HomeMy WebLinkAboutMAGNOLIA DWELLINGS - PDP200018 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - PROJECT SUBMITTAL AND RESUBMITTALBack to First Page 1 Current Version Date: 8-1-2019
Development Application
Submittal Requirements
Development Review Guide – Steps 4 and 7
Current Version Date: 8-1-2019
This document provides a supplemental explanation of the required submittal checklist items to
assist applicants with preparing documents for development review.
Refer to the Development Application Checklist which must be submitted for each project. All
persons submitting development applications (Applicants) must complete and sign the checklist
for each round of review.
Outline of Sections discussed in this Submittal Requirements Document:
A. Types of Development Plans
B. Summary of Plans and Documents
C. Application Forms and General Project Information
D. Format Requirements for Planning Submittal Sheets
E. Development Plan Land Use Table
F. Site Plan
G. Architectural Plans
H. Landscape Plan
I. Site and Landscape Plan Design Details
Drafting and Illustration Requirements
Hardscape Design Details
Planting Details
Trash and Recycling Enclosure Details
J. Subdivision Plat
K. Civil Construction Plans (Utility Plans)
L. Requirements for Reports and Supporting Documents
Reference Guide for Post Development Review Submittal Items
M. File Naming Standards and Electronic Submittal Requirements
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Section A. Types of Development Plans – General Information
1. What are Development Projects and Development Plans?
A Development Project is a set of development plans, reports and construction documents in
accordance with this master requirements list that are reviewed under the applicable city review
process in Article 2 of the Land Use Code (Development Review).
Development Plans are reviewed through an Application submitted to the City for approval of a
proposed use, which depicts the details of the proposed development project. The “Development
Plan” includes a set of plans and supporting information as required with this submittal requirements
list during the city review process.
See Definitions in Article 5 of the Land Use Code for more detailed information regarding
Development terms.
Upon completion of the review and approval of a Development Project:
a) Final Documents are Certified and Recorded (currently accepted as mylar copies of the
approved plans); (See Step 9 of the Development Review Flowchart).
b) Site Permits may be coordinated and issued; which includes final coordination of any required
bonds, warranties and fees. (See Step 10 of the Development Review Flowchart). Site
construction may begin in accordance with the approved Development Plans once Step 10 is
complete.
c) Full Building Plan Review may occur. (See Steps 11 and 12 of the Development Review
Flowchart). Please note that Development Plans are not Building Plans. Building Plan Review is
a separate process. Once Steps 11 and 12 are complete, a Building Permit for the development
project may be issued.
2. Submittal Application Review Types for Development Projects
This master submittal checklist includes common information required for common review types. Four
common Development Plan Applications are provided in the Land Use Code – BDR, PDP, FDP, and
Amended Plans – Including Major Amendments (MJA) and Minor Amendments (MA):
BDR – Basic Development Review (Staff review – no Public Hearing typically required)
PDP – Project Development Plan (Public Hearing required)
FDP – Final Development Plan (This review process occurs after the Public Hearing and include
final-level information of the PDP approved at the Public Hearing)
Other less common development types that shall use this Submittal Requirements Document (see
Land Use Code references for more information):
APU – Addition of Permitted Use (see LUC Article 1.3.4)
SPAR – Site Plan Advisory Review (see LUC Article 2.1.3)
CDP – City Projects (see LUC Division 2.17)
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Other development types that are used in conjunction with subsequent PDP’s/FDP’s:
ODP – Overall Development Plan – (see separate submittal requirements document)
PUD – Planned Unit Development – (see separate submittal requirements document)
Basic Development Review (BDR):
A BDR is a development review process that does not require a public hearing. In some cases,
depending on the nature and scope of the proposed development, a BDR may require much of
information from the Master Checklist. Contact a City Development Review Coordinator with any
questions. The BDR process applies to:
a) Those uses listed as such in each of the Article Four Zone Districts.
b) Existing Limited Permitted Uses (Section 1.6.5).
c) Expansions and Enlargements of Existing Buildings (Sections 3.8.20 and 3.8.25).
d) Building Permit Applications (Division 2.7).
e) Minor Subdivisions (Section 2.18.2).
Project Development Plans (PDP) and subsequent Final Plans (FDP):
Project Development Plans (PDP/FDP) are the most common Development Plan Applications and
will typically require the majority of items found in this checklist. A PDP is a pre-hearing staff review
(see Steps 4 and 5 of the Development Review Flowchart). A PDP approval does not allow
construction. All PDP’s must be finalized with an FDP review prior to proceeding with site permitting
and full Building Permit Review. Once the review of the required checklist items has been completed,
a PDP is subsequently reviewed and approved at a Public Hearing (see Step 6 of the Development
Review Flowchart). WHILE NOT A CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENT, THE PDP PLANNING
DOCUMENTS MUST SHOW THE COMPLETE PROJECT DESIGN INDICATING THE LOCATION,
EXTENT, CHARACTER AND CONSTRUCTABILITY OF ALL SITE PLAN AND BUILDING
ELEMENTS.
When a Public Hearing is Required:
Each Zone District provides a complete list of permitted uses, described in Article 4 of the Land Use
Code. Certain uses in each zone district require a public hearing for project approval. A Land Use
Matrix of permitted uses is available here: Zoning Matrix. Please note that the matrix should be used
as a general guide and may not reflect recent Land Use Code updates. See Article 4 of the Land Use
Code for a list of permitted uses by zone district: Article 4 Zone Districts. There are two types of public
hearings:
1) Administrative Review (Type 1 Staff review and Public Hearing required with a Hearing
Officer)
2) Planning and Zoning Board Review (Type 2 Staff review and Planning and Zoning Board
Hearing required) For all Type 2 uses, a neighborhood meeting is required to be held at least
ten days prior to filing a Submittal Application for Development Review.
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Final Development Plan (FDP):
An FDP is the finalized version of the PDP that provides full construction design for the projects
infrastructure and additional detail for the project’s site and landscape design. The FDP requires
additional final-level detail and is reviewed/approved by staff after the Public Hearing (see Steps 7
and 8 of the Development Review Flowchart). Checklist information required with Final Plan review
is noted in this document. Please note that an FDP submittal must be in substantial compliance with
the approved PDP. Changes proposed with the FDP may require approval at a new Public Hearing,
as a Major Amendment of the approved PDP. Applicants should plan projects accordingly to ensure
that the project is ready for hearing without changes anticipated that could add time to the approval
process.
Plan Amendments:
Once a Development Plan is approved (BDR, PDP, FDP, ODP) -- A plan amendment process is
required for project changes. Two types of Plan Amendments may require information from this
checklist with the Application Submittal:
Major Amendments (MJA)
Minor Amendments (MA)
More Information:
The process information provide with this Master Checklist is intended to be an overview. See Article
2 of the Land Use Code for a complete description of procedural requirements for Development
Applications. Division 2.1 of the Land Use Code provides an Overview of Development Review
Procedures as a helpful guide when reviewing the city’s Land Use Code requirements. This Article
explains the development review procedures for different types of development applications and
building permits within the city, based on where the Project is located and what types of uses are
proposed. This overview also provides general information on:
1) Which type of development application should be submitted;
2) Who reviews the development application;
3) How will the development application be processed;
4) Common Development Review Procedures;
5) When a building permit is required and;
6) Other related process and vesting information.
Section B. Summary of Plans and Documents
Development Projects have five main components that are reviewed with the submittal application. Each
component includes information that is organized within the plans, reports and supporting documents.
See Sections C-M for required information to be included with each component.
1. Application Forms and General Information. see Section C
2. 24” x 36” Plan Sheets for the Planning Submittal Package:
a) General Requirements (see Section D for general drafting requirements)
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b) Title Block Requirements for all plan sheets
c) Cover Page (may or may not be required depending on scope of the project)
d) Land Use Table
e) Site Plan Requirements and Hardscape Details – (including Trash and Recycling Enclosure
Details)
f) Landscape Plan and Planting Details
g) Architectural Elevations, Plans and Details
h) Lighting Plan and Fixture Details
3. 24” x 36” Subdivision Plat (if platting or re-platting). Once Final Review is complete, the
subdivision plat is signed by the Applicant/Owner and City staff. City staff then records the plat at the
County. See Section J.
4. 24” x 36” Civil Construction Plan Sheets (Utility Plans). See Section K.
5. Reports and Supporting Documents. Refer to Section L in this document for a detailed description
of these items and for links to additional resources. The following items are required with the
development review checklists unless an item is documented by staff on the project’s submittal
checklist as waived, deferred or not applicable. Some items listed below are only required based on
the project type and scope proposed.
A. Required prior to initial formal submittal application *
1) Conceptual Review (CR) or Preliminary Development Review (PDR) Meeting
2) Pre-Submittal Code Review Meeting with Building Services
3) Scoping of Transportation Impact Study (TIS) (if TIS is required)
4) Ecological Characterization Study (ECS) (if required)
5) Site Meeting for Existing Tree Inventory and Mitigation Plan
6) The Applicant should contact City Historic Preservation staff if the site contains properties
that are more than 50 years old or if the site is within proximity of designated or eligible
historic structures, to determine how historic review will be part of the development review
process and to coordinate any pre-submittal documentation.**
7) Neighborhood Meeting (required for all Type 2 reviews, must occur at least ten days prior to
submittal); City staff provides meeting summary letter to the applicant after the meeting.
