How do you figure out zoning when evaluating a parcel in LA?
Member since 2026 · 10 posts · 6 votes
How do you figure out zoning when evaluating a parcel in LA?
Most Popular Reply
Los Angeles · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 5 votes
5moQuote from @Joseph Commisso:
@Zhongyuan Luo Really appreciate that Zhongyuan — yes I'm familiar with both ZIMAS and the county GIS. The issue I keep hearing from developers is that those tools show the raw zoning data but don't actually tell you what you can build there in plain English — especially when you factor in overlays, FAR calculations, and state ADU laws all at once. As someone who's a realtor, architect, and contractor — is that a pain point you run into with clients?
Hi, each project is a bit different. From years of practice, there's really no reliable tool to consolidate everything and give us a clear answer as what can or cannot be built. Zimas only gives you zoning map, flood map, etc, but building height, setback, you need to find them from city/county's zoning ordinance. Let's say for a property, you want to build an ADU. You figured out the front setback is 20', side and rear are 5', 30' height limit, FAR 45%, and a 1,200 sqft ADU is allowed. Everything looks very promising until you do a survey, and found out the fire access is not wide enough (20' min), or your property doesn't have two means of access to freeway, so either you can't build an ADU if it's in high fire, or it needs to be capped at 800 sqft. I haven't mentioned other variables like zoning variance, etc. Simply put, without an accurate survey/site plan, information from Zimas/zoning ordinance/planner are really more of a guideline. You need to prove that those information are applicable for your property, and this is the hard part. A really useful tool would ideally generate an accurate property survey (which is impossible for now), not plat/plot map, and then analyze the property based on local zoning ordinance. Hope it helps.
20 Replies
- Napa, CA · Member since 2026 · 3 posts · 1 vote5mo
I'm not a zoning expert myself. I build automation and research systems for real estate developers/agents, so zoning research comes up a lot as one of the messier things people deal with.
From the developers I've talked to, most start with ZIMAS, then either call a consultant for the tricky parcels or piece together info from a few different sources. The bigger pattern I keep seeing is people end up building their own little checklist or tracker over time because no single tool covers all of it. Same story with permit tracking, comps, all of it.
If you want to chat about how we automate research workflows like this on the back end, shoot me a message. Happy to share what I've seen work.
- Member since 2026 · 10 posts · 6 votes5moWould love that. Where can I contact you?
Quote from @Curtis Peck:
I'm not a zoning expert myself. I build automation and research systems for real estate developers/agents, so zoning research comes up a lot as one of the messier things people deal with.
From the developers I've talked to, most start with ZIMAS, then either call a consultant for the tricky parcels or piece together info from a few different sources. The bigger pattern I keep seeing is people end up building their own little checklist or tracker over time because no single tool covers all of it. Same story with permit tracking, comps, all of it.
If you want to chat about how we automate research workflows like this on the back end, shoot me a message. Happy to share what I've seen work.
- 5moPouyan BroukhimBusiness MemberLos Angeles, CA · Member since 2016 · 64 posts · 19 votes
local architect is your best source to know what each lot will have the highest and best use
- Member since 2026 · 10 posts · 6 votes5mo
@Pouyan Broukhim That’s really helpful — so even with ZIMAS available, most developers still end up needing an architect or consultant to interpret it properly? That gap is exactly what I’m focused on. Would love to hear more about your experience with this.
- Los Angeles · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 5 votes5mo
Quote from @Pouyan Broukhim:
local architect is your best source to know what each lot will have the highest and best use
100% accurate.
- Los Angeles · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 5 votes5mo
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
Hello Joseph, I'm a licensed realtor, architect, and contractor in CA. Are you talking about county or city?
Los Angeles City: https://zimas.lacity.org/
Los Angels County: https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer...
Let me know if it helps.
- Member since 2026 · 10 posts · 6 votes5mo
@Zhongyuan Luo Really appreciate that Zhongyuan — yes I'm familiar with both ZIMAS and the county GIS. The issue I keep hearing from developers is that those tools show the raw zoning data but don't actually tell you what you can build there in plain English — especially when you factor in overlays, FAR calculations, and state ADU laws all at once. As someone who's a realtor, architect, and contractor — is that a pain point you run into with clients?
