As GPS technology is to drivers in new territories, so, too, are clearly demarcated zoning maps for New Castle County landowners.

On the heels of the divisive Barley Mill Plaza rezoning controversy, it's unfortunate that the NCCo Land Use Department missed this point.

Once approved, the maps will provide communities with a sense of the impact of new roads, lights and the economic development balance between industrial parks and pure green acreage as they affect future property values.

But residents have trouble reading them, including the Internet version of 2012 Comprehensive Plan documents. And not just because the text is too small to decipher.

Downloading the diagrams requires rudimentary software skills to enlarge the view. Even in the Internet Age, it's a mistake to assume all residents are comfortable viewing documents over the Web.

The problem is made worse by what's not on the maps -- street names and neighborhood designations, says Councilman Bob Weiner of complaints after the county added an Internet link to view parcels more clearly. But this is not the best that the state's largest municipal government can do, before the coming Jan. 3 hearing on the plan.

As it should, it's belatedly preparing new maps to give residents and council members the information they need to analyze the plan.