CRANBERRY TWP — The pace of residential and commercial development has been so rapid that aerial maps showing details of the township are more quickly becoming obsolete.

That’s why employees in the township’s information technology department have updated its property finder service, a feature where residents can type in any address in Cranberry and view it on an aerial map.

Chad Julkowski, the information systems manager, said Monday that the previous property finder maps were from 2011, which means the images didn’t contain the new Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School, the new UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, new ramps connecting Interstate 79 to Route 228 and numerous developments.

Cranberry bought the new aerial maps off a company that produces them with its own planes, although Julkowski said township staff then must take the images and align them and properly colorize them to finish the process.

The property finder application is something that’s used daily both by township staff as well as residents and developers, he said, which means it was instrumental to update the images to show the current situation.

“We always want to have the most recent aerial map as possible,” he said. “It’s a very useful tool for us at the township and we know the public uses it a good bit too, so it’s a good investment.”

The property finder application can be found at the bottom of Cranberry Township’s website.

It’s a tool that can display an array of different information regarding properties, including water lines, fire hydrants, street names and property boundaries.

Officials said recently that Cranberry is one of only a few municipalities in the area to offer this service free for residents.