- Los Angeles · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 5 votes5mo
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
@Zhongyuan Luo Really appreciate that Zhongyuan — yes I'm familiar with both ZIMAS and the county GIS. The issue I keep hearing from developers is that those tools show the raw zoning data but don't actually tell you what you can build there in plain English — especially when you factor in overlays, FAR calculations, and state ADU laws all at once. As someone who's a realtor, architect, and contractor — is that a pain point you run into with clients?
Hi, each project is a bit different. From years of practice, there's really no reliable tool to consolidate everything and give us a clear answer as what can or cannot be built. Zimas only gives you zoning map, flood map, etc, but building height, setback, you need to find them from city/county's zoning ordinance. Let's say for a property, you want to build an ADU. You figured out the front setback is 20', side and rear are 5', 30' height limit, FAR 45%, and a 1,200 sqft ADU is allowed. Everything looks very promising until you do a survey, and found out the fire access is not wide enough (20' min), or your property doesn't have two means of access to freeway, so either you can't build an ADU if it's in high fire, or it needs to be capped at 800 sqft. I haven't mentioned other variables like zoning variance, etc. Simply put, without an accurate survey/site plan, information from Zimas/zoning ordinance/planner are really more of a guideline. You need to prove that those information are applicable for your property, and this is the hard part. A really useful tool would ideally generate an accurate property survey (which is impossible for now), not plat/plot map, and then analyze the property based on local zoning ordinance. Hope it helps.
- Member since 2026 · 10 posts · 6 votes5mo
@Zhongyuan Luo Zhongyuan this is incredibly helpful — genuinely one of the most detailed responses I've gotten. You've basically described the exact problem I'm trying to solve. You're right that without a physical survey you can't get to 100% certainty — but right now most developers can't even get to a reliable 70% without spending hours piecing together ZIMAS, the zoning ordinance, ADU rules, fire access requirements, and overlay districts manually. The tool I'm building aims to consolidate all of that into one instant report — not to replace the survey, but to replace the 4 hours of research that happens before anyone decides whether a survey is worth ordering.
- Member since 2026 · 11 posts · 1 vote4mo
Quote from @Zhongyuan Luo:
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
This is the most useful breakdown in the thread. You're right that without a survey nobody gets to 100%, and the fire access / two-means-of-access point is exactly the kind of thing that quietly caps a lot at 800 sq ft or kills the ADU after someone already thinks they're clear.
I'm not trying to replace the survey. The gap I keep hearing about is the 4 hours before the survey, piecing together ZIMAS plus the zoning ordinance plus state ADU rules plus the overlay and hazard layers just to decide whether a parcel is even worth ordering a survey on.
I built a tool for City-of-LA addresses that pulls zoning plus the overlay and fire/flood/hillside layers and returns a cited verdict, and it flags "needs review" instead of faking a yes when an overlay is involved. Given your background you'd spot where it's wrong faster than anyone here. Would you be up for naming one LA parcel you already know the answer on? I'll run it and post the result so you can sanity-check it against your manual read. Genuinely want to know where it breaks.
Hello Joseph, I'm a licensed realtor, architect, and contractor in CA. Are you talking about county or city?
Los Angeles City: https://zimas.lacity.org/
Los Angels County: https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer...
Let me know if it helps.
- 4moJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Zhongyuan Luo:
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
This is the most useful breakdown in the thread. You're right that without a survey nobody gets to 100%, and the fire access / two-means-of-access point is exactly the kind of thing that quietly caps a lot at 800 sq ft or kills the ADU after someone already thinks they're clear.
I'm not trying to replace the survey. The gap I keep hearing about is the 4 hours before the survey, piecing together ZIMAS plus the zoning ordinance plus state ADU rules plus the overlay and hazard layers just to decide whether a parcel is even worth ordering a survey on.
I built a tool for City-of-LA addresses that pulls zoning plus the overlay and fire/flood/hillside layers and returns a cited verdict, and it flags "needs review" instead of faking a yes when an overlay is involved. Given your background you'd spot where it's wrong faster than anyone here. Would you be up for naming one LA parcel you already know the answer on? I'll run it and post the result so you can sanity-check it against your manual read. Genuinely want to know where it breaks.