B. Required with initial submittal application **
If a public hearing is required – the following initial items must be reviewed and accepted prior to
scheduling the public hearing. The pre-hearing process includes the PDP review, Major
Amendments (MJA) to approved PDP’s, APU’s and SPAR’s. After the public hearing, see
additional required final-level items indicated.*
For initial development submittals that do not require a public hearing – including Basic
Development Reviews (BDR) and Minor Amendments (MA) -- the following submittal information
must be provided with the initial submittal.*
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1) Existing Tree Removal Feasibility Letter
2) Transportation Impact Study
3) Preliminary or Final Drainage and Erosion Control Report
4) Soils Report
5) Subsurface Hydrologic Study
6) Letters of Intent from impacted off-site property owner(s)
7) Draft Legal Descriptions for accompanying deeds of dedication
8) Draft Legal Descriptions for accompanying easement vacation request
9) Request(s) for any known engineering variance(s)
10) Explanation for any known Land Use Code Modification and/or Alternative Compliance
Request(s) from City design criteria and standards
11) Parking Alternative Compliance Studies
12) Hazardous Materials Impact Analysis
C. Additional items required with the initial submittal application for final-level project review.
After the public hearing, PDP projects must provide additional final-level information in the format
below with the initial Final Development Plan (FDP) submittal.*
For development submittals that do not require a public hearing -- including Basic Development
Reviews (BDR) and Minor Amendments (MA) -- the following additional submittal information
must be provided with the initial submittal.*
13) Any Updates/Finalization of Reports including the TIS, Soils Report and other supporting
documents.
14) Certification of Notice to Mineral Owner(s) (if applicable)
15) Development Agreement Application Form
16) Final Legal Descriptions and Exhibits
17) Final Off-site Utility, Access and Construction Easements
18) Erosion Control Cost Estimate
19) Electric Utility Service (C-1 Form)
20) Other Information and Data as the Director may require for the full and complete
consideration of the development, pursuant to Article 2 of the Land Use Code.
*All items are required unless an item is documented by staff on the project’s submittal checklist
as waived, deferred or not applicable. Some items listed may only be required based on the
project type and scope proposed. All required pre-hearing items must be reviewed and accepted
prior to scheduling the public hearing. All other required items must be reviewed and accepted
prior to signing and recording of the plans (Step 9) and prior to the issuance of any site permit,
site construction or development activity (Step 10).
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**While not required with the initial application, projects affecting historic resources must receive
a recommendation from the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) in a final review hearing
before the development application will be approved. This final LPC recommendation must be
provided prior to the Planning and Zoning Board (Type 2 review) or Hearing Officer (Type 1
review) in conjunction with the project’s Development Review Public Hearing. Prior to the LPC’s
final recommendation, Applicants may present the project to the LPC to receive preliminary
feedback. If a Development Review Public Hearing is required (Type 1 or 2), both the preliminary
and final meeting with the LPC must occur prior to the project’s Hearing. In addition to the LPC
review process, certain projects may benefit from recommendations by other Boards and
Commissions. This is determined on a case by case basis.
See also – Reference guide for post development review submittal items:
1) Documents required prior to issuance of any site permit, site disturbance or development
activity (See Step 10 of the Development Review Flowchart for more information)
2) Documents required prior to Building Permit Issuance (See Step 12 of the Development
Review Flowchart for more information)
Section C. Application Forms and General Information
1. Application Forms
a) Application Form (including associated filing fees, APO notification fee, and sign posting fee).
Application Form.pdf. Contact a Development Review Coordinator for assistance in determining
fees.
b) Transportation Development Review Fee. (This is a separate form) (For information about the
Transportation Development Review Fee – please contact Engineering at 221-6605 for
information.) TDR Fees and Application.pdf
2. General Project Information
a) Project Information and Design Narrative. The purpose of the narrative is to provide summary
information about the proposal to communicate the intent of the project including any program
needs, site constraints or choices made that influence the proposed project design.
The narrative is an important communication tool that applicants can use to communicate goals,
design priorities, and methods used to satisfy City code, as well as the objectives of applicable
Subarea Plans and City Plan. The narrative is also provided to the designated design makers for
the project, such as the Planning and Zoning Board, as a part of the hearing documents.
Review staff may request changes to the narrative to provide clarity or to reflect updated project
design. Should resubmittals be required or should the parameters of the project change, the
narrative must be updated to reflect changes with the project. If a hearing is required, the project
narrative is no longer required to be resubmitted with any formal review after the hearing unless
to address minor changes as accepted with the FDP.
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The Project Narrative must include as a minimum the following information:
1) Project title: Name of the development project as well as any previous name the project may
have had during Conceptual Review. Please provide a consistent project title on all
documents.
2) Past Meeting Dates: Provide dates of any CR, PDR, and neighborhood meeting held.
3) General Information: The information provided is used to describe the project in the City’s
online review database. General information includes the following (as applicable): project
location, overall size of the development in acres, existing zoning, proposed zoning, number
of dwellings, amount and type of commercial space, number of off-street parking spaces
provided, number of building stories proposed, description of any Land Use Code
Modifications proposed.
4) Proposed Owners: A list of names of all general and/or limited partners (if a partnership)
managers and directors (if a limited liability company) and/or officers and directors of the
corporation (if a corporation) involved as either applicants or owners of the development.
5) Existing Owners: The name and address of each existing owner of property within the
boundaries of the development plan area.
Other optional items that may be included with the narrative as applicable. The topics
below should also be addressed when designing the project:
6) Transportation Improvements: Summary of any proposed on and off-site improvements
identified with the Traffic Impact Study (if applicable).
7) Written narrative addressing each concern/issue raised at the neighborhood meeting(s), if a
meeting has been held. Please contact a Development Review Coordinator (or Planning
Services main number) to receive a copy of the neighborhood meeting minutes in Word
format. Please note that neighborhood meetings are required for all Type 2 projects, and if a
neighborhood meeting is required, a ten-day waiting period is required prior to submitting a
Development Application.
8) Narrative description of the site design including building placement, vehicular and pedestrian
circulation, landscaping, proposed open space and treatments of wetlands, natural habitats
and features on site and in the general vicinity of the project.
9) Narrative description of how disturbances to wetlands, natural habitats and features and/or
wildlife are being avoided to the maximum extent feasible.
10) Narrative description of transition techniques, associated buffering and how conflicts between
existing and proposed land uses are mitigated.
11) Narrative description of the architectural design including general description of how Building
Standards are met (Sections 3.5.1 and other applicable Sections in 3.5). Depending on the
nature of the project, the narrative provided may be one page or multiple pages. Description
should also include information regarding the design approach used to satisfy any applicable
historic preservation considerations, as required in Section 3.4.7 -- Historic and Cultural
Resources, and should also include a discussion of the design approach used to satisfy the
recommendations from the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC), if applicable.
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12) Development Phasing Schedule (if applicable). This shall include a development schedule
with anticipated start dates, completion dates and descriptions for each development phase
proposed. Schedule shall include the proposed phasing of construction of public
improvements and recreational and common space areas. Projects with multiple parcels
and/or property owners should review and refine shared phased elements such as streets,
walkways/trails, grading, walls and utilities and incorporate construction phasing by
development parcel, if applicable. Larger or more complex projects should include a phasing
plan and supplemental tables and notations as a plan sheet.
Narrative may be divided into topics for clarity. Topics included with the narrative may
vary and may include a justification of choices made with the project including the
configuration of: parking areas, walkways, trail connections, new tree stocking,
landscape bed areas, existing trees, site circulation and access, transition areas,
buffering from incompatible uses and adjacent features, location and design of parks
and open space, configuration of trash and recycling service areas and loading zones,
preservation and enhancement of natural habitats and features, easements
needed/provided, provisions for emergency access, ADA accessibility considerations,
lighting considerations, notable utility and drainage constraints or considerations,
description of the exterior building design and articulation, interior and exterior
amenities provided that support the proposed uses, project information such as the
intended users, number of employees, or other relevant information.
With more complex projects that touch on many of the subjects described above,
please use multiple headings to organize the information provided. The narrative can
be an effective tool to communicate to all stakeholders or parties-in-interest how the
project meets the developer/applicant’s objectives while mitigating project impacts in
accordance with code requirements, subarea plans and City Plan. The narrative may
also include and reference how goals and objectives of City Plan and subarea plans
are satisfied. If references to City goals and objectives are provided, it is recommended
that the references include all relevant development, neighborhood character and
mitigation objectives.
b) Initial Submittal Comment Response Letter: This letter addresses each of the applicable
issues raised in the Comment Letter issued by staff from the Conceptual Review (CR) or
Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
OR:
Resubmittal Comment Response Letter: Addressing each of the applicable issues raised with
the past round of review.
Response letters are required for all initial submittals and are also required with all
resubmittals.
Please contact a Development Review Coordinator (or Planning Services main number) to
obtain a final copy of the Comment Letter. Comment Letters are available from staff in Word
format. Comment letters are sometimes issued to an individual who applied for a CR or PDR
meeting, and then may be used by a different individual for a development submittal. If
Comment Letters for a property are still valid, they may be used for other similar project
applications. If the date of issuance of the comment letter is older than six months or if the
scope of the project has changed, a new CR or PDR meeting may be required prior to formal
submittal.
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c) Affected Property Owners list (APO) (if applicable). One list of names and addresses of all
owners of record of real property within the assigned notification area outside of the project
boundary (see Supplemental Notice Requirements of Section 2.2.6 of the Land Use Code for
further explanation and information). The limits of the APO boundary are provided to the Applicant
by city. Please contact a Development Review Coordinator (or Planning Services main number)
to obtain a copy of the designated APO boundary. The Applicant provides the APO in digital
format as an excel spreadsheet. The excel spreadsheet is used to mail letters for the
neighborhood meeting (if required) and any public hearing (if required). In addition to property
owners, the list may also optionally include any formally designated representatives of bona fide
neighborhood groups, organizations and homeowners’ associations within the area of notification.
Section D. Format Requirements for Planning Submittal Sheets
1. Drawing Scale
a) All plan drawings shall delineate all improvements proposed with the development, at a scale of
either one-inch equals fifty feet, one-inch equals thirty feet, one-inch equals twenty feet or one-
inch equals ten feet, composed of one or more sheets with an outer dimension of twenty-four by
thirty-six (24" x 36") inches.
b) The scale selected must be appropriate to clearly convey the design components and to easily
distinguish design elements, labeling, dimensions and relationships of plan elements. Site and
landscape plans typically fill the page with a recommended scale of not more than one-inch equals
twenty feet. Match lines should be used to divide plans into several pages if this scale is not
achievable on one page.
c) For larger projects that provide site and landscape plans on multiple pages with match lines, a
separate overall site plan and overall landscape plan page is also recommended to show the
entire plan, typically with less detail provided. These overall plan sheets are intended to show the
overall street pattern and overall design concept.
