Including the property lines / Building lines

Including the property line of your site is one of the most important elements in your site plan. In a way, it sets the stage for your design. You can have the most innovative or beautiful house plan/building plan, but you don’t want to encroach on an adjacent owner’s property. If you do, you’ll likely be in for extra time conducting more surveys, more drawings and possibly even lawsuits depending on how nice your neighbor is.

Existing Buildings and proposed conditions

For planning committee and plan reviewers to grasp the full scope of your design, you'll want to present both existing and proposed conditions(buildings, parapet walls, retaining walls etc..). This shows how your design will affect the site and maybe even how the site impacts your design. It also lets you know if other officials such as technical officers need to be present throughout the construction of your concept.

Distance between buildings and property lines / Building Lines

Understanding your site goes beyond knowing what happens within your property line. Surrounding infrastructure and buildings play an important role in shaping your design. Issues like building height, zoning, building usage and even fire hazards are all determined by what goes on around your site. So we make sure to include those dimensions in your plan.

Parking facilities / Parking bays / Access

Parking is a huge issue when it comes to planning a site, especially in a commercial setting or even a dense urban environment. Not only is parking at a premium in these areas, but a lot of time, thought and research goes into determining the adequate amount of parking. So we make sure to include parking diagrams equipped with dimensions, the flow of traffic, signage and even handicapped accessibility in your site plan.

Access is the next thing to consider in site planning. We forget how the size of cars, roads, driveways and garages relates to a house. Even the most compact car needs adequate turning and parking space. Access roads leading up or down hills need careful study. There needs to be a level place to stop where the road meets the street. Finally, don’t block access to the back or side yards without thinking through the consequences carefully—particularly if you plan to landscape or there is room to build on an addition in the future.

Driveways / walkways

There are many code requirements governing the design of access onto your site from the driveway width to curb cut dimensions.

Ground sign locations

We want to tell the whole story of your site. So when we draw your streets, include things like stop signs, highways signs, etc. We'll even want to include traffic lights, too.

Landscaped areas / Gardens / Pools or Water

Landscaping is not only there for aesthetics but often times it's part of a fragile ecosystem that must be preserved. Bulldozing all the trees and starting over may seem like a quick fix but often times is not ideal, especially in this day and age of sustainability and reducing site impact. So we make sure to include existing and proposed landscaping improvements in your site plans.

Easements

We include easements in your site plan. There are many types of easements out there like right-of-ways, easements of support and even utility easements. We can show these graphically or with text. Using both is ideal; this way there's no question what easements exist on your site.

Surrounding streets

Understanding how traffic flows through and around your site is crucial. Showing the surrounding streets whether they're main arteries, avenues or dead ends will help illustrate the impact your design traffic loads around your site. It also provides context for your building. Often times the people reviewing your plans are familiar with the area they live and adding street names makes it easier for them to understand your design and if it's something that's appropriate for that particular area.

Soils, Ledge and Drainage

As part of the research involved in designing a septic system, a civil engineer can usually define the soil and drainage on a particular site. In most cases, a house is sited based on other considerations; then the foundation and drains are designed to cope with the local soil and water conditions.

Sometimes ledge, unsuitable soil or excess water can render the chosen house location unworkable. Although the average civil engineer can handle most cases, the advice of a geotechnical engineer or soils specialist may be needed if problems arise.

Don’t attempt the impossible—such as trying to keep the water out of a basement located below the water table. While waterproofing (as opposed to the typical “dampproofing”) is commonly is used in underground commercial structures, such techniques are costly and difficult to do right.

Trees and Plants / Existing vegetation

Existing trees and plants on a site should be assessed for their value to the site including to provide shade, wind shelter, soil stability and a habitat for birds.

If possible, design and locate the building to accommodate established trees and plants that are not easily transplanted.

Many people have trouble sorting out the value of existing plants and trees. Early in the project, get a professional opinion — or two — from someone familiar with local flora, climate and plant diseases. Find out which plants are valuable and worth keeping and which can be dispensed with.

Wind Considerations

Wind is another important factor in site planning. Wind direction, speed and frequency will influence the building design including bracing requirements, roof and wall cladding selection, weathertightness detailing, building entry locations, window size and placement and provision of shelter for outdoor spaces.

In remote locations, wind speed and frequency may also be a factor in selecting wind as a power generation source.