Services
How Land Development Should Be
Small and mid-sized developers compete against firms with a planning department on staff. We do that work for the ones who don't have one, and the job never changes: get more out of the land you already control. DATUM operates as a virtual planning practice — prepared, managed, and submitted, from your first feasibility check to your final approval.
Available now
Handled start to finish, virtually.
These run through our standard virtual process — scoped, priced, and managed the same way for every file. Every application below is prepared and ready to file in 3–5 days once we have your materials.
Pre-consultation meeting
We request the municipal pre-consultation meeting, coordinate scheduling with the municipality, and prepare the full briefing package so you know what to ask and walk in ready.
Boundary adjustment
Lot line adjustment applications between adjoining properties before the Committee of Adjustment — no new lot created, just the line moved and tested against the municipality's consent criteria.
Full site feasibility report
The free online analysis, expanded into a formal, planner-reviewed document built around the use that maximizes your site's value — ready to share with a lender, a partner, or the municipality itself.
Minor variance
Committee of Adjustment applications argued against the four statutory tests. The fast path to the extra density, height, or setback relief that adds real value to the build.
Consent & severance
New lot creation (severance) applications before the Committee of Adjustment, tested against the municipality's consent criteria — turning one property's value into a sellable second lot.
Site plan approval
Application prep, agency circulation, and sign-off management from submission to permit. We assemble the drawing set, manage comments, and keep the file moving — so the higher-value design you want to build actually gets approved.
*Time to schedule meetings with municipalities, application completeness review, and final approvals are subject to each municipality's own processing times.
Zoning by-law amendment
Rezoning strategy and submissions for uses or densities beyond as-of-right. Planning rationale, statutory notice, and the public meeting through to Council.
Official plan amendment
Policy-level applications for proposals that don't fit the current designation — often paired with a rezoning, argued on provincial and municipal policy.
Plan of subdivision & condominium
Draft plan submissions and conditions management for multi-lot and multi-unit projects, coordinated with engineering and the approval authority.
Considering one of these? Talk to a planner — we'll scope, price, and confirm fit before anything moves forward.
How we deliver
Full-service planning, without the commute.
Every application above is scoped, prepared, and managed virtually. When your file needs an in-person hearing, here's exactly how we prepare you to win it — and what's available if you'd rather we were there.
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Everything happens on your screen
Site data, drawings, and application drafts move through a shared digital workspace. Strategy sessions are video calls, not boardroom bookings — so your file keeps moving on your schedule, not around a commute.
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We brief you like we're walking in with you
Ahead of any Committee of Adjustment or Council hearing, we run a virtual strategy session and hand you a written speaking brief — the argument, the anticipated questions, and the fallback position — so you or your delegate can present the file yourself with total confidence. This is included in every application, at no extra cost.
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Want us there too? That's an add-on, not the default.
Most clients prefer to maintain control of their application and present confidently on their own after the briefing — that's the model. If you'd like DATUM in the room, virtual or in-person attendance is available as a fixed-fee add-on, quoted in your proposal — never a surprise on the invoice.
Why we built it this way
Virtual by design, not by default.
Every hour we don't spend commuting to an intake meeting or sitting in a waiting room is an hour spent on your file. A leaner, digitally-native practice is a deliberate choice, not a shortcut — and it shows up in two places you'll notice immediately.
Also handled in-house or coordinated
The studies that gate your approval.
A planning application is only as strong as its supporting studies. After pre-consultation we tell you which ones your file actually needs, have them quoted, and coordinate the specialists who produce them.
How we work
Three ways to engage, all delivered virtually.
Feasibility analysis
The AI-modelled approval likelihood and criteria report, plus a short virtual planner call to walk it through. How most clients meet us.
Application package
A scoped, fixed-fee mandate to prepare and manage a specific approval — minor variance, consent, or site plan — through to the decision that maximizes your property's value, with a full hearing brief so you can present it yourself. DATUM attendance is available as a fixed-fee add-on.
Development advisory
A dedicated planner on call across your portfolio or a multi-phase project — feasibility, strategy, and hearing prep under one virtual relationship, with the responsiveness of an in-house team. Attendance at any hearing, virtual or in person, is available whenever a file calls for it.
Not sure which approval you need?
Start with a free feasibility analysis. It tells you the pathway — and the one that gets the most value out of your site — before you spend a dollar.