2. Drafting Standards for Planning Sheets (Planning Package):
a) Plans should be organized for convenience and clarity. The information shown in drawings should
communicate design intent, the nature and relationship of plan elements and demonstrate code
compliance without inferring distances and information. All plan elements should be clearly drawn
and labelled.
b) Dimensions should be provided for all plan elements, with overall dimensions provided to clarify
significant plan information.
c) All text must be clearly legible at a 24”x36” sheet print size. A font size equivalent to 3/32” in
Aerial, un-bolded font is recommended to allow for printing and scanning of filed documents.
Alternative formats may be rejected.
d) Plan legends and symbols should be used where needed to organize labelling of site elements if
plan elements cannot be directly labelled.
e) Information provided in the Land Use Table should also be referenced with direct labels on the
site and landscape plan sheets.
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f) All drawings and images shall be drawn accurately. Free-hand drawings are discouraged. Hard-
line drawings are preferred and may be required if hand drawings provided are not sufficient.
g) Line work must be clear, with a hierarchy of line weights, line types and colors used to clarify the
design intent of the project.
h) The use of toned linework is discouraged. If toned linework is used, line thickness should be
adjusted to be wider, and not the thinnest line width, so that the toned linework can be reproduced
without issue. The use of multiple line types and color linework is encouraged to emphasize
important design elements and subordinate elements that are part of the project design and
existing conditions.
i) Plan area enlargements, design details and design diagrams should be used to convey the project
design clearly and to avoid too much information being provided within small areas on the 20-
scale site plan, landscape plans or other plans. Labeling, summary tables, notations and
dimensions should be provided with enlarged detailed areas as necessary to clarify the proposed
site design, materials, details and general specifications. Such details shall be drawn and labelled
to show design feasibility and construction intent. SITE DETAILS ARE REQUIRED -- See Section
I. Site and Landscape Plan Design Details.
j) When organizing plan drawings and details, applicants are encouraged to consider whether the
design information can be easily understood when viewing the drawing as a part of a public
presentation on a video screen. Images and text must be crisp and clear. All jpegs and other
images embedded into the drawing must be of high resolution. Please take note of this
requirement when saving images (such as lighting specification cut sheets, site furniture, material
images, etc.). When printing PDF sheets, image quality for jpegs and other images should be
adjusted as needed to provide high quality images.
k) The digital format for all plan sheets must be provided in PDF format as a digital print, and not a
“save as” format when generating PDF’s from the design software (Autocad, Revit, etc.). The
intent of this requirement is to avoid screen regeneration time associated with drawing elements
that are loading on the screen as vector images.
3. Title Block:
Title blocks are required for all development plan sheets and shall provide the following minimum
information:
a) Title by which the proposed development is to be referred.
b) Graphic Scale Bar.
c) North Arrow.
d) Date of initial preparation and designated round of review.
e) Date of all subsequent submittal revisions and the subject of the revision.
f) Project title, which shall be consistent on all project plan pages. In some cases, the project title
may need to be modified if the name conflicts with existing development project names. Contact
development review coordination staff for questions regarding the project title.
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Sheet borders for each page are recommended and should provide a minimum ½” margin.
Additional margin space to the left of the sheet is encouraged, sufficient to allow bound paper
copies to be used without obscuring plan information.
Title blocks and sheet borders may also be configured to provide additional white space
(larger sheet border at top and bottom) so that 24 x 36 plan sheets can be printed to an
identified reduced scale on 11x17 pages.
4. Planning Set Cover Page:
For most projects, general information about the project should be consolidated into a Cover Page for
the Development Plan pages. The following information should be consolidated onto a Cover Page
unless the information can be provided on the site plan page:
a) Title Block
b) Land Use Table
c) Sheet Index indicating all site, landscape, architectural, lighting and detail plan pages (see Section
B for typical plan sheets).
d) Signature Blocks:
e) Planning Approval Certification
f) Owner Certification: A notarized signature of Owner's certification of acceptance of conditions and
restrictions as set forth on the site plan to be signed at final plan approval. (see city template).
g) Site Plan Notes See standard required notes here; also available for download in Word.
h) Vicinity map of the area surrounding the site within a distance of at least one (1) mile, showing:
1. Site location and boundary
2. Zoning Districts
3. Location of existing municipal boundary lines
4. Traffic circulation systems with street names labeled
5. Major public facilities (schools, parks, natural areas, etc.)
i) Legal Description (must match plat description, if platting).
Optional:
j) Context Diagram – Neighborhood-scale image of site plan and immediate surrounding area
(format could include aerial photograph).
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Section E. Development Plan Land Use Table
All applicable information in this section is recommended to be included with initial
Submittal Application (Step 4) and must be provided and reviewed prior to scheduling the
public hearing (Step 6).
If a hearing is not required, all applicable information in this section is recommended to
be included with the initial Final Submittal Application (Step 7) and must be provided and
reviewed prior to final staff approval and signing of the Development Plans (Step 9).
1. Land Use Table Requirements:
a) Land use table information provides summary documentation required with the project’s approval.
The table format shall provide clear, consolidated information related to the project’s land use and
project design. All formulas and calculations used to derive parking and other information must
be shown in the table.
b) The location of the Land Use Table within the plan set may vary. For most projects, the Land Use
Table should be consolidated into a Cover Page that includes other general project information.
c) If a Cover Page is not used, the Land Use Table should be provided on the same page as the
site plan. Land use tables shall provide the following documentation, as applicable. More complex
projects may require additional information as identified during staff review.
d) Existing zoning designation (and proposed zoning designation if applicable).
e) Total project size in gross acres and square feet. Include subcategories to adjust the gross
acreage if land areas qualify to be deducted from the gross land area.
f) Total project size in net acres and square feet. With the net area calculation, include
subcategories that calculate each land area deducted from the gross land area. See Section
3.8.18 of the Land Use Code to determine areas to be calculated for gross and net density.
g) If multiple lots, parcels or tracts are proposed, indicate the size of each in acres and square feet.
Provide a corresponding list of specific land uses being proposed, using the land uses as
designated in the Land Use Code.
h) Maximum building height of all structures (both residential and non-residential), also provide a
breakdown by residential housing type if more than one housing type is shown.
i) Estimated total floor area (all buildings, all floors) and estimated ratio of floor area to lot size, with
a breakdown by land use. Floor area required only for N-C-M, N-C-B, and N-C-L zone districts.
j) For projects with multiple uses on separate parcels, provide the total land area and location and
amount of open space included in the residential, business, commercial and industrial areas.
k) Boundary and square footage of each area designated as active recreational use (public or private
park), if applicable.
l) Parking tabulations:
1. Summary of proposed off-street vehicle parking quantities for all land use types proposed,
including guest, handicapped, and motorcycle parking. Parking tabulations must indicate the
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minimum and maximum parking required by the LUC (as applicable), and the minimum and
maximum provided.
2. Include a subtotal of all proposed parking stall types (standard, long term, compact,
handicapped, motorcycle), and a total of all off-street parking. Formulas and line-item
calculations that reference the LUC parking requirement for each proposed land use must
also be provided. In addition to providing a total parking quantity, provide separate
subcategories for total parking provided for residential uses, commercial uses and all other
proposed land uses. Residential uses shall also provide a subcategory that itemizes parking
required and provided on a per unit (or per bedroom basis if applicable). If parking mitigation
is proposed, include the proposed mitigation quantity and the applicable formula/calculation
used as referenced in the Land Use Code that corresponds with the proposed mitigation
quantity. Off-street parking requirements are available in the LUC 3.2.2.
3. Bicycle parking quantities for both enclosed/covered and fixed bicycle parking spaces. Bicycle
parking space quantity requirements are available in LUC Section 3.2.2(C)(4). Bicycle parking
tabulations must indicate the minimum parking required by the LUC (as applicable), and the
minimum provided, for both enclosed/covered and fixed bicycle parking spaces. A summary
of the total bicycle parking required and provided must also be provided.
4. Vehicular parking and bicycle parking tabulations should follow the same format in the table
and must be provided in a format that is easy to follow without inferring information and
calculations.
2. Additional Information required with residential uses:
m) Total number, maximum height, housing type, and density per type of dwelling unit(s) proposed.
Provide subtotals for the different housing types proposed, and the percentage of the total number
of dwelling units. Housing types should be indicated using the same housing classifications
described in the Land Use Code.
n) Total bedrooms per each dwelling unit type, as designated by the residential uses in the Land
Use Code. For projects with multi-family dwellings, provide a subtotal of units by bedroom.
o) Overall residential density in gross and net acres (as applicable) for each separate zone district
(as applicable).
p) The overall number and percentage of solar-oriented lots, and the proposed number and
percentage of solar-oriented lots in each phase of development. Each solar-oriented lot shall also
be identified on the site plan.
3. Additional table information required at FDP submittal or prior to final
staff approval:
q) Any table revisions required to reflect hearing Conditions of Approval or revisions required at final
review.
