Overlays, setbacks, easements and the controls that shape what your block will allow.
Long before anyone draws a floor plan, a set of controls has already decided a great deal about what your block will allow. Overlays, setbacks, site coverage limits, easements, neighbourhood character statements — none of them appear on the title, most of them are written for planners rather than owners, and almost all of them are discovered late, usually by someone charging by the hour.
These guides cover the planning layer: what each control actually restricts, what it leaves alone, how much of it is negotiable, and which constraints are worth designing around rather than fighting.
The distinction that matters most is between a control that prohibits something and one that simply changes what you have to demonstrate. Most are the second kind, and confusing the two is what causes owners to abandon designs that would have been approved.