Site plan for a zoning permit
Zoning review is not asking whether the building stands up. It is asking whether it fits — distance to every line, and how much of the lot is covered once everything already there is counted.
“It was rejected by the county because there were no setbacks… after sending him a plat of my neighborhood, he added them quickly and I was approved after a month of trying on my own.”
Read your lot from the address
free · no sign-up · seconds
If nothing new is being built, you are already done
A good share of these applications add nothing to the lot — the request is for a scaled drawing of what is standing today. That is what the reading produces from your address before you have chosen anything, and you can look at all of it for free. You pay when you want the file.
What the reviewer is checking
The recurring pattern, not any one authority’s list. Yours may ask for more.
- 01Every setback labelled with its distanceFront, both sides and rear — measured to the structure’s wall, not to the roof edge.
- 02Lot coverage arithmetic, shownLot area, footprint of everything on it, and the percentage. Shown so it can be re-added.
- 03Every existing accessory structureThe shed and the old garage count toward the cap even when they are not the project.
- 04A stated scale and a scale barThe reviewer scales the sheet to verify the labels. An unscaled drawing cannot be checked.
- 05The numbers matching the application formA sheet that disagrees with the form it is stapled to is returned without being read.
What sends these back
Coverage that stops at the new workThe cap is checked against everything on the lot. A sheet that totals only the project reads compliant right up until the reviewer adds the shed, the covered patio and the detached garage the drawing left out.
Not in any photograph — have these ready
- The eave overhang — coverage is measured at the foundation and a photograph shows the roof
- Recorded easements, which shrink the buildable area without changing the setback
- Whether an existing structure was ever permitted, which decides if it counts as legal
If you are adding something
The categories that come through this door most often. Every drawing is generated by the engine — pick one and it goes on your lot, not on the demo lot below it.