Hello Joseph, I'm a licensed realtor, architect, and contractor in CA. Are you talking about county or city?
Los Angeles City: https://zimas.lacity.org/
Los Angels County: https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer...
Let me know if it helps.
what about lots of record that were created prior to 1920 ish that while are legal lots were created to long ago and are not buildable.. does your system check for when the lot was created ? - Member since 2026 · 11 posts · 1 vote4mo
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Zhongyuan Luo:
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
This is the most useful breakdown in the thread. You're right that without a survey nobody gets to 100%, and the fire access / two-means-of-access point is exactly the kind of thing that quietly caps a lot at 800 sq ft or kills the ADU after someone already thinks they're clear.
I'm not trying to replace the survey. The gap I keep hearing about is the 4 hours before the survey, piecing together ZIMAS plus the zoning ordinance plus state ADU rules plus the overlay and hazard layers just to decide whether a parcel is even worth ordering a survey on.
I built a tool for City-of-LA addresses that pulls zoning plus the overlay and fire/flood/hillside layers and returns a cited verdict, and it flags "needs review" instead of faking a yes when an overlay is involved. Given your background you'd spot where it's wrong faster than anyone here. Would you be up for naming one LA parcel you already know the answer on? I'll run it and post the result so you can sanity-check it against your manual read. Genuinely want to know where it breaks.
Hello Joseph, I'm a licensed realtor, architect, and contractor in CA. Are you talking about county or city?
Los Angeles City: https://zimas.lacity.org/
Los Angels County: https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer...
Let me know if it helps.
what about lots of record that were created prior to 1920 ish that while are legal lots were created to long ago and are not buildable.. does your system check for when the lot was created ?Jay, appreciate you raising that, it's a good gut-check.
Honest answer: no, it doesn't look at lot-of-record creation date today. It reads City of LA zoning, the overlay layers, and the fire/flood/hillside hazard layers, then returns a cited verdict on what the zoning would allow. A pre-1920 antiquated lot that's legal but effectively unbuildable is exactly the kind of thing it wouldn't catch on its own, so that's a case where it should be returning "needs review" rather than a confident yes. I'd rather it flag the gap than hand someone a green light it can't stand behind.
That said, the antiquated-subdivision angle is real and I haven't seen any of these tools handle it. How often does it actually bite in practice for you, and is it usually the pre-merger substandard lots or something else? Trying to figure out whether it's common enough in LA to be worth building a real check for.
- 4moJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Zhongyuan Luo:
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
This is the most useful breakdown in the thread. You're right that without a survey nobody gets to 100%, and the fire access / two-means-of-access point is exactly the kind of thing that quietly caps a lot at 800 sq ft or kills the ADU after someone already thinks they're clear.
I'm not trying to replace the survey. The gap I keep hearing about is the 4 hours before the survey, piecing together ZIMAS plus the zoning ordinance plus state ADU rules plus the overlay and hazard layers just to decide whether a parcel is even worth ordering a survey on.
I built a tool for City-of-LA addresses that pulls zoning plus the overlay and fire/flood/hillside layers and returns a cited verdict, and it flags "needs review" instead of faking a yes when an overlay is involved. Given your background you'd spot where it's wrong faster than anyone here. Would you be up for naming one LA parcel you already know the answer on? I'll run it and post the result so you can sanity-check it against your manual read. Genuinely want to know where it breaks.
Hello Joseph, I'm a licensed realtor, architect, and contractor in CA. Are you talking about county or city?
Los Angeles City: https://zimas.lacity.org/
Los Angels County: https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer...
Let me know if it helps.
what about lots of record that were created prior to 1920 ish that while are legal lots were created to long ago and are not buildable.. does your system check for when the lot was created ?Jay, appreciate you raising that, it's a good gut-check.
Honest answer: no, it doesn't look at lot-of-record creation date today. It reads City of LA zoning, the overlay layers, and the fire/flood/hillside hazard layers, then returns a cited verdict on what the zoning would allow. A pre-1920 antiquated lot that's legal but effectively unbuildable is exactly the kind of thing it wouldn't catch on its own, so that's a case where it should be returning "needs review" rather than a confident yes. I'd rather it flag the gap than hand someone a green light it can't stand behind.