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Section F. Site Plan
Site Plan information recommended with initial project submittal, and must be documented and
reviewed prior to hearing (if required), or prior to final approval if a hearing is not required:
1. Required for all projects:
Site Plan may be one or more pages – see Section C General Requirements for scale, layout
and match-line requirements.
a) Site context, at least 150’ beyond the development boundaries. Site context linework shall show
all contextual elements such as streets, parking boundaries, buildings, easements, walls, existing
trees, grades, lot lines, and other relevant surrounding elements.
b) Existing site conditions (on a separate page, if necessary).
c) Location of municipal boundaries at or near the development.
d) Direct label the location and description of each land use within the project.
e) Label all existing and proposed streets and the designated street classification (Arterial, Local
Street, etc.) Include two dimensions for each street indicating overall right-of-way width and width
of the street from the curb face (flow line). Provide a dimension showing the amount of right-of-
way being dedicated (if applicable).
f) Direct label information about adjacent properties surrounding the project including adjacent
owners, zoning and description of current uses.
g) Outline location of each existing and proposed buildings as well as any proposed building
envelopes. In addition to the building outline (outside face of wall at ground level), include dashed
lines to show upper story building overhangs where floor levels or other architectural features
project out from the building. Show and label all building elements and features at the ground
level including: stairs, building entrances, columns, courtyards, etc.
h) Show and label location of all required building setbacks.
i) Provide dimensions on at least two (2) sides to the nearest platted property line indicating exact
location of all buildings, structures and building envelopes.
j) Direct label a description of each building: proposed use, gross floor area in square feet and
number of stories. If multiple building footprints are proposed, include a label for each building,
such as Building A, Building B, etc.
k) Existing topographic character of the land and perimeter context showing contours at two (2') foot
intervals (may not be appropriate on all plan sets).
l) Direct label the quantity of off-street vehicular and bicycle parking at each location, including
guest, handicapped, bicycle, and motorcycle parking including typical dimensions of each. Site
plans shall also directly label number of parking spaces within each parking bay. Larger parking
lots may also require subtotals to be placed directly on the site plan.
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m) Streams with floodplain and floodway delineations, wetlands, watercourses, reservoirs, ponds
and other water bodies, irrigation ditches, natural areas, natural habitats and features, and natural
habitats and features buffer zones.
n) The permanent and temporary streams and floodplain and floodway as designated in the design
criteria as established by the City.
o) Natural features, existing vegetation (including existing trees and shrubs having a diameter
greater than two and one-half (2-1/2") inches by species), wetlands, wildlife movement corridors,
natural habitats on-site or within five hundred (500') feet of the project boundary.
p) Natural habitat or feature boundaries, buffer zones, and limits of development. (Reference Section
3.4.1(D), (E) and (N) of the Land Use Code.)
q) Boundary and square footage of each area designated as active recreational use.
r) Direct label description and acreage or square feet (if less than one acre) of common open areas
and all public and semi-public land uses including private parks, public parks, recreation areas,
school sites, plaza spaces and similar uses.
s) Location of existing and proposed pedestrian circulation system including its interrelationships
with the vehicular circulation system indicating the proposed treatment of points of conflict.
t) The existing and proposed circulation system of arterial, collector, and local streets with names
including off-street parking areas, service areas, loading zones, and major points of access to
public rights-of-way including major points of ingress and egress to the development. Notations
of proposed ownership, public or private, should be included where appropriate. Limits of private
access ways to be dedicated as public utility easements and/or as other types of easements.
u) The proposed location and treatment of all site elements must be shown and described including
fences, walls, berms, walkways, pavement areas, pavement types and features, pergolas,
columns, signs, site furniture, boulders, light poles and other ground-mounted lights, and all other
hardscape elements. Elements such as proposed fencing types must be easily followed on the
plans by providing distinctive linetypes and bold linework easily distinguishable from other
linework. Linework and line weights should be prioritized to easily understand proposed design
features and attributes over existing site elements.
v) Trash and recycling enclosures shall be shown and labelled.
w) Show and label all above-ground utility structures such as transformers and City street lights
proposed.
x) Show and label all site walls and steps and indicate grade changes proposed.
y) Location of wall signs for projects that are located within the boundaries of the Residential Sign
District.
z) Show and label all lot lines, easements and public rights-of-way as per the subdivision plat.
aa) All information from the cover page shall be included on the site plan if a cover page is not used,
including standard city site plan notes here; also available for download in Word.
bb) Match line diagram with sheet locations indicated if multiple plan pages are used.
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cc) Other project-specific information as identified during staff review.
2. Additional Requirements for Residential Projects:
dd) Each solar-oriented lot shall be identified on the site plan, typically a symbol is used and noted in
a plan legend).
ee) Residential subdivisions shall indicate the location of each driveway.
ff) Each residential lot on the development plan shall identify if the garage door(s) is recessed behind
the front face of the building, located on one of the other sides of the building, detached from the
building or located to the front of the front face of the building.
gg) Large residential subdivisions with multiple lot sizes should provide “lot typical” diagrams
indicating easements, building setbacks for each lot type, both for interior and corner lots.
hh) Location of temporary model homes, sales facilities, and/or construction facilities, including
temporary signs and parking lots.
ii) Direct labelling indicating the location of different housing types and the percentage of the total
number of dwelling units.
jj) Other project-specific information as identified during staff review.
Section G. Architectural Plans
Architectural Plan information required with the project submittal, and must be documented,
reviewed and accepted prior to hearing (if required), or prior to final approval if a hearing is not
required:
1. Required for all projects:
a) Building elevations line drawings of all exterior sides all proposed buildings and building additions.
b) All building elevations and design details shall indicate the drawing scale and provide a graphic
scale bar.
c) Sizes and dimensions – Indicate overall building height, typical height, overall length and overall
width on each elevation view.
d) Building elevation line drawings must describe all proposed building materials with general
product specifications indicating: material types, patterns, colors, and finish textures. General
product specifications shall be directly labelled on all elevations or included in table format.
Building material information and images provided may reference a specific manufacturer and
product. If a specific product is referenced, a general note shall be provided on each architectural
plan page indicating “or equivalent subject to city approval”.
e) Building elevation line drawings shall delineate the architectural character and pattern of all
materials, or provide graphic color photographic product images (see item “I” below).
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f) Building wall recesses, projections and floor step-backs that provide changes in wall plane depth
shall be directly labelled and described on the elevation views or in perspective views. Labeling
shall include dimensions or a description of the extent of change in wall depth proposed.
g) Directly label and describe all three-dimensional accent elements such as cornices, pilasters,
eave overhangs, awnings, canopies, balconies, and other similar features. Provide dimension
and depth notations.
h) Plans shall describe the architectural character and indicate dimension changes in depth
proposed with material patterns and millwork, including dimensions of proposed pilasters, window
and door trim surrounds, accent trim materials, molding and other similar elements.
i) Plans shall describe surface pattern treatments including material joinery details, reglets, reveals,
control joints and pattern sizes for all exterior wall surfaces.
j) Window details are required. The architectural character of all proposed windows shall be
described including overall dimensions and a description indicating the window fenestration and
depth or projection from the surrounding wall plane.
k) Building elevations shall include the proposed location of exterior flush-wall signs. Sign designs
are not approved with the Development Plans. The sign design must be submitted separately to
the Zoning Administrator through the sign permit process prior to installation of signs.
l) Building elevation details – such as accent feature details, elevation enlargements, cross
sections, perspective details and construction diagrams – shall be provided as necessary to
convey material depth, massing, window placement, design of accent features such as cornices,
entrances and general architectural character features. If multiple details and diagrams are
provided, these items shall be grouped together and incorporated into the plan set.
2. May be required for larger or more complex projects:
m) Graphic color photographic images shall be provided to illustrate material design specifications
and product details, if not adequately represented with the building elevation line drawings.
Building material information and images provided may reference a specific manufacturer and
product. If a specific product is referenced, a general note shall be provided on each architectural
plan page indicating “or equivalent subject to city approval”.
n) Building Material Sample Board.
o) Detailed floor plans, and/or unit plans may be required for developments projects proposing
mixed-use buildings, structured parking levels or other projects that may require documentation
of interior spaces.
p) Color perspective views of the overall building may be required if necessary to effectively illustrate
building size, height, bulk, mass, scale, and design character.
q) Projects in the TOD overlay zone and within Plan Subareas must include sections, details and
perspective illustrations to demonstrate compliance with all applicable standards and guidelines.
r) Building height and shadow analysis per LUC 3.5.1(G) as applicable, on separate pages as
necessary – including narrative of key conclusions.
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3. Completion of Submittal Review Requirements:
Applicants may submit building elevations and details that fully illustrate each requirement of this
section with the initial review submittal. The applicant has the option to provide more limited detail
with the initial submittal if a first round of review is considered beneficial prior to providing complete
information.
BUILDING ELEVATION PLANS MUST FULLY ILLUSTRATE THAT ALL ARCHITECTURAL
REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SECTION HAVE BEEN SATISFIED PRIOR TO SCHEDULING A
PUBLIC HEARING, IF A HEARING IS REQUIRED. IF A PUBLIC HEARING IS NOT REQUIRED,
BUILDING ELEVATION PLANS MUST FULLY ILLUSTRATE THAT ALL REQUIREMENTS OF
THIS CHECKLIST HAVE BEEN COMPLETED PRIOR TO FINAL APPROVAL. DEFERRED
INFORMATION MAY REQUIRE ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF REVIEW PRIOR TO
RECOMMENDATION OF APPROVAL.
ARCHITECTURAL PLANS PROVIDED AT FINAL REVIEW (FDP) SHALL BE CONSISTENT
WITH THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PLANS (PDP) APPROVED AT THE PUBLIC HEARING.
Section H. Landscape Plan
Landscape Plan information must be documented and reviewed prior to hearing (if required), or
prior to final approval if a hearing is not required. See notes regarding pre-hearing submittal
options and final submittal information required.
1. Introduction:
Landscape Plans shall indicate the design and treatment of all exterior spaces. The plan must provide
an ample quantity, placement, and inter-relationship of required landscape elements including trees,
irrigation, vegetation, turf, screening, buffering, walls, and fencing to satisfy the requirements of Section
3.2.1 of the Land Use Code. Plant material shall be selected from the City of Fort Collins Plant List. Plant
material must be adaptable to the physical conditions of the development plan and project location plan,
and must meet specifications of the American Association of Nurserymen (AAN) for number one grade.
