Will the town let you build it?

ZoningOdds is a written research report for Massachusetts homeowners. It reads your town's own records, the zoning bylaw, the board minutes and the parcel map, and says what your project needs from the town, in what order, and how projects like it have fared.

What the report gives you

• Your answer, on page one. Permit only, or a hearing, and the one fact that could change it.
• What to do first. The single next step, named, before you spend a dollar on plans.
• Your lot, measured. Your building drawn on your lot, every setback and coverage figure against the town's number, where by-right ends.
• What you'll need, and from whom. A numbered list of every permit or permission, and which board hears you first.
• Your odds, from the town's own record. How many like it were granted, withdrawn or refused at that board. Counts, never guesses.
• Two ways to get to yes. Your proposal and two alternatives side by side: one bigger or better, one that needs less permission.
• The paperwork, shown. A sample building-permit review of your project, and a call sheet of who to contact, in order.

How it works

1. You describe the property and the project: the address, what you want to build, and where on the lot.
2. The report is researched from the public record. Nobody at the town is contacted.
3. It arrives by email as a PDF within two business days, with a one-page summary for handing to an architect or attorney.

Towns covered today: Beverly, Danvers, Lexington, Marblehead, Northborough, Salem, Swampscott and Wayland.

Price

Half price while the service is in beta, in exchange for a candid reading of the result.

What it is, and is not

The report is research to inform your decision. It is not legal advice, and it is not a determination by the town. Where the record cannot settle a question, the report says so and names what would settle it.