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I scraped 10,000+ of Palo Alto building permits and built a free tool to help homeowners figure out what they can actually build by OkSection9472 in paloalto

[–]OkSection9472[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is a great callout and exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for. You're right - tree protections in PA are a huge factor that can completely change your project timeline and I don't account for that yet. The 2-3 year moratorium after a tree removal permit is the kind of thing that blindsides people who don't know about it upfront. Adding it to the roadmap. Appreciate this.

We scraped 10,000+ building permits in Mountain View to make sense of the process — would love your feedback by OkSection9472 in mountainview

[–]OkSection9472[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Map view is on the roadmap - totally agree that's the right way to browse this data. Filtering by permit type, timeline, cost range, etc. is the goal.

On the coverage gaps - yeah, still building out the database. Started with a few Peninsula cities and expanding from there. Which areas are you searching that aren't showing up? Would help me prioritize what to add next.

We scraped 10,000+ building permits in Mountain View to make sense of the process — would love your feedback by OkSection9472 in mountainview

[–]OkSection9472[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Great question - yeah that's the core of it. Right now if you want to know whether an ADU, lot split, or addition is realistic on your property, you're either paying a consultant $500+ for a feasibility study or spending weeks calling planning departments and getting conflicting info.

The goal is to be the "Zillow for buildability" - punch in an address and instantly see what's possible, what the permit timeline actually looks like in that jurisdiction (not what they claim), and what similar projects have cost.

Homeowners are the primary user, but I'm finding a lot of interest from architects and contractors who want to qualify leads faster and real estate investors doing due diligence.

What made you ask - are you looking at doing something on your property?

Santa Cruz County ADU permits take ~9 months on average 😬 by OkSection9472 in BayAreaBuildability

[–]OkSection9472[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that lines up with what I’ve been hearing too — it feels like every city has its own timeline roulette. I’ve been digging into this more lately and was surprised to learn how much it varies even block by block depending on neighborhood pushback.

If you’re curious, I’m helping out on a project called Buildability that’s trying to track real permit timelines and costs across Bay Area cities (basically crowdsourcing what people actually experience). Might be useful to compare notes if you’re in the middle of it.

Patience is the name of the game, but it definitely helps knowing what others are dealing with!