Standard city landscape and tree protection notes are required on all landscape plans. City notes provide
general specifications to indicate the design intent performance and maintenance responsibilities for the
project. The Applicant may provide supplemental notes or more detailed construction-level specifications
on the plans, provided that the specifications don’t conflict with the city’s general requirements.
2. Design Standards, Resources and Guidelines:
[section reserved]
3. General Drawing Requirements:
a) The Landscape Plan is provided on one or multiple pages and are separate pages than the site
plan pages. Projects with small sites may fit on one landscape plan page; larger sites will require
multiple landscape plan pages with match lines. Also see Section D - General Requirements for
additional information regarding general drafting and presentation requirements for plans.
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b) A drawing scale of 1:20 or 1:10 is recommended. Larger scales of 1:30, 1:40 or higher are not
recommended for the detailed landscape plan pages.
c) (Include a statement explaining that plans shall include hard-line drawings, and not free hand
sketches, and reference a recognized industry-accepted drafting standards book as a general
benchmark)
d) The page layout for the landscape plans will typically be the same as the site plan pages – if the
site plan pages are shown on multiple pages with match lines – the scale, layout and match lines
used with the landscape pages should be the same as the site plan pages (viewports in CAD).
e) For large sites that have multiple pages with match lines, a match line key plan may be required,
and an overall landscape plan at a larger scale such as 1:50 may also be required. The overall
landscape plan provides a reference page for viewing overall street tree placement, tree-save
areas, buffer placements, surrounding natural features, or other site-specific landscape features.
4. Plan Content Required with Initial Submittal:
a) All plant symbols shall be easily identifiable on the landscape plans and on any landscape legend
provided. Appropriate line-weights shall be used so that plant symbol linework is crisp, distinctive,
and easily identified at a screen scale of 1:20 or 1:10.
b) Landscape Design Statement: The design objectives of the plan must be clear and may also be
supported by a written statement on the plans.
c) The proposed treatment of all ground surfaces must be clearly shown on the plans, with both
linework and labelling indicating all: shade, ornamental and evergreen trees, shrubs, perennials,
native grasses, dryland grasses, turf, mulch paved areas, and grading relationships.
d) Planting beds shall be defined separately from turf/ground cover areas; definition must be clear
and drawn to scale.
e) Landscape edging is recommended to be shown with a dashed line or distinctive manner that
clearly indicates all areas that must receive edging.
f) Landscape Plans shall show the extent and location and interrelationship of all landscape
elements -- including plant material, mulches, boulders, site furniture, outdoor structures and all
other proposed landscape elements used to provide a cohesive arrangement and support the
standards in LUC 3.2.1. Plans shall indicate proposed plant spacing and grouping. Landscape
elements shall be arranged to avoid a disproportionate and excessive use of mulch areas.
g) Standard City landscape notes shall be included with all landscape plans. This includes Tree
Protection Notes for existing trees within the Limits of Disturbance, and Street Tree Permit Note.
h) Landscape, utility and traffic plans shall be coordinated. The following list sets forth minimum
dimension requirements for the most common tree/utility and traffic control device separations.
Exceptions to these requirements may occur where utilities or traffic control devices are not
located in their standard designated locations, as approved by the Director. Tree/utility and traffic
control device separations shall not be used as a means of avoiding the planting of required street
trees. Include locations of all utility lines on the landscape plan. Adjust tree locations to provide
for proper tree/utility separation in accordance with LUC 3.2.1(K).
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1) Forty (40) feet between shade trees and streetlights. Fifteen (15) feet between ornamental
trees and streetlights.
2) Twenty (20) feet between shade and/or ornamental trees and traffic control signs and
devices.
3) Ten (10) feet between trees and water or sewer mains.
4) Six (6) feet between trees and water or sewer service lines.
5) Four (4) feet between trees and gas lines.
6) Street trees on local streets planted within the eight-foot-wide utility easement may conflict
with utilities. Additional conduit may be required to protect underground electric lines
i) Grass surfaces must be identified as sod or seed.
j) Proposed contours, including recontouring of the site to create berms, protect existing trees or to
significantly alter the terrain. All proposed contours shall be clearly labelled on the landscape
plans.
k) Spot elevations with labelling/callouts shall indicate all changes in grade, including top and base
of walls. Indication of spot elevations shall include labelling or a symbol key referencing the
subject of the elevation (such as BW for base of wall and TW for top of wall).
l) Retaining walls that are used to provide breaks in slopes, protect trees or accomplish other
landscape objectives shall be shown and labelled on the landscape plan. (see also site details
section)
m) All existing and proposed site elements (such as stairs, steps, transformers, utility lines, meters,
manholes, street and parking signs, building overhangs, mail kiosks, etc.) must be identified on
the landscape plan in order to demonstrate that the landscape design can be constructed without
conflicts with such elements (see also site details section).
Existing Trees:
o) Existing trees must be accurately and identified on the landscape plan sheets as to -- trunk
location, edge of canopy, species, size, and condition -- with labeled intent to remove, protect or
transplant.
p) Tree protection specifications as required in Section 3.1.2 of the Land Use Code, shall be included
on all landscape plans in written and graphic form. (see standard City tree protection notes).
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q) Transplanted tree locations shall be identified with the method and season of transplanting
described.
r) Trees planted for mitigation must be graphically identified as mitigation trees.
s) Replacement trees shall meet the following minimum size requirements and methods of
transplant:
Canopy Shade Trees: 3.0" caliper balled and burlap or equivalent.
Ornamental Trees: 2.5" caliper balled and burlap or equivalent.
Evergreen Trees: 8' height balled and burlap or equivalent.
Planting Symbols:
t) Individual planting symbols shall be used to identify all proposed plant material including
deciduous and evergreen tree, shrubs, perennials, and ground covers. Massing and planting
quantity may be indicated with a hatch pattern in areas where groupings of smaller plants are
proposed at one-foot on-center. Such areas shall indicate proposed on-center spacing and shall
include a diagram illustrating the spacing pattern. All proposed planting symbols shall indicate
quantities sufficient to show compliance with Section 3.2.1. Proposed plant material shall be
indicated at ten-(10) year maturity and in appropriate relation to scale unless otherwise required
by the Director.
Depiction of landscape symbols shall be provided by one of two options:
Symbol grouping: The grouping of landscape symbols by plant type is preferred
including: canopy shade tree, evergreen tree, ornamental tree, fastigiate tree, deciduous
shrub, evergreen shrub, perennial grass, flowering perennials, annual bed areas, etc. This
scenario requires direct labeling of individual plant material groupings on each page of the
landscape plan, which is preferred. Direct labelling is recommended to be by common
name, with the common name and corresponding Latin genus and species indicated in
the Planting Table.
Symbols for each individual plant: While not preferred, each individual species
proposed may be shown on the plans with a unique landscape symbol for each plant
species proposed, provided that the symbols are easily identifiable (see requirements
below). For areas where individual symbols cannot be clearly presented, plan area
enlargements are required. Symbol legends are preferred to be added on each landscape
plan page, in addition to the plant symbols shown in the Planting Table.
Initial submittal option -- Landscape Plan with plant groupings shown and not
individual plants:
With the initial application submittal (first round of review), the applicant has the option
of showing all or some of the landscape areas with a delineation of representative
shrub and ground cover massings, and not with individual plants initially shown. Shrub
massing shown in this way should provide an outline of each massing area and a
labeled description that clarifies the design intent of each area. Subsequent submittals
shall provide individual plant symbols. With larger developments, landscape typicals
may be provided for portions of the site, as long as the landscape objectives are clearly
shown and met.
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Planting Table:
u) A plant material schedule shall be provided in table format listing the proposed plants in common
and botanical names, sizes, and method of planting identified (balled and burlap or container
size). Plant symbols must also be provided with the planting table if the symbols are not directly
identified on the landscape plan. If a key of planting symbols is used, symbols shall be drawn at
a size (enlarged as necessary) to easily understand the symbol and so that differences between
symbols is easily identified.
v) If mitigation trees are required, the project shall note: the total number of mitigation trees required
and the total number of mitigation trees provided. This notation may be incorporated into the
landscape planting table or be provided in a separate table if tree inventory and mitigation
information is shown on a separate sheet. If a hearing is required, this information must be noted
on the plans prior to scheduling the hearing. The purpose of these notes (as well as the land use
table), is to provide convenient reference information for project review and for hearing
participants.
Applicants are encouraged to verify and reserve available nursery stock prior to finalization
of the project. Any change to the approved landscape plan, including plant species
substitution or changes to the plant material schedule must be approved by the city in
writing with a plan amendment.
Please note that, prior to construction, A PERMIT MUST BE OBTAINED FROM THE CITY
FORESTER BEFORE ANY TREES OR SHRUBS AS NOTED ON THE PLANS ARE
PLANTED, PRUNED OR REMOVED IN THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. THIS
INCLUDES ZONES BETWEEN THE SIDEWALK AND CURB, MEDIANS AND OTHER
CITY PROPERTY. THIS PERMIT SHALL APPROVE THE LOCATION AND SPECIES TO
BE PLANTED. FAILURE TO OBTAIN THIS PERMIT IS A VIOLATION OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS CODE SUBJECT TO CITATION (SECTION 27-31) AND MAY ALSO
RESULT IN REPLACING OR RELOCATING TREES AND A HOLD ON CERTIFICATE
OF OCCUPANCY.
Identification of the quantity of each plant and overall quantities:
This information is not required with pre-hearing review and is required with the
initial FDP submittal for all PDP projects.
Initial project submittals for other review types that do not have a per-hearing review
(such as BDR, MJA, MA’s. etc.) may defer this information to a second round of
staff review. For some projects, an initial planting design review may beneficial
prior to providing complete final planting information. The Applicant is responsible
for determining whether to defer this information to the second round of review.
w) Plants in the planting table must be sized according to the following minimum specifications and
methods of transplant:
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Requirements for Natural Habitat or Features:
x) Establishment of Buffer Zones. Buffer zones surrounding natural habitats and features shall be
shown on the landscape plans for any development that is subject to Division [link to LUC 3.4].
