Site context and zoning, settled before schematic
Architects and city planners win or lose a project in the feasibility window, when the parcel, the zoning envelope, and the surrounding context decide what can actually be built. Smart Site Plan pulls parcels, zoning, overlays, flood, and Census context onto one map in the browser, so you can test the envelope and produce submittal exhibits without round-tripping through agency portals and a CAD seat.
Real Architecture work over Winston-Salem, NC, captured in the product
The old way
Feasibility means a row of county GIS viewers, a zoning PDF screenshotted by hand, and a CAD operator stitching parcel exports into a context base, with every overlay re-checked the morning a deadline lands. Each jurisdiction stores its data differently, so the lookup is rebuilt on every new site.
With Smart Site Plan
The site, the zoning, and the block, read on one map
The data, already on the map
Drawn from 20 million open datasets, one click each. No agency portal hunting, no format wrangling.
Workflows
How Architecture work gets done
End to end, in the browser, on one map.
Pre-acquisition site feasibility
- 1. Open Data
Search the current view and add parcels, zoning, land use, and aerial imagery to the map.
- 2. Property data
Look up the subject parcel's lot dimensions, ownership, valuation, and last sale.
- 3. Smart Query
Filter the parcel set by zoning district and minimum lot area with unit-aware area math.
- 4. Measure
Check frontage, depth, and distance to the nearest right-of-way against the district minimums.
- 5. Share
Send the client and broker a live link so they can pan the context themselves.
Zoning and overlay review
- 1. Open Data
Stack zoning, overlay districts, FEMA NFHL flood zones, and NWI wetlands on the subject parcel.
- 2. Draw
Trace the required setbacks and the resulting buildable footprint with live area readout.
- 3. Style
Color the parcel by district and label each overlay so every constraint is legible at once.
- 4. Export
Export an HD PDF exhibit for the planning board and, on Pro, a DXF of the footprint for the design set.
Massing context study
- 1. Import
Bring in a survey or building-footprint DXF, reprojected from State Plane to WGS84 on import.
- 2. Measure
Read distances and heights of context to relate the proposed massing to its neighbors.
- 3. Draw
Sketch the street-wall edge and proposed footprint over the block with live dimensions.
- 4. Share
Send the design director and consultants a view-only link so they review the scheme against the real block.
What you can do
Build a context base for any site
Search Open Data scoped to the current view and drop parcels, zoning, land use, and aerial imagery onto the map, then pull the subject parcel's lot dimensions, ownership, and last sale from Property data. The base assembles the same way whether the site is in one county or three, so it is never rebuilt per jurisdiction.
Test the zoning envelope and overlays
Read the base district off the zoning layer, then add overlay, flood, and wetland layers to see every restriction stacked on one parcel at once. Use Smart Query to filter parcels by district or lot area with unit-aware math, so you know which lots clear a minimum before you commit to a scheme.
Sketch massing and setback context
Draw setback lines, buildable footprints, and street-wall edges directly on the parcel with live length and area readouts as you go. Measure distances to adjacent buildings, lot lines, and rights-of-way to ground a massing study in the real block, not an idealized rectangle.
Produce planning-submittal exhibits
Style parcels and zoning with categorical colors, labels, and color ramps so a board can read context, flood, and district at a glance. Export an HD PDF for the submittal packet on Personal and up, and on Pro export DXF, GeoJSON, KML, or SVG to hand the geometry back into the design set.
The capabilities Architecture teams lean on
Zoning & parcels on tap
Parcels, zoning, overlays, and land use load straight onto the map, so a context base no longer waits on a CAD operator or a portal export.
Parcel lookups
Lot dimensions, ownership, and last sale on the subject parcel ground a feasibility call in the recorded facts.
Envelope & setback math
Smart Query and Draw give unit-aware lot screening and live setback geometry, so the buildable footprint is real before schematic begins.
Shareable exhibits
Live share links, plus HD PDF exports from Personal up, let clients, boards, and consultants read the same context map without a GIS seat between them.
In practice
A Portland infill parcel, vetted before the offer
A project architect gets a Friday call on a downtown infill lot in Portland, Oregon, and needs a go or no-go by Monday. She adds parcels, the base zoning district, and the historic design overlay to the view, pulls the lot dimensions and last sale from Property data, then draws the setbacks to confirm the buildable footprint clears the program. She styles the parcel by district, exports an HD PDF for the principals, and shares a live link with the broker, all before the weekend starts.
What changes
- Feasibility studies that used to take days of portal hunting close in an afternoon
- Every site assembled from the same parcel, zoning, and overlay layers, so nothing is missed per jurisdiction
- Buildable envelope and setbacks confirmed before design hours are spent
- Submittal exhibits a planning board can read, exported as HD PDF on Personal and up without a separate publishing step
Architecture, answered
Open Data searches across millions of public datasets scoped to your current map view, including municipal zoning and overlay layers and county parcels. Coverage follows what each jurisdiction publishes, and whatever is available adds straight to the map.
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Bring Architecture work onto one map
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