That said, the antiquated-subdivision angle is real and I haven't seen any of these tools handle it. How often does it actually bite in practice for you, and is it usually the pre-merger substandard lots or something else? Trying to figure out whether it's common enough in LA to be worth building a real check for.
I submit in areas of LA and LA county this is one of the most important things to check up front. Unlike Portland and many other markets the creation of lot date does not affect if its buildable or not. It can meet all the other criteria and still be deemed an anitquated lot in LA or LA county and not buildable with that one fact.
In addition finding lots that have been merged simply because of common ownership and one can do cert of complaince or what ever a jurisdiction calls them to seperate them on the assessor rolls and create multiple legal buildable lots.. This is a HUGE play in the Portland market.
when most of the west coast was subdivided in the 1910s to 1920 plats were 25X100 lots. IE SF row houses etc.. This same thing will play out all over the country one just needs to dig deep to the original recorded plat.
There was a famous case in Big Sur where a sharp land developer dug up an old plat that showed this 500 acres he was looking at was really 12 lots.. he was able to ( without doing the subdivision map act) split them and sold them off and made millions.
If one drives around Portland Or you will see tall skinnies that look out of place those were simply 50X100 lots that got converted ( over the counter) back to their original 25/100 configuration and then built on.
I get folks occasionally asking me to finance tax sales in LA county and you wonder why a perfectly good lot is going to tax's in the Hollywood hills. well its an antiquated lot of record that cant meet modern zoning.
That leads me to the palisades fire I wonder how many are going to get caught in that or malibu as well. Or will the city county make a new ordinances and allow them to be rebuilt.
there are many cases in many jurisdictions where a building burns but cant be replaced as the lot does not meet current code. - Member since 2026 · 11 posts · 1 vote4mo
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Zhongyuan Luo:
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
This is the most useful breakdown in the thread. You're right that without a survey nobody gets to 100%, and the fire access / two-means-of-access point is exactly the kind of thing that quietly caps a lot at 800 sq ft or kills the ADU after someone already thinks they're clear.
I'm not trying to replace the survey. The gap I keep hearing about is the 4 hours before the survey, piecing together ZIMAS plus the zoning ordinance plus state ADU rules plus the overlay and hazard layers just to decide whether a parcel is even worth ordering a survey on.
I built a tool for City-of-LA addresses that pulls zoning plus the overlay and fire/flood/hillside layers and returns a cited verdict, and it flags "needs review" instead of faking a yes when an overlay is involved. Given your background you'd spot where it's wrong faster than anyone here. Would you be up for naming one LA parcel you already know the answer on? I'll run it and post the result so you can sanity-check it against your manual read. Genuinely want to know where it breaks.
Hello Joseph, I'm a licensed realtor, architect, and contractor in CA. Are you talking about county or city?
Los Angeles City: https://zimas.lacity.org/
Los Angels County: https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer...
Let me know if it helps.
what about lots of record that were created prior to 1920 ish that while are legal lots were created to long ago and are not buildable.. does your system check for when the lot was created ?Jay, appreciate you raising that, it's a good gut-check.
Honest answer: no, it doesn't look at lot-of-record creation date today. It reads City of LA zoning, the overlay layers, and the fire/flood/hillside hazard layers, then returns a cited verdict on what the zoning would allow. A pre-1920 antiquated lot that's legal but effectively unbuildable is exactly the kind of thing it wouldn't catch on its own, so that's a case where it should be returning "needs review" rather than a confident yes. I'd rather it flag the gap than hand someone a green light it can't stand behind.
That said, the antiquated-subdivision angle is real and I haven't seen any of these tools handle it. How often does it actually bite in practice for you, and is it usually the pre-merger substandard lots or something else? Trying to figure out whether it's common enough in LA to be worth building a real check for.
I submit in areas of LA and LA county this is one of the most important things to check up front. Unlike Portland and many other markets the creation of lot date does not affect if its buildable or not. It can meet all the other criteria and still be deemed an anitquated lot in LA or LA county and not buildable with that one fact.
