Renderings for planning and zoning submissions

Your imagery has to survive scrutiny from people whose job is to find the problem with it. A flattering render is worse than no render, because once one element is shown to be inaccurate every other document in the pack gets treated as unreliable.

Imagery built as evidence rather than as marketing. Neighboring massing from survey, parcel and aerial data. Sun angles correct for the real orientation. Eye-height viewpoints from the public right-of-way. Materials as specified rather than as flattered.

We will tell you when an image weakens your case. If a requested viewpoint minimizes apparent bulk in a way planning staff will notice, that is worth knowing before filing rather than at the public hearing.

Each city’s review board publishes its own checklist, and they differ. Philadelphia’s Civic Design Review asks for at least two rendered views, one of them from street level; New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission judges whether new work can be seen from a public thoroughfare at a height of 6 feet; and Boston’s Landmarks Commission wants current color photographs, not screenshots from Street View or other online maps. Our comparison of what design review boards in eight US cities ask renderings to show sets those checklists side by side, with each city’s own document linked.

A taller building can also need a shadow study, and the city sets the test. In San Francisco, a new building or addition with a roof above 40 feet is reviewed for new shadow on Recreation and Park Department property under Planning Code Section 295, while New York’s environmental review assesses shadows on four representative days, from 1.5 hours after sunrise to 1.5 hours before sunset. Our guide to shadow study rules in US cities sets out the triggers, days and hours in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Some hillside and coastal communities in California also want story poles on the site, outlining the proposed building ahead of the hearing. Our comparison of seven California story pole policies sets out when they are required, who certifies them, what they must mark, and where a rendering is accepted, or required, in their place.

Sources: City of Philadelphia, Civic Design Review submission materials; NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, Permit Guidebook, Chapter 6: Additions (July 2025); City of Boston, A Guide to Applying for Design Review (December 2025); San Francisco Planning, Shadow Analysis supplemental application; NYC Office of Environmental Coordination, CEQR Technical Manual, Chapter 8: Shadows (December 2025 edition); City of Malibu, Planning Interpretations and Policy Manual, Story Pole Policy (updated September 22, 2025); Los Altos Hills, Story Pole Policy (updated September 18, 2025)