How to create a map of TOPS Permits

Owned by James Graham (Deactivated)
29 Jan, 2022
4 min read

If you need to create a map of public space permits from TOPS, you're in luck!  There a number of very useful layers that you can add to any ArcGIS Online map and begin filtering. 

Before Starting

It's important to know what you are looking for!  TOPS is DDOT's public-facing system for requesting permits for activities in the public space. 

About TOPS

TOPS is the District Department of Transportation's online permit system that allows you to apply for a Public Space Occupancy, Construction, Excavation or Annual Rental Permit required for use of the public space within the District of Columbia. You can be a home owner, tenant, or business needing to occupy metered or unmetered curbside parking, sidewalk, alley or travel lane areas for your activity or construction related work.

The two primary types of public space permits that are published as GIS map layers are:

Construction Permits

Construction permits include excavation in public space for plumbing, utility or sheeting and shoring work. Additionally, it includes the construction of fences, retaining walls, driveways, or any other paving in public space as well as the permanent installation of public art, a sign, a flag pole, a bench, or other fixture. Annual permits are required for certain commercial uses of public space that require liability insurance and indemnification for the District Government. Public space rental permits are required for certain long term uses of public space such as for sidewalk cafes, valet parking, the public space portion of parking lots, and subsurface vaults.

Occupancy Permits

Occupancy permits include reserved parking permits, trash containers, or construction related staging of materials/equipment, Farmer’s Market and special events of any type. 

Is this data 'Live'?

It is not a live dataset.  The data in the layers above is actually an extract from the 'Live' TOPS site.  The data are refreshed every night, so it is never more than 24 hours old.

Step-by-step guide

Setup and Add Layers

  1. Open ArcGIS.com and log in if you have an account
  2. Start a map.
  3. Add one or both of the above layers to the map (Construction or Occupancy permits):
    • Click on the Add Data button: 
    • Click 'Search for Layers'
    • At the top, change the location from 'My Content' to 'My Organization'
    • Type TOPS Permits.  Press 'Enter'
    • Scroll down until you find the below options:

    • Click the 'Plus' sign next to the layer you need to map.
  2. Click on the Left Arrow at the top of the Add Data panel and then click the Details button: 
  3. Zoom in to view the permit points.  (Since there are so many, not all points may draw on the map - you'll need to filter them.  See below)

Filter Permit Data

In this example, we will be filtering Occupancy Permits to show public space permits related to the 2021 Presidential Inauguration.  To start, we will filter the map to show only "Special Event" Occupancy Permits.
  1. Hover over Click on the 'Filter' icon:  This displays the filter box for this layer.
  2. Click on the left-most dropdown box.  This contains all of the attribute fields within the permit layer you've added.  Scroll down and select EventTypeDescription.
  3. Leave the middle drop-down as-is for now.
  4. The far-right dropdown contains the values you'd like to filter for.  EventTypeDescription contains a listing of the types of Occupancy Permits. Select Other Special Event.
  5. Click "Apply Filter"
  6. The filter saves and the map is updated with all the permits classified as "Other Special Event".

While this is a good start, we need to add to our filter to make sure the map only shows Inauguration-related Occupancy permits.

  1. Once more, click on the 'Filter' icon to bring up the filter box.
  2. Click on the 'Edit' tab at the top.
  3. Click 'Add another expression'.  (this adds a second filter box below the one created above)
  4. In this new filter box, click on the left-most dropdown box and choose OtherEventType
  5. In the middle dropdown, select Contains.
  6. In the far-right box, type '2021 Inauguration'
  7. Click "Apply Filter"
  8. The filter saves and the map is updated with all the Occupancy permits classified as "Other Special Event".


While there are some difference between the data/fields in Construction Permits, they are very similar.  Much of what is described above applies to Construction Permit filtering.