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Zoning, assessor data and ZBA precedents for any Boston parcel, in one panel
Answering “what can we build here, and will the board go for it?” on a Boston lot usually means three or four browser tabs: the city’s zoning viewer for the district, the assessor’s site for the parcel record, and a dig through ZBA and BPDA records for what neighbors have been granted. Stratum now puts those answers in one panel, for land-use attorneys, developers and architects alike.
Watch the walkthrough
A 76-second narrated guide to the Zoning and Precedents tabs. Read the step-by-step guide.
The Zoning tab: allowed vs. existing
Click any parcel on the Map and open the Zoning tab. You get the zoning district and its dimensional limits from the Zoning Code, side by side with the parcel’s existing conditions: lot size, frontage, front setback, left and right side setbacks, rear setback and more. Left and right are read as you face the lot from the street, because on a rowhouse lot one side is often at the line and the other isn’t.
Rows where the existing condition appears not to meet the limit are flagged in red, which is a fast way to spot a likely nonconformity before you scope relief.
The Existing column is approximate. It’s measured from the city’s parcel, building and street map data, not from a survey, so treat it as a starting point and confirm against a certified plot plan.
The Precedents tab
Stratum has indexed about 11,263 Zoning Board of Appeal cases and 998 Article 80 projects from public records. The Precedents tab lists the ones near your parcel. Filter by outcome and distance, and open any case to read its details without leaving the map.
Precedents on the map
The same cases appear as dots around the site: green for approved ZBA appeals, red for denied, and blue squares for Article 80 projects. A ring shows your search radius, the dots follow your filters, and hovering a case in the list highlights it on the map. You can toggle the layer from Layers.
Who it’s for
Land-use attorneys can scan the nearby relief history before a client call. Developers can screen a site’s zoning and precedent picture before an offer. Architects can see the envelope and the existing nonconformities before the first sketch, then keep working on Stratum’s to-scale canvas.
A note on the data
Stratum aggregates public data and doesn’t replace the Zoning Code, the official zoning map or legal advice. Verify anything you rely on against the source record.
Availability
The Zoning and Precedents tabs are free during the public beta. Try them on your next site at stratum.boston.