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Building in Los Angeles is both challenging and rewarding.
Whether you are adding to an existing structure or starting from
the ground up, you will need to interact with a number of people
and organizations. Following is a useful list to get you started.
For periodic updates on the changing city codes, ordinances, architecture
and other building-related issues, please sign up for our free
newsletter.
Building, step 1: learning about an empty lot or a particular piece
of property:
For property in Los Angeles County, a good place to start is with the
Los Angeles County Assessor's Office:
Los Angeles County Assessor's Office Parcel Viewer
http://assessormap.co.la.ca.us/mapping/viewer.asp
HOW TO USE THIS SITE: Type in the Assessor's ID number or the address of the property.
On page refresh, click on the Assessor's ID number shown in red. What comes up next
is a color-coded map showing the location of the property on the left, and information
about the property on the right. You can find out what the property was last valued at,
when it was last sold (or had a mortgage refi), and the size and age of any structures.
You can search for recent sales in the area and also access the underlying tract maps.
(Transaction data is likely to be several months old.)
If the property in question is also in the City of Los Angeles, the next place to
visit online is "Zimas" the Department of City Planning's Zone Information and Map
Access System:
http://zimas.lacity.org/search.asp
HOW TO USE THIS SITE: On the search screen, type in the address or assessor ID number
of the property. On the search results page, click on the map link. The next page
will show a map with the parcel outlined and the zoning noted. You can zoom in or out
on the map or measure parcel size. The right hand panel will display a variety of
information about the property. Next click on the "Create Reports" button; in the
dialog box, click on "Parcel Profile" and check the box for "include printable map
layout." Then click submit. Zimas will generate a color report in Acrobat format.
For information about building requirements in the City of Los Angeles, start with
the web site for the LA Dept of Building and Safety at:
http://ladbs.org/
It is important that you understand the freedoms and limitations of your plot. These
are usually encapsulated in the zoning regulations applicable to the parcel. A summary
of these be found at:
http://www.ladbs.org/zoning/sum_zoning_reg.pdf
A very useful site to help determine how much can be built on your lot -besides the
applicable zone designation, can be found at the "Prevailing Setback Calculator" or:
http://www.permitla.org/PS/index.cfm
HOW TO USE THIS SITE:
Enter the lot number, the frontage dimension and the corresponding front yard setback
for each lot. For vacant lots leave the setback blank. For buildings built up to
the front lot line, enter 0 in the setback field.
Click the "Calculate" button.
If the frontage of all of the lots with front yards varying no more than 10' from
each other is less than 40% of the total frontage, then there is no prevailing setback.
For even more detailed, site-specific information, use the City Bureau of Engineering's
"Navigate LA" web site:
http://navigatela.lacity.org/index.cfm
HOW TO USE THIS SITE: You will have to download free viewing software, but that will
allow you to see map layers showing everything from the locations of schools, libraries,
and sewer lines to landslide areas and topographical contour maps.
When considering a property with an existing building, especially if the structure
has been deemed historical or is likely to fall under that designation, a great
resource is the Los Angeles Conservancy. Check out at:
http://www.laconservancy.org/index.php4
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