NavigateLA and ZIMAS: how to look up your own LA lot data for free

Before paying an expediter $1,500 for property research, or even before talking to an architect, you can get most of the same lot information yourself in five minutes. LA Planning publishes a public mapping tool called NavigateLA. LADBS has a parallel one called ZIMAS. Both are free. Most homeowners never touch them because nobody told them they existed. Here's the 5-minute version.

What these tools actually are

ZIMAS (Zone Information and Map Access System) is the older of the two. Run by LA City Planning. URL: zimas.lacity.org. It's the historical "look up your address" tool that real-estate agents and architects have used for 20 years.

NavigateLA is the newer ArcGIS-based mapping platform. URL: maps.lacity.org. Includes everything ZIMAS has plus a lot more layers (utility lines, school districts, council district boundaries, etc.). Same underlying data; cleaner interface.

Both pull from the same authoritative LA Planning + LADBS database. If a number shows in ZIMAS, it shows in NavigateLA. Use whichever you prefer; we lean NavigateLA for the better mapping.

What you can look up

Type your address into either tool and you'll get back:

Zoning code: the legal classification of your lot. R1-1 (single-family), R2 (duplex), R3 (multi-family), C1/C2 (commercial), etc. This is the single most important data point for what you can build.

General Plan Land Use (GPLU): the city's longer-term vision for the area. Categories like "Low Residential," "Medium Residential," "Regional Center," "Open Space." Sometimes differs from current zoning when the city is planning future rezoning.

Lot dimensions and area: width, depth, total square footage. Pulled from LA County Assessor records.

Council District + Engineering District: which council member represents you, which LADBS engineering district your permits go through.

Overlays: the big one. Every special zone that affects your permit:

• Hillside Area
• Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ)
• Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ)
• Coastal Zone
• Specific Plan Areas (Mulholland Scenic, Venice, Vermont/Western, etc.)
• Community Design Overlay (CDO)
• Interim Control Ordinance (ICO)
• Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone
• Liquefaction Zone
• Methane Zone
• Flood Zone

Each overlay has a separate guide on PermitPathLA explaining what it means for your project.

Permit history: every building permit ever issued for the property, going back to ~1923. Searchable separately via PermitLA but linked from ZIMAS.

How to actually use it (step-by-step)

NavigateLA (recommended for visual users):

1. Go to maps.lacity.org
2. Click the search icon (magnifying glass top-left)
3. Type your address. Pick the matching result.
4. The map zooms to your lot with a highlighted boundary.
5. Click anywhere inside your lot. A pop-up shows the basics (zoning, GPLU, district).
6. To see overlays, use the layer toggle in the right sidebar. Turn on layers like "Zoning," "HPOZ," "Hillside," "VHFHSZ," etc.
7. Each enabled layer either shows your lot included (overlay applies) or not (overlay doesn't apply).

ZIMAS (faster for text-based research):

1. Go to zimas.lacity.org
2. Enter address in the search bar. Submit.
3. The tool returns a single page with all of the parcel data in a tabular format.
4. Scroll through. Sections include Parcel, Address, Zoning, Overlays, Permit History.
5. Click any overlay name for an explanation of what it means.

Five real things to check before any major project

1. Zoning category: confirm you're in a residential zone (R1, R2, R3, RA, RE, RD, RW). If you see C1, C2, M1, M2, PF, or OS, your project has serious complications.

2. Lot area: compare to your project's needs. A detached ADU typically needs 4 ft side/rear setbacks; if your lot is under 5,000 sqft, the math gets tight. Under 3,000 sqft, detached ADU is often impossible.

3. Hillside Area + VHFHSZ: both add real cost. NavigateLA shows the boundaries precisely. Sometimes your lot is on the edge, half in, half out. The half-in side still triggers the rules.

4. HPOZ + Specific Plans: each adds review steps. Highland Park HPOZ, Mulholland Scenic SP, Venice Specific Plan, these are the most common.

5. Permit history: any open or "Verifications in Progress" permits on your property? Those can block new permits until resolved. Worth knowing before you submit and get blocked.

What the tools DON'T tell you

NavigateLA / ZIMAS show city-level data. They don't show:

• Independent-city data (Calabasas, Beverly Hills, etc.), you need each city's own GIS
• LA County unincorporated data (Topanga, Altadena), that's LA County DRP, not LA City
• Building footprint dimensions (just lot dimensions)
• Easements recorded on the deed
• Private CC&Rs / HOA restrictions
• Soil conditions
• Sewer / septic specifics

For those, you need additional sources (county assessor, title report, geotech, HOA documents).

What we add on top of these tools

PermitPathLA's wizard queries the same NavigateLA layers in the background. What we add:

• Plain-English interpretation of each overlay ("This means..." rather than just "Hillside Area: Yes")
• Cost + timeline impact of each overlay
• Cross-reference to LADBS permit history via the PermitLA scraper
• Neighborhood-level context (e.g. "Woodland Hills has these specific Specific Plans active")
• Step-by-step permit walkthrough for the specific overlays detected
• Specific gotchas based on real correction patterns

If you want raw data, use NavigateLA. If you want the data plus what to do with it, use the wizard.

Sources

• NavigateLA: maps.lacity.org
• ZIMAS: zimas.lacity.org
• LA Planning Department data dictionary (public)
• LADBS PermitLA portal: permitla.lacitydbs.org

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Want the interpreted version? Run your address, we pull from NavigateLA in milliseconds and translate every overlay into what it means for your permit and cost.