Never buy a lot you
can’t build on
Toronto zoning hides the things that kill a project. A heritage listing, a holding provision, a site specific policy that overrides your zone. We resolve all of it from 19 GIS layers in about eight seconds.
No account. No card. Every number traced to the by-law section it came from.
226 Viewmount Ave
RD (f15.0; a550) (x5)
- Height
- 10 m
- FSI
- 0.6
- Max GFA
- 334 m²
- Footprint
- 334 m²
- 19
- GIS layers queried
- 6,063
- Exceptions parsed
- 96
- By-law chapters
- ~8s
- To a full report
What zoning hides
The zone code is the easy part. These are what cost you the deal.
Heritage designation
Kills a teardown outright
Part IV listing or a conservation district. Found in the heritage register, not the zoning by-law.
Holding provision
Blocks permits until council lifts it
An (H) symbol on the zoning. Nothing gets built until conditions are met.
Site specific policy
Overrides the zone you looked up
A SASP in the Official Plan can change height and use for one property.
Ravine or flood control
Removes buildable area
TRCA regulation limits where you can build, regardless of your setbacks.
Every report flags all four, and ranks them by how much they actually threaten the project.
Read a zone string
This is what the City gives you
RD (f15.0; a550) (x5)Zone
Residential Detached
Min frontage
15.0 metres
Min lot area
550 m²
Exception
Number 5 applies
Exception 5 is the one that matters, and reading it means finding the right clause in a 96 chapter by-law. We have parsed all 6,063 of them.
The alternative
A planning consultant needs two weeks for this
Pulling the zone, cross referencing overlays, finding the governing exception, checking heritage and hazard layers, then working out what you can actually build. It is real work, and it is the same work every time.
Run one now, freeBuilt for
Developers
“Can I get six units on this lot?”
Max GFA, unit yield, and the constraints that would force a variance.
Architects
“Does a viable building actually fit?”
The buildable envelope drawn to scale, with setbacks and floor plate.
Planners
“Does this conform to policy?”
Checklists against the PPS, the Growth Plan, and the Official Plan.
Lawyers
“Which exception governs here?”
All 6,063 parsed exceptions, with the by-law section behind each one.
Start with an address you already know
Check it against what you think is true. That is the fastest way to find out whether this is worth your time.
Look up an addressFree. No account needed.