WHAT IS A SITE PLAN?

A site plan can tell you a great deal—if you know what you are looking at.

By Bea Byline | Life of a Sardine™

A site plan is a drawing that shows how a proposed development is arranged on a piece of property. It can help turn pages of written information into something you can see.

A site plan may show where buildings or residential lots are proposed. It can also show roads and other improvements planned for the property. Depending on the project, you may find access points, sidewalks, drainage features, utilities or areas set aside for a particular purpose.

Start by identifying the property itself. Find the property boundaries and look at the roads or properties surrounding it. This gives you a frame of reference before you begin examining the details inside the site.

Next, learn how to read the drawing. Lines and symbols can mean very different things. A line might identify a property boundary or a right-of-way. Another might represent an easement or drainage feature. The legend and notes can help you understand what the engineer or planner intended those markings to represent.

Dimensions deserve attention as well. A number shown beside a road or boundary should be read in context. For example, the width of a right-of-way is not necessarily the width of the paved road. Before using a measurement as a fact, identify exactly what the dimension describes.

The date of the plan is especially important because development plans can change during review. An early drawing may not match a later version. Roads may be revised. Access may change. Other portions of the proposed design may also be modified before approval.

When you find different versions of a plan, do not assume that the newest document you happen to possess is the one that governed the approval. Check the dates and revision information. Then look for records identifying the plan associated with the approval.

A site plan is also a proposal on paper. It can show how something was designed or approved to be built. By itself, it does not establish what was ultimately constructed on the property.

So when you open a site plan, do not ask only:

Where will everything go?

Ask:

What does this plan show, when was it prepared, and where does it fit in the development record?

Then follow the record forward.

Document. Fact. Unanswered question. Next record.

Nothing to see? Hold my pencil.

BEA BYLINE

Life of a Sardine™