The purpose of the buffer zones is to protect the ecological character of natural habitats and
features from the impacts of the ongoing activity associated with the proposed development. The
project shall be designed to preserve or enhance the ecological character or function and wildlife
use of the natural habitat or feature and to minimize or adequately mitigate the foreseeable
impacts of development. The buffer zones for each natural habitat or feature contained in the
project site shall be determined during the development review process. Contact [link] for
questions regarding Division 3.4 of the Land Use Code and buffer zone requirements.
y) Habitat Mitigation plans: For any proposed natural habitat or feature disturbance, mitigation
plans shall be incorporated into the landscape plans, on a separate sheet if necessary, illustrating
the restoration, revegetation, or enhancement of an affected wetland, natural habitats and
features and established natural habitats and features buffer zones.
z) Natural habitat or feature buffer zone demarcation and labeling: All required natural feature
buffer zones shall be shown and labelled on all site and landscape plan pages with prominent
linework on the plans. This labeling and linework shall be shown on all affected site and landscape
plan pages.
aa) Natural habitat buffer zone notes shall be included on each page that contains a buffer area and
shall indicates uses, restrictions and buffer zone requirements.
Other Requirements:
bb) Stormwater and detention facilities shall be shown on the site and landscape plans. Stormwater
and detention facilities shall meet or exceed the City of Fort Collins Landscape Design Standards
and Guidelines for Stormwater and Detention Facilities
cc) Landscape Hydrozones: Provide a Hydrozone Diagram -- separate from, and corresponding with
the landscape planting plan. The diagram shall include an accurate and clear identification of all
planting area hydrozones using the following categories: High hydrozone: 18 gallons/s.f./season,
Moderate hydrozone: 10 gallons/s.f./season, Low hydrozone: 3 gallons/s.f./season and Very Low
hydrozone: 0 gallons/s.f./season.
TYPE SIZE
Standard canopy shade tree 2.0" caliper balled and burlap or
equivalent 1.25” caliper container or
equivalent (residential local street only)
Ornamental and flowering trees 1.5" caliper balled and burlap or
equivalent
Evergreen trees 6' height balled and burlap or equivalent
Shrubs 5 gallon or adequate size consistent with
design intent
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dd) Include a Water Budget Chart, corresponding to the Hydrozone Diagram, that shows the total
annual water use, which shall not exceed fifteen (15) gallons per square foot over the site.
including all hydrozones used on the landscape plan. (See instructions and example below).
1. Divide the plan into hydrozones, grouping plants with similar water needs together. Check
the City of Fort Collins Plant List to determine the appropriate hydrozones for plants in
your design. Refer to LUC Water Conservation standards.
2. Calculate the area (in square feet) for each hydrozone. Add the square feet together for
all the areas in the same hydrozone. For example, if there are three Moderate hydrozone
areas, add the areas together for a total.
3. Calculate a total water use (in gallons) for each type of hydrozone by multiplying the area
by the gallons per square foot. Add the water use for all the hydrozones together to
determine a total annual water use for the site.
4. Divide the total annual water use by the total square footage to determine that the overall
site will use no more than 15 gallons per square foot per watering season.
Water Budget Chart (an example)
Hydrozone Area
(s.f.)
Water Need
(gallons/s.f.)
Annual
Water Use
(gallons)
High 6,830 18 122,940
Moderate 14,480 10 144,800
Low 1,310 3 3,930
Very Low 0 0 0
TOTAL 22,620 Avg.: 12.0 271,670
Combined Site and Landscape Plan Option:
Small sites, such as a 10,000 square-foot lot, may be able to combine the site and landscape
plan information into a single plan page. Typically, combined plans are small enough to show the
limits of the development on one page at a scale of 1:10 which allows sufficient space for labelling,
dimensions and other information to be combined.
5. Additional Information Required with initial FDP submittal, and must be
provided prior to final approval of any BDR or plan amendment:
a) Landscape edging and all mulch material specifications (at a minimum size and color) shall be
identified. Identifying mulch as “rock mulch” or “cobble mulch” is not acceptable. A more detailed
specification such as “3/4” – 1-1/2” tan river rock” is acceptable. The project should provide mulch
specifications that are appropriate for the specific design application and are tailored to the plant
species and plant container size at the time of installation, in a manner that promotes the health
and vitality of the plant and allows for vigorous, unimpeded growth. As an example, large rock
material (such as 3”-6” cobble) surrounding one-gallon container plant material is not acceptable.
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A maximum size rock mulch of (3/4” – 1-1/2”) surrounding five-gallon planting material is
encouraged, or wood mulch. Larger rock mulch should be limited to special circumstances such
as drainage flow areas. In areas where one-gallon plant material is permitted, wood mulch, tan
breeze/pea gravel or other smaller size rock mulch is recommended.
b) Ground cover surfaces to be seeded must provide the seed blend or mix specified.
c) Plans shall indicate stockpile areas for conservation, relocation, and use of the existing topsoil on
the site.
d) Standard City Landscape Notes shall be included with all landscape plans and shall be updated
to reflect any hearing conditions or construction requirements identified.
Planting Table:
e) Plant material schedule shall indicate common and botanical names, symbols, sizes, quantities,
and method of transplant for all plant material. Identification of the quantity of each plant species
and overall plant quantities is required. The summary plant material schedule shall be provided
in table format with common and botanical names, quantities, sizes, and method of planting
identified (balled and burlap or container size). Plant symbols must also be provided with the
planting table if the symbols are not directly identified on the landscape plan.
f) Mitigation Trees: The planting table shall provide separate itemized quantity information for all
upsized trees that are used to satisfy tree mitigation requirements.
g) The plant table shall include a note stating that: “Should discrepancies be found between the
quantities listed in the plant table and the quantities graphically shown on the landscape plans,
then the quantities shown by graphic symbols on the landscape plans shall control”.
Section I. Site and Landscape Plan -- Design Details
1. Drafting and Illustration Requirements:
a) SEE DRAFTING STANDARDS IN SECTION D OF THIS DOCUMENT FOR GENERAL
LABELING, DIMENSIONING AND DELINEATION REQUIREMENTS.
b) All design details shall indicate the drawing scale and provide a graphic scale bar.
c) Site and landscape design details shall be drawn and grouped together in a standard construction
format and incorporated into the site and landscape plan pages. All details shall be drawn and
labelled to show design and construction intent and feasibility.
d) All design details shall show and label all materials material selections and specifications,
including material patterns, sizes, colors, and finish surface texture, for all exterior surfaces.
General product specifications shall be directly labelled or included in table format with the detail.
A specific manufacturer and product provided may referenced with the detail. If a specific product
is referenced, provide notations indicating that an equivalent product may be provided subject to
city approval.
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e) Details shall describe all changes in depth and profile such as proposed at wall planes, joinery
and material transitions.
f) Details shall include views elevation and plan enlargements, cross sections, perspective details
and construction diagrams as necessary to convey the project design clearly and to avoid too
much information being provided with the overall site plan and landscape plan. Labeling, summary
tables, notations and dimensions should be provided with the project details as necessary to
clarify the proposed design, materials, and general specifications.
g) Details must be coordinated and be consistent between plans. Design details shall be shown only
on one plan set, or if on more than on set, provide clear references to the details and design
information referenced on the other plan.
2. Hardscape Design Details:
a) Provide elevation views and plan details for all site walls.
b) Provide elevation views and plan details for all fencing and columns.
c) Provide cross sections and plan details for all site steps. Include railing design details.
d) Provide plan and elevation views indicating proposed manufacturer specifications for all bicycle
racks.
e) Provide design cross sections showing perimeter transitions to adjoining properties or other buffer
transition or screening areas.
f) Provide plan and elevation views for all site furniture, including benches, trash containers, tables,
and other similar common features. Graphic color photographic images may be provided to
illustrate material and product specifications.
g) Paving Details: Provide a section detail for all pavements proposed and pavement transitions.
h) Show elevation details of all exterior sides all proposed site structures such as common area
shelters and mail kiosks.
i) Details shall include the proposed location and design of exterior entrance features and sign
monuments. Sign designs are not approved with the Development Plans, the sign design must
be submitted separately to the Zoning Administrator through the sign permit process prior to
installation of signs.
j) Include details as necessary for site structures and features including proposed amenity areas,
parks, clubhouses, plazas, playgrounds, open space areas, pathways, medians, mailbox kiosks,
gardens, and other common elements.
3. Planting Details:
a) Project specific planting details must be provided and accepted to ensure quality, vitality, survival,
and establishment of plant materials.
b) Planting details shall show standard cross-sections for all planting types and planting locations
proposed including the following cross section details: shade tree, evergreen tree, shrub,
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perennials and grasses, seeded area and sod area plantings. Show separate details for each
tree planting installation required including tree parkway, planting beds, sloped areas, and areas
with tree wells or grates.
c) Planting details shall also include cross-section details showing turf, and planting bed transitions
proposed at sidewalks and curbs, indicating a vertical finish grade transition of not more than 1
inch.
