Days to minutes on zoning research

The Problem

Before the firm could break ground on any project, someone had to research the zoning rules for that specific property. That meant navigating ZIMAS (LA's Zone Information and Map Access System), cross-referencing parcel data, reading through municipal codes, and figuring out what building height limits, setback requirements, and use restrictions applied. For one property, this could take a full day. For a company evaluating multiple sites at once, it was a bottleneck that delayed every project by weeks. And getting it wrong meant compliance violations, costly redesigns, or worse: building something that had to come down.

Our Approach

1. 01

   Getting the Data Out of City Systems

   LA County's zoning data lives in ZIMAS, a government system that's functional but not designed for speed or bulk lookups. We built an automated system that pulls property details, parcel information, and associated zoning regulations from ZIMAS and organizes it into a structured database that the AI can search instantly.

   • +Automatically pulls data from LA County's ZIMAS system
   • +Captures parcel info, zoning codes, and property restrictions
   • +Keeps data current with regular updates
   • +Handles the inconsistencies in government records
2. 02

   Teaching AI to Understand Zoning Law

   Zoning regulations aren't simple. They reference other codes, have exceptions, and use language that even experienced developers sometimes misread. We trained the AI specifically on LA County zoning law so it can understand the nuance. Not just keyword-match, but actually interpret what a regulation means for a specific property.

   • +Trained on the full LA County municipal code
   • +Understands property-specific context (parcel data + zoning code)
   • +Provides direct citations to relevant code sections
   • +Handles follow-up questions without losing context
   • +Flags edge cases that need human review
3. 03

   A Simple Interface Anyone Can Use

   The team isn't made up of engineers. They're builders, architects, and project managers. The interface had to be as simple as sending a text message. Type a question about a property, get a clear answer with the citation. No training needed.

   • +Chat-based interface, just type a question
   • +Answers include relevant code section citations
   • +Property lookup built in: enter an address, get zoning details
   • +Works on desktop and mobile

Results & Impact

The firm's planning phase went from weeks to days. Zoning research that used to require a full day per property now takes minutes. The team evaluates more sites, moves faster on the ones that work, and catches zoning issues before they become expensive problems.

Under the hood

• +Automated data collection from a government system not designed for API access
• +AI trained specifically on LA County zoning regulations and municipal code
• +Every answer includes a direct citation to the relevant code section
• +Handles the nuance of overlapping zones, exceptions, and conditional use permits
• +Simple enough that project managers use it without any training