Property Boundary Calculator

This calculator traces up to four metes-and-bounds courses (bearing and distance pairs) from a fixed point of beginning at (0,0), then computes Lot Area from the resulting polygon using the shoelace formula. Closure Error is simply how far the traverse's endpoint lands from the starting point after all four courses are plotted -- at this calculator's default courses (a due-north, due-east, due-south, due-west rectangle), the boundary closes perfectly with zero error, and Precision reads "Perfect closure." Setback checks are entirely separate from the area and closure calculations: Front Setback, Side Setback, and Rear Setback only feed Buildable Area, Buildable Width, and Buildable Depth, and have zero effect on Lot Area, Perimeter, or Closure Error. Buildable Width assumes the first course is the lot's frontage and subtracts both side setbacks from it; Buildable Depth assumes the second course is the lot's depth and subtracts the front and rear setbacks -- both floor at zero rather than going negative if the setbacks exceed the available dimension, which can happen with a narrow lot and generous setback requirements. A bearing determines a course's DIRECTION rather than its length, but how much that matters for Lot Area depends on which specific course you adjust, not a single fixed relationship -- at this calculator's default rectangular layout, Course 1 and Course 4 are the extreme case: their bearings move Lot Area directly, while their distances (holding the default bearing) move it not at all, because those two courses run exactly along the line where the shoelace formula's terms for this rectangle cancel out.

Course 3's bearing moves Lot Area roughly twice as much as the same percentage change to its distance, while Course 2 goes the other way -- its bearing actually moves Lot Area LESS than the same percentage change to its distance. There is no blanket "bearings always swing area more than distances" rule here; it depends on the course and the parcel's actual shape. This calculator only supports rectangular four-course traverses from a fixed origin; it cannot trace irregular parcels with more than four courses or curved boundary segments.