How Planning Teams Are Going from Overwhelmed to Efficient Using AI

If you’ve worked in planning or zoning, you know how quickly a seemingly routine question can turn into a time-consuming task. 

For example, a resident may want to build a shed in their backyard, open a small business, or build a fence on their property. Although these requests sound simple on the surface, they often require navigating stacks of information, for just a quick response. 

Confirming the parcel in GIS, checking allowable uses, interpreting nuanced code language, and pulling the right documentation, all while trying to respond clearly and consistently, is all part of the routine, yet takes up more time than most people realize. These questions come in all day long through emails, phone calls, and walk-ins - making the workload endless, even for the most experienced staff. 

Planning departments aren’t short on expertise in their field - but with rising demand, limited staff, and fragmented tools, the need for better solutions is immediate. That’s why many local governments are turning to smarter, integrated technology that doesn’t replace staff, but supports them.

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AI Use Cases in Government Are Evolving

The usage of AI in local government has skyrocketed over the past year, helping to aid overloaded staff with more efficient solutions for success. 

Some popular AI use cases in government include:

• Summarizing zoning ordinances or long meeting minutes
  
  
• Drafting responses to frequently asked questions
  
  
• Automatically attaching forms or documents to outgoing messages
  
  
• Extracting relevant insights from PDFs, documents, or GIS layers
  
  

These AI solutions don’t replace human oversight, but are aimed to support them in the process. They help teams work faster, reduce burnout, and maintain consistency across departments.

That’s exactly what inspired us to build Ask Acta.

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Meet Ask Acta

Ask Acta is our new AI-powered tool built specifically with planning and zoning staff in mind. It lives right in our browser extension and uses GIS data to deliver instant, code-backed answers to zoning questions.

Here’s how it helps:

• Provides parcel-specific zoning info in seconds.
  
  • By just entering an address, our tool will give you back the zoning type, setbacks, density, lot size and allowable uses in an instant.

• Ask follow-up questions with quick responses.
  
  • Type in a question such as “Can I build a group home here?” and our Insight Planner will return a clear answer, with references to the actual code.

• Not in your jurisdiction? No problem. 
  
  • If a request is for an address outside your jurisdiction, the Insight Planner automatically returns an error, so you’re never answering questions you shouldn’t be.

• All documents are automatically attached.
  
  • When our AI system provides a response, it can also attach the relevant forms, checklists, or policies so nothing gets missed in follow-ups.

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Built for the Way You Already Work

We know how difficult it can be to do a full-tech overhaul for a new system, so luckily you don’t have to. 

The Ask Acta integrates directly into your browser extension, to answer any questions that come up with a click. We built our AI tool with planners and permit technicians in mind, who know the pain of trying to answer specific zoning questions with scattered resources. The Insight Planner aims to reduce your team’s stress levels, increase the accuracy of your responses, and give back some valuable time for other priorities - without sacrificing public trust. 

AI in local government doesn’t have to be an intimidating, out-there concept that threatens the jobs of hard working individuals. When applied thoughtfully, it can rather support teams to do their best work - faster, clearer, and more consistently. 

Ask Acta aims to make smart automation tools accessible to local government teams to help lighten their evergrowing workload, while providing quality responses that gain public trust. We built our tool for the planners juggling 40 emails a day, the permit techs helping walk-ins while responding to zoning inquiries, and the teams that truly care about giving the right answer the first time - with a little less stress involved.