In addition finding lots that have been merged simply because of common ownership and one can do cert of complaince or what ever a jurisdiction calls them to seperate them on the assessor rolls and create multiple legal buildable lots.. This is a HUGE play in the Portland market.
when most of the west coast was subdivided in the 1910s to 1920 plats were 25X100 lots. IE SF row houses etc.. This same thing will play out all over the country one just needs to dig deep to the original recorded plat.
There was a famous case in Big Sur where a sharp land developer dug up an old plat that showed this 500 acres he was looking at was really 12 lots.. he was able to ( without doing the subdivision map act) split them and sold them off and made millions.
If one drives around Portland Or you will see tall skinnies that look out of place those were simply 50X100 lots that got converted ( over the counter) back to their original 25/100 configuration and then built on.
I get folks occasionally asking me to finance tax sales in LA county and you wonder why a perfectly good lot is going to tax's in the Hollywood hills. well its an antiquated lot of record that cant meet modern zoning.
That leads me to the palisades fire I wonder how many are going to get caught in that or malibu as well. Or will the city county make a new ordinances and allow them to be rebuilt.
there are many cases in many jurisdictions where a building burns but cant be replaced as the lot does not meet current code.
Really appreciate this, Jay. The lot-creation-date angle is exactly the thing that never shows up in a standard zoning check. Antiquated lots and the merged-lot split are kind of the same problem in reverse, and either way you've got to go back to the original recorded plat, not the assessor parcel. That Big Sur case is wild. When you're vetting an LA parcel, what's your first move to confirm it's a legal lot of record? Pull the cert of compliance history, or go straight to the original tract map? - 4moJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:
Quote from @Nicholas Krummen:
Quote from @Zhongyuan Luo:
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
This is the most useful breakdown in the thread. You're right that without a survey nobody gets to 100%, and the fire access / two-means-of-access point is exactly the kind of thing that quietly caps a lot at 800 sq ft or kills the ADU after someone already thinks they're clear.
I'm not trying to replace the survey. The gap I keep hearing about is the 4 hours before the survey, piecing together ZIMAS plus the zoning ordinance plus state ADU rules plus the overlay and hazard layers just to decide whether a parcel is even worth ordering a survey on.
I built a tool for City-of-LA addresses that pulls zoning plus the overlay and fire/flood/hillside layers and returns a cited verdict, and it flags "needs review" instead of faking a yes when an overlay is involved. Given your background you'd spot where it's wrong faster than anyone here. Would you be up for naming one LA parcel you already know the answer on? I'll run it and post the result so you can sanity-check it against your manual read. Genuinely want to know where it breaks.
Hello Joseph, I'm a licensed realtor, architect, and contractor in CA. Are you talking about county or city?
Los Angeles City: https://zimas.lacity.org/
Los Angels County: https://rpgis.isd.lacounty.gov/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer...
Let me know if it helps.
what about lots of record that were created prior to 1920 ish that while are legal lots were created to long ago and are not buildable.. does your system check for when the lot was created ?Jay, appreciate you raising that, it's a good gut-check.
Honest answer: no, it doesn't look at lot-of-record creation date today. It reads City of LA zoning, the overlay layers, and the fire/flood/hillside hazard layers, then returns a cited verdict on what the zoning would allow. A pre-1920 antiquated lot that's legal but effectively unbuildable is exactly the kind of thing it wouldn't catch on its own, so that's a case where it should be returning "needs review" rather than a confident yes. I'd rather it flag the gap than hand someone a green light it can't stand behind.
That said, the antiquated-subdivision angle is real and I haven't seen any of these tools handle it. How often does it actually bite in practice for you, and is it usually the pre-merger substandard lots or something else? Trying to figure out whether it's common enough in LA to be worth building a real check for.
I submit in areas of LA and LA county this is one of the most important things to check up front. Unlike Portland and many other markets the creation of lot date does not affect if its buildable or not. It can meet all the other criteria and still be deemed an anitquated lot in LA or LA county and not buildable with that one fact.
