There are various reasons why you should educate yourself about your zoning district and your property boundaries. Your county’s assessor website is a good place to find out about your home’s zoning district – and much more!
How well do we know our property lines and building setbacks? We stay on top of maintenance; we fix the broken stuff and probably walk our property on a weekly basis. Looking at what we see is valuable, but it is not the whole story.
The hidden lines of our property boundaries
It is important to know the details of our property when we want to improve it by redesigning our landscape, adding a guest house or shed, or adding a pool, etc.
What to know about property boundaries, zoning district
While your home is your private place, a good bit of information about your property is available online.
Contact or log onto your county’s recorder’s office website. These folks collect and archive all public documents on your property.
Entering your address on the website will get you to your unique parcel number. The parcel number is tied to all the documents related to your property, even if the property address should change. You will be able to find:
- Deeds tracking ownership of the property- includes dates and names of transfers of all owners.
- Site plan -provides information on property lines, easements, and rights of way.
- Zoning requirements.
This info is accessible to the public. The site also houses information about your home’s assessed value, taxes (owed and paid), and tax rates for the property.
The information that our county governments have and how publicly accessible that information is something you should be aware of. Here is a link to the Arizona Recorder’s Office in every county.
What should you know about your property boundaries and zoning district?
While a great deal of information is in the recorder’s hands and website, it is important to know the specifics of your home’s zoning.
Zoning district rules
These rules tell us how our homes can be used. Your home is most likely in a residential zoning district. Unless you purchase a home at the edge of a development, you will likely be surrounded by properties whose uses match yours.
At the edges of the development, you may be adjacent to a different zoning district that would allow a higher or lower allowable density or commercial uses.
It is good to be aware of other zoning near your home. Contact your local planning department to find out more. Oh, and have your parcel number handy, it will make their search easier.
Zoning district restrictions
Each zoning district defines lot size, dimensions, setbacks, and community density in the classification and the building envelope in your property.
Zoning rules and restrictions form imaginary legal lines surrounding your home and property. These rules designate how close to your property lines you can build most structures on your property. Knowing this before you start planning any additions like patio covers, or even she-sheds will help guide your decision making. Again, your planning department is the place to check and there is a lot of information on your county assessor’s website.
- Your neighborhood’s Homeowners Associations and Covenants, Codes and Restrictions may further define land use and restrictions.
Easements and rights of way
Easements are another category of imaginary lines to be aware of on your property. These lines define where on your property some other entity or neighbor has access to use your land for their purposes. Typically, easements are owned by utility providers and indicate where their major supply lines, be they natural gas, water, sewer, or electricity (both above and below the ground), might be located on your property. These are utility lines separate from those that supply your home.
Other easements, common in more rural areas, may grant a neighbor access to their property through yours.
Right of way provides for public egress past your property, such as a road, street, drainage course, or alley. The municipality in your area may have access to what looks like your property beyond the current pavement, drainage ditch, or curb lines. The location of the right of way is essential to know as you contemplate uses for the land, especially landscaping. An expensive tree planted between the sidewalk and the street may require specific permissions or have to be removed if road improvements are needed within the city easement.
Why should you know about the lines of your property?
All the imaginary or unseen lines are there for good reason. Utilities, drainage, and accesses all support the neighborhood. Setbacks are designed to maintain the look a development has and wants to perpetuate, mostly to protect property values.
In some cases, setbacks help prevent fire from easily spreading from one structure to another.
None of these legal attachments to your property are designed to thwart your enjoyment of your land. Nor are they a secret. They were most likely disclosed to you when you signed all those papers when you closed on your house.
If you are like most of us, you don’t recall the specifics and possibly the reason why the restrictions are there. You should start with your local county government to check out the basics and your property title report to get specifics before planning that new project you are considering.
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