As Residents Build Bigger Homes, Cupertino City Planners Turn to Software to Manage

For staffers at the Cupertino planning department, explaining the city’s byzantine zoning rules to residents is a challenge. For residents, it’s even harder understanding them.

Driven by an influx of wealthy residents looking to expand or rebuild their homes, the city of Cupertino has turned to software to make zoning easier to grasp—and take the load off city planners who typically have to explain it.

Using a 3D modeling program courtesy of Miami-based software company Gridics, residents can now see how their homes can change within the limits of Cupertino’s zoning regulations. Instead of spending time combing through complicated rules or drawing makeshift diagrams on paper, city planners can pull up a 3D model of what residents can do and adjust it to fit potential designs on the spot. Then, the program generates a printout of the applicable guidelines and permits needed.