Patent ID: 7873524

Claim:
A computer implemented apparatus for monitoring use of land, comprising: a computer executable logic module configured to identify a site to be monitored in connection with one or more zones, wherein said site comprises a specific geographic area, and wherein boundaries of said site do not necessarily align with boundaries of a legal description of a property; said logic module further configured to regularly monitor ongoing land use activities in connection with said site in view of at least one land use restriction which limits how said site can be used; said logic module further configured to maintain data that are generated as a result of said monitoring by said logic module, wherein said data comprise data which are related to land use activities in conjunction with a particular geographic location of said site and, wherein said data also comprise said at least one land use restriction; a database comprising alert criteria which specify when an alert should be generated based upon detection by said logic module, during said regular monitoring of land use activities within said site, of at least one specific land use activity that violates said at least one land use restriction within said one or more zones at at least one of said different geographic locations within site; said logic module further configured for detecting violation of said at least one of said land use restrictions within said one or more zones by matching said alert criteria to said data resulting from said monitoring of said site; and said logic module further configured to generate and provide an alert if a land use activity is detected at a zone associated with said site that matches said alert criteria.