel ID to search for
• --csv: Path to the CSV file (default: output.csv)
• --field: Field to search in ('address' or 'parcel_id', default: address)

Process Options:

• --csv: Input CSV file path
• --db: SQLite database path (default: parcels.db)
• --output: Output CSV path (default: result.csv)
• --id-field: Parcel ID field name (default: TAXPINNO)

Convert CSV to JSON

Convert the result CSV file to a JSON array:

python csv_to_json.py result.csv
# or specify custom output path
python csv_to_json.py result.csv --output data.json

The script will create a JSON file with the same name as the input CSV (but with .json extension) if no output path is specified.

CSV File Structure

The script expects the following columns in the CSV file:

• LOC_NBR: Street number
• LOC_DIR: Street direction
• LOC_STREET: Street name
• LOC_SUFFIX: Street suffix
• TAXPINNO: Parcel ID
• latitude: Latitude coordinate
• longitude: Longitude coordinate

Notes

• Address searches are case-insensitive and support partial matches
• Multiple matches will be displayed if found
• Invalid geometries in the shapefile will be skipped during processing
• The process command in lookup_coordinates.py joins the CSV data with a SQLite database
• The csv_to_json.py script handles NaN values and provides proper JSON formatting