In addition finding lots that have been merged simply because of common ownership and one can do cert of complaince or what ever a jurisdiction calls them to seperate them on the assessor rolls and create multiple legal buildable lots.. This is a HUGE play in the Portland market.
when most of the west coast was subdivided in the 1910s to 1920 plats were 25X100 lots. IE SF row houses etc.. This same thing will play out all over the country one just needs to dig deep to the original recorded plat.
There was a famous case in Big Sur where a sharp land developer dug up an old plat that showed this 500 acres he was looking at was really 12 lots.. he was able to ( without doing the subdivision map act) split them and sold them off and made millions.
If one drives around Portland Or you will see tall skinnies that look out of place those were simply 50X100 lots that got converted ( over the counter) back to their original 25/100 configuration and then built on.
I get folks occasionally asking me to finance tax sales in LA county and you wonder why a perfectly good lot is going to tax's in the Hollywood hills. well its an antiquated lot of record that cant meet modern zoning.
That leads me to the palisades fire I wonder how many are going to get caught in that or malibu as well. Or will the city county make a new ordinances and allow them to be rebuilt.
there are many cases in many jurisdictions where a building burns but cant be replaced as the lot does not meet current code.
Really appreciate this, Jay. The lot-creation-date angle is exactly the thing that never shows up in a standard zoning check. Antiquated lots and the merged-lot split are kind of the same problem in reverse, and either way you've got to go back to the original recorded plat, not the assessor parcel. That Big Sur case is wild. When you're vetting an LA parcel, what's your first move to confirm it's a legal lot of record? Pull the cert of compliance history, or go straight to the original tract map?
its really very simple.. pull the last recorded deed.. read the legal description and it will say something like Lot 1 2 3 of block 10 with subdivision name and date its recorded. If its not there then I call customer service at my title company and have then e mail me the copy of the orginal plat.
- Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 325 posts · 75 votes5mo
I usually start with ZIMAS to check zoning, overlays, FAR, setbacks, and ADU potential. From there, I verify any major restrictions that could impact development.
Happy to chat more here in LA- Member since 2026 · 11 posts · 1 vote4mo
Quote from @Carlos Altamirano:
I usually start with ZIMAS to check zoning, overlays, FAR, setbacks, and ADU potential. From there, I verify any major restrictions that could impact development.
Happy to chat more here in LA
Saw you screen LA deals through ZIMAS for overlays/FAR/setbacks, that's the 30-min-per-parcel grind I got tired of. I built a tool that pulls City-of-LA zoning + overlay layers and returns a cited build/no-build verdict for an address in ~20 sec (flags 'needs review' instead of faking a yes when an overlay's involved). Want me to run one of your current LA deals through it so you can sanity-check it against your manual read? No ask, genuinely want to see if it matches what you'd get by hand.
- Member since 2026 · 11 posts · 1 vote4mo
That's simpler than I expected, thanks Jay. Pull the deed, read the legal description, and lean on the title company when it's thin. Easy enough to actually do.
For the tool, that means antiquated-lot status has to be a "needs review" flag, not something I pretend to confirm from zoning data, since the answer's in the recorded plat, not the assessor roll. If I can find a clean LA County legal-lot-of-record dataset I'll try to encode it properly. Until then I'd rather flag the gap than hand someone a false yes. Appreciate you taking the time on this one.
- Member since 2026 · 11 posts · 1 vote3mo
Quote from @Joseph Commisso:
Question for LA developers and investors — when you’re evaluating a new parcel, how do you currently figure out the zoning? Do you use ZIMAS, hire a consultant, call the city planning department? Trying to understand how people handle this workflow. Genuinely curious.
Honest answer: no, it doesn't check lot creation date today. If a parcel has ambiguous lot of record status we'd rather flag it "needs review" than fake a confident yes, but we don't currently ingest anything that would catch an antiquated 1920s paper subdivision on its own. You found a real gap.
The saving grace for my main user (homeowner with an existing house adding an ADU) is that a developed, permitted parcel has usually already cleared the legal lot question. Where your point really bites is vacant lots and recent splits, which is exactly the investor use case in this thread.
Question back at you since you clearly deal with this a lot: when you vet one, do you go straight to the original recorded tract map, or do you pull certificate of compliance history first? And do you know if LA County keeps any queryable dataset of legal lot determinations? If that exists I can actually encode this instead of just flagging it.
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