4. Lighting Plan and Fixture Details:
a) All exterior lighting provided shall comply with the foot-candle requirements and shall meet or
exceed the design standards in Section 3.2.4 of the Land Use Code. Lighting plans shall be
designed to be compatible with the surrounding context in accordance with LUC 3.4 and 3.5.1.
b) The lighting plan, at the same scale and format as the site plan pages, shall clearly identify all
proposed exterior fixtures using labels and a symbol legend as necessary to easily identify each
fixture detail. All proposed light sources must be incorporated, including building mounted, general
landscape, parking and signage lighting.
c) Unless otherwise permitted, lighting plans shall provide an illumination overlay, often referred to
as “photometrics”, providing a numeric grid plot of point-by-point illumination. A maximum ten-foot
on-center grid is recommended for the point-by-point photometric plot. Data points should also be
provided directly under all light poles if not provided by the grid. The illumination plot shall
incorporate all proposed private light fixtures, and may also incorporate existing light sources as
permitted, as well as existing or proposed city-installed street light fixtures. The illumination plot
“photometric” shall indicate a foot-candle grid, extending at least 20 feet beyond the project
boundary, and shall be based on initial installed data, and shall not be based on Light Loss Factor
data (LLF). See LUC Section 3.2.4 for minimum and maximum lighting level standards. In addition
to foot-candle requirements – lighting plan design should avoid excessive lumen outputs and
other LED light measurements such as candela per square meter or NITS – so that incompatible
residual glare and hot spots are avoided.
d) Fixture details, on a separate sheet if necessary, identifying all proposed light fixtures and fixture
specifications to ensure compliance with LUC Sections 3.2.4 and 3.4 and 3.5.1. Details shall
graphically depict each fixture proposed with an accurate line drawing or equipment manufacturer
photograph or “cut sheet”. If “cut sheets” are provided, all specific manufacturer selections
necessary to identify the fixture to be used (height, type, color, bulb, shielding, options, etc.) must
be easily identified on the page. All photographs, text, and images must be crisp and clear. All
jpegs and other images embedded into the drawing must be of high resolution. Please take note
of this requirement when saving images. When printing PDF sheets, image quality for jpegs and
other images should be adjusted as needed to provide high quality images.
e) Pole heights in parking lots and other areas should be minimized and must demonstrate full-cut
off and glare mitigation. Pole heights should be minimized, in particular poles that are near the
property line, sufficient to ensure full-cut off is in place at eye level and to ensure that glare from
the light source is eliminated at eye level from off-property locations.
f) Fixture details must indicate and graphically depict Mounting Height of the luminaire. Mounting
Height is measured from the ground to the luminaire, and not from the bottom of the light pole to
the luminaire. Additionally, all ground-mounted light fixtures and light pole details provided must
include the mounting base specified for each fixture, depicting the maximum height, material,
finish treatment and color of the pole base. The maximum height of concrete base pedestals
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should be minimized and must be factored into the proposed pole height and illumination plot. In
cases where taller concrete bases may be appropriate, the painting of the poles with bright colors
such as red or yellow is discouraged and shall not be recommended for approval where
incompatible with surrounding uses.
g) Pole mounted lights: Full cut-off fixtures are required. All pole-mounted lenses must be horizonal.
Vertical or tilted lenses, drop lenses and cobra lenses shall not be recommended for approval.
See Section 3.2.4 of the Land Use Code for design standards.
h) Wall mounted lights: All wall-mounted light sources must be fully shielded to prevent glare.
Fixtures with horizontal lenses are recommended. If down-directional tilted lenses are used, such
as wall sconces, light levels should be used appropriately to reduce hot spots and indirect/residual
glare. (edited to clarify that this is intended to be down-directional only).
i) In order to ensure that light sources are fully shield to the maximum extent feasible, concealment
shrouds shall be specified for all light fixtures sufficient to ensure full-cut off is in place at eye level
and to ensure that glare from the light source is eliminated at eye level from off-property locations.
j) Warm light is encouraged, and cooler blue light sources shall not be recommended for approval.
A warmer color temperature (warm white, 3000K or less) for any proposed LED light fixture is
recommended. Cooler color temperatures are considered disruptive and incompatible and shall
not be recommended for approval.
k) Fixtures with dimming capabilities are recommended. Automatic dimming controls are
recommended to provide a lower light level during appropriate night time hours. Dimming control
features, general specifications, management, and hours of dimming operation shall be noted on
the plan if recommended as an appropriate condition to meet the requirements of LUC 3.5.1(J).
l) The intent of the City’s lighting standards is to regulate both foot-candles and glare. Lighting
uniformity is acceptable but should be provided with a lighting plan that avoids over-lighting. Hot
and dark spots leading to residual glare should be avoided and shall not be recommended for
approval.
m) If Alternative Compliance is proposed, proposed alternatives must be separately noted and
discussed on the lighting plan sheets. See section 3.2.4 of the Land Use Code for more
information.
5. Trash and Recycling Enclosure Details:
The location, design and space needed for trash and recycling enclosures should be considered early in
the design process, as these requirements may affect the overall design of the project. Applicants are
encouraged to integrate necessary space for enclosure capacity, circulation, screening and collection at
the conceptual design phase. See LUC 3.2.5 for more information.
Prior to hearing, the following information must be provided with the project plans for review and
recommendation of approval, if a trash and recycling enclosure is required:
a) Trash and recycling enclosure details are required and must be incorporated into the project plan
set. Trash enclosure details must show each trash and recycling enclosure proposed, in plan view
and elevation view.
b) Enclosure elevations must be provided for all exterior sides of enclosures.
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c) Trash enclosure plan and elevation details must be drawn separately from the site plan, at a scale
that is sufficient to provide clear and complete design information that is easily understandable.
Typically, a separate plan detail and elevation detail at an enlarged architectural scale is
necessary to provide sufficient information and to emphasize the design intent and requirements
prominently in the plans. Trash enclosure plans and elevation details shall be grouped together,
and may be incorporated into the architectural plan pages or site plan pages. Trash enclosure
drawings provided should be grouped together along with other site details.
d) The trash enclosure plan detail shall include direct labeling, dimensions and notations that
illustrate sufficient access, circulation and function of the enclosures for both user access and
service provider access. Plan details shall label and dimension the overall enclosure area, widths
of service gates, size/width of interior circulation areas to be provided for interior access, required
pedestrian entrance, overall size of all proposed trash and recycling containers and their capacity.
e) Elevations and plan details shall graphically show materials and textures, and directly label all
design components and shall clarify all materials, patterns, colors, textures and general
specifications as well as all functional components such as drains, bollards, curbs and ramps.
Elevations shall also describe wall and door construction including recessed and projected
material patterns, base and top treatments and other design features. Include labeling, detail
enlargements and cross sections if needed to adequately describe the depth of materials and
construction intent.
Prior to final plan approval, additional plan, elevation and capacity information may be required with Final
Plan review to clarify the adequate function, construction and final design intent of the trash and recycling
areas. Trash and recycling enclosure details provided at final review (FDP) shall be consistent with the
project development plans (PDP).
Section J. Subdivision Plat
For initial submittals that require a public hearing, including PDP’s:
A subdivision plat of the site at an appropriate scale on one or more sheets of paper with outer dimensions
of 24" x 36" and appurtenant documents prepared according to the requirements below must accompany
the Project Development Plan. This plat must conform to the subdivision requirements of the City, except
as waived by the approved project development plan for the development. (Final plan and subdivision
plat approval, and complete execution, together with all necessary certifications, shall be required before
filing of the subdivision plat or issuance of building permits.) The plat must contain the following
information:
a) Name of subdivision.
b) Location and boundaries of the subdivision, tied to at least two (2) public land corners in the
section in which it is located, with the exception of a new plat that is entirely a replat of all or a
portion of an existing subdivision, in which case the control monuments become a boundary of
the previous subdivision.
c) Names and addresses of applicant, engineer, surveyor and owners.
d) Date of preparation, the scale and a symbol designating true North.
e) Total acreage of subdivision.
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f) Location and dimensions of all existing streets, alleys, easements, lot lines and other areas to be
reserved or dedicated for parks, schools or other public uses.
g) Location and dimensions of all proposed streets, alleys, easements, lot lines and other areas to
be reserved or dedicated for parks, schools or other public uses.
h) Street and alley Right of Way dimensions should include the centerline curve radii, centerline
curve lengths, tangent lengths, and widths.
i) Easement dimensions should include widths of standard utility easements along Rights of Way
and approximate dimensions of all other easements.
j) Lot areas should be labeled with approximate square footages.
k) Lot dimensions should be provided if proposed lots are near the minimum lengths, widths, or
areas required.
l) Designation of areas subject to flooding, including floodplain, floodway and product corridors.
(Elevation Datum must be referenced to City of Fort Collins Datum.)
m) Land use breakdown, including number of lots and approximate lot sizes.
n) Zoning on and adjacent to the subdivision.
o) A vicinity map of the area surrounding the site within a distance of at least one mile.
p) Names of abutting subdivisions or owners of abutting unplatted property.
q) Maintenance guarantee, repair guarantee, notice of other documents, and other language shall
be provided, though the signatures are not required prior to public hearing. The most current
language may be obtained from Development Review Engineering and will include:
r) Statement of Ownership and Subdivision
s) Certificate of Dedication
t) Maintenance Guarantee
u) Repair Guarantee
v) Notice of Other Documents
w) Sight Distance Easement Restrictions (if applicable)
x) Attorney’s Certification
y) Private Street/Drive Notice Box
z) Surveyor’s Statement
aa) City Engineer Approval
bb) Planning Approval
cc) City Clerk Signature Line
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Other items on the plat:
dd) Special language that may be required by utilities,
ee) Approval by utilities as applicable
ff) If all or any part of the proposed subdivision plat is a replat of an existing subdivision plat, and the
intent of the proposed plat is to adjust the location of existing easements as shown on the former
plat, a note vacating the existing affected easements shall be placed on the proposed plat.
gg) Other information and data as the Director may require for full and complete implementation of
the development plat.
After the public hearing, PDP projects must finalize all plat staff comments through the Final
Development Plan (FDP) review process. For development submittals that do not require a public
hearing -- including Basic Development Review (BDR), Major Amendments (MJA) and Minor
Amendments (MA) – all plat staff comments must be must be addressed prior to recording of the
Final Plat:
The final subdivision plat of the site must conform to the subdivision requirements of the City. The
subdivision plat shall contain proper designations for public streets, easements, flood plains, floodways
with base flood elevations if applicable and all other public rights-of-way. Approval by the Director for
Type I Administrative Review, and approval by the Planning and Zoning Board for Type II Review by the
Planning and Zoning Board, of the final plan and subdivision plat, and complete execution, together with
all necessary certifications, shall be required before filing of the subdivision plat or issuance of building
permits.
