Zoning
How to read zoning in Bucky — what's cited from the bylaw, what's a cached default, and what to verify before you rely on it.
Zoning is the set of rules a jurisdiction places on a parcel — what uses are permitted and the limits that shape what can be built. It's usually the first hard constraint on any project.
What you do
On the Projects map, ask Project Scout "Review zoning" (or "What can I build here?") for a framed site. See site exploration and Prompting BuckyAssist.
What you see
Bucky returns the zone and its permitted uses, plus the limits that shape a building envelope — height, storeys, site coverage, floor space ratio, and front / rear / side / flanking setbacks. Every value carries a status:
status | Meaning |
|---|---|
cited | Extracted from the bylaw. |
cited_conditional | Resolved from a conditional rule that applies to this site. |
conditional_unresolved | Conditional tiers exist; none resolve for this site. Unknown, not unlimited. |
no_limit_in_bylaw | The bylaw sets no zone-level limit. A real answer. |
unverified_default | A cached zoning value with no citation behind it. Indicative only. |
not_extracted | Never extracted for this zone. Unknown. |
no_limit_in_bylaw and not_extracted can both show as an empty limit and
mean opposite things — one is a real answer, the other means Bucky does not
know yet. Read the status, not just the number. See
Citations and confidence for what each status
means for assumptions and what to verify before you rely on one.
How to verify a value
Every cited and cited_conditional value links back to the bylaw section it
came from. Open that citation before you treat a setback or height limit as
final — Bucky interprets the bylaw, but the bylaw stays the source of truth.
Bylaws are the source of truth
Bucky's interpretation is anchored to the underlying bylaw text for a jurisdiction. As coverage expands, more jurisdictions and rule types move from cached defaults to cited values.
What it's not
A cited zoning answer is decision support, not a variance, permit, or legal opinion. Confirm anything load-bearing to your decision with the jurisdiction or a planner before you commit.
How it fits
Zoning sits between a parcel and a decision: the parcel says what the land is, zoning says what you're allowed to do with it, and feasibility says whether doing it actually works.
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