Each residential lot on the subdivision plat shall identify if the garage door(s) is recessed behind the front
face of the building, located on one of the other sides of the building, detached from the building or located
to the front of the front face of the building.
Please note that, with the mylar submittal, the subdivision plat is required to be provided in CAD
format at time of recordation. The CAD file for plat must be set up to be in conformance with GIS's
Subdivision Plat Digital Submittal Standards. Refer to the Mylar Submittal Checklist for all
submittal requirements to be included. Incomplete mylar submittals shall be returned to the
applicant.
Section K. Civil Construction Plans (Utility Plans)
For more detailed design standards required with utility plans prior to hearing and final approval, please
see the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards Utility Plan Checklist for the City of Fort Collins,
the most up-to-date version of which is available through Engineering Development Review. Utility plans
shall be designed by a professional engineer licensed in the State of Colorado in accordance with all
applicable city standards and design criteria, including but not limited to:
For initial submittals that require a public hearing, including PDP’s:
a) A completed Utility Plans Checklist may be provided by the applicant as a supplemental
document. This checklist is available for download at Utility Plans Checklist.pdf
b) Existing Conditions and/or Demolition Plan (if applicable).
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c) Overall Grading Plan
d) Overall Utility Plan (including Water and Sewer, Storm Sewer -- both existing and proposed).
Scale of this sheet may be 1:100, 20, 30, 40, or 50.
e) Drainage Plan.
f) Street Plan, including horizontal alignment and centerline profiles for public streets.
g) Street cross section(s) schematic(s) shall be submitted for each general category of street,
including the proposed width, treatment of curbs and gutters, sidewalks systems and bikeway
systems where deviations are proposed from the design criteria and standards of the City.
h) Off-site layout for streets and utilities.
i) Additional information as may be required to ensure that the proposed utility systems will
adequately provide service and that conflicts between underground utility lines are avoided.
j) Utility plan sheets other than the overall utility plan, should be drawn to scales of 1:20, 30, 40, or
50.
After the public hearing, PDP projects must provide additional final-level information in the format
below with the Final Development Plan (FDP) submittal. For development submittals that do not
require a public hearing -- including Basic Development Review (BDR), Major Amendments (MJA)
and Minor Amendments (MA) -- the following submittal information must be provided with the
initial submittal unless a deferral or waiver is approved by staff:
k) A completed Utility Plans Checklist with all required final information may be provided by the
applicant as a supplemental document. This checklist is available for download at Utility Plans
Checklist.pdf
l) Cover Sheet
m) Standard Notes Sheet
n) Existing Conditions and/or Demolition Plan (if applicable)
o) Overall Grading Plan (if applicable)
p) Detailed Grading Plan Sheets
q) Overall Utility Plan Sheet (if applicable)
r) Detailed Utility Plan Sheets
s) Sanitary Sewer Plan and Profile Sheets
t) Storm Sewer Plan and Profile Sheets
u) Water Plan and Profile Sheets (if applicable)
v) Street Plan and Profile Sheets (if applicable)
w) Street Cross-sections (if applicable)
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x) City of Fort Collins Standard Construction Details
Section L. Requirements for Reports and Supporting Documents
Unless an item is documented on the submittal checklist as waived, deferred, or not applicable –
the following items are required to be submitted with the formal development review process as
indicated below. See Steps 4 - 8 of the Development Review Flowchart
A. Required prior to initial formal submittal application:
1. Conceptual Review (CR) or Preliminary Development Review (PDR)
Meeting – This meeting must be held for all projects prior to the initial formal submittal unless
waived by staff. For more information and to schedule a meeting, see here:
https://www.fcgov.com/developmentreview/conceptualreview.php
2. Pre-Submittal Code Review Meeting with Building Services – This meeting is
required for all new construction projects (except individual single family detached residences and
tenant finishes). For questions, or to schedule this meeting call 970-416-2748.
3. Scoping of Transportation Impact Study (TIS) – if applicable. If a TIS is required,
the Applicant should contact Traffic Operations at 970-221-6630 to discuss the scope of the TIS
prior to the initial formal submittal of the development application.
4. Ecological Characterization Study (ECS) – if applicable. The ECS, if required, must
be submitted at least 10 days prior to initial development project submittal application. Any special
wildlife, wetland, natural habitats and features, ecological or environmental study or report pursuant
to Section 3.3 and 3.4 of the Land Use Code as requested by the Director.
5. Site Meeting for Existing Tree Inventory and Mitigation Plan – The applicant
must schedule an on-site meeting with City Forestry to obtain tree inventory and mitigation
information for all existing trees on-site prior to review submittal. All existing trees designated as
existing significant trees by City Forestry shall be retained to the extent reasonably feasible.
Typically, this meeting occurs after Conceptual or PDR Review, and must occur prior to any initial
submittal application (Step 4). EXISTING TREES REMOVED PRIOR TO DEVELOPMENT
APPLICATION/APPROVAL MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CITY CODE.
Existing trees must be accurately and identified on the landscape plan sheets as to -- trunk location,
edge of canopy, species, size, and condition -- with labeled intent to remove, protect or transplant.
Tree protection specifications as required in Section 3.1.2 of the Land Use Code, shall be included
on all landscape plans in written and graphic form. (see standard City tree protection notes).
Transplanted tree locations shall be identified with the method and season of transplanting
described. Trees planted for mitigation must be graphically identified as mitigation trees. (also see
detailed landscape plan requirements for existing tree information to be indicated on the landscape
plans).
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6. Historic Preservation
The Applicant should contact City Historic Preservation staff if the site contains properties that are
more than 50 years old or if the site is within proximity of designated or eligible historic structures, to
determine how historic review will be part of the development review process and to coordinate any
pre-submittal documentation.**
**While not required with the initial application, projects affecting historic resources must receive a
recommendation from the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) in a final review hearing before
the development application will be approved. This final LPC recommendation must be provided
prior to the Planning and Zoning Board (Type 2 review) or Hearing Officer (Type 1 review) in
conjunction with the project’s Development Review Public Hearing. Prior to the LPC’s final
recommendation, Applicants may present the project to the LPC to receive preliminary feedback. If
a Development Review Public Hearing is required (Type 1 or 2), both the preliminary and final
meeting with the LPC must occur prior to the project’s Hearing. In addition to the LPC review process,
certain projects may benefit from recommendations by other Boards and Commissions. This is
determined on a case by case basis. Contact Historic Preservation staff for more information.
7. Neighborhood Meeting
Neighborhood Meeting (required for all Type 2 reviews, must occur at least ten days prior to
submittal). City staff provides meeting summary letter to the applicant after the meeting.
B. Required with initial submittal application:
If a public hearing is required – the following initial items must be reviewed and accepted prior to
scheduling the public hearing. The pre-hearing process includes the PDP review, Major Amendments
(MJA) to approved PDP’s, APU’s and SPAR’s. After the public hearing, see additional required final-level
items.
For initial development submittals that do not require a public hearing – including Basic
Development Reviews (BDR) and Minor Amendments (MA) -- the following submittal information must
be provided with the initial submittal unless an item is documented by staff on the project’s submittal
checklist as waived, deferred or not applicable. Some items listed below may only be required based on
the project type and scope proposed. The following initial items must be reviewed and accepted prior to
signing and recording of the plans (Step 9) and prior to the issuance of any site permit, site construction
or development activity (Step 10).
8. Existing Tree Removal Feasibility Letter – Proposals to remove significant existing
trees must provide a justification letter detailing the reason for reason for tree removal. This is
required for all development projects proposing significant tree removal regardless of the scale of
the project. The purpose of this letter is to provide a document of record with the project’s approval
and for the City to maintain a record of all proposed significant tree removals and justifications. (also
see detailed landscape plan requirements for existing tree information to be indicated on the
landscape plans). All significant existing trees must be
Existing significant trees within the project’s Limits of Disturbance (LOD) and within natural area
buffer zones shall be preserved to the extent reasonably feasible. Streets, buildings and lot layouts
shall be designed to minimize the disturbance to significant existing trees.
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Extent reasonably feasible shall mean that, under the circumstances, reasonable efforts have
been undertaken to comply with the regulation, that the costs of compliance clearly outweigh
the potential benefits to the public or would unreasonably burden the proposed project, and
reasonable steps have been undertaken to minimize any potential harm or adverse impacts
resulting from noncompliance with the regulation.
Where it is not feasible to protect and retain significant existing tree(s) or to transplant them to another
on-site location, the applicant shall replace such tree(s) according to City mitigation requirements
(see landscape plan tree mitigation requirements and Section 3.2.1(F) of the Land Use Code for
detailed information).
9. Transportation Impact Study – prepared in accordance with the Transportation Impact
Study Requirements of Chapter 4 of the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards. The purpose
of a traffic impact Study (or TIS) is to evaluate the impacts to the transportation system from a
proposed development. This includes evaluation of intersection capacity for vehicles as well as
bicycle and pedestrian facilities. A traffic study is required when the proposed development will
generate at least 200 daily trips and/or 20 trips in the peak hour. (As an example, this roughly
equates to a proposal for 20 new homes.) The type and scale of study is dependent on the size of
the proposal. Traffic impacts from proposed developments must meet standards in the Larimer
County Urban Area Street Standards for function and operations. Proposed developments need to
mitigate for impacts they have that don’t meet City standards. The TIS will need to be scoped by
the applicant and the City, please contact Traffic Operations at 970-221-6630 or
trafficoperations@fcgov.com.
Typically, the TIS requirement is identified during Step 2 of the development review process
(Conceptual Review or PDR review). Applicants should provide sufficient program information during
this phase to identify increases in trip generation proposed with the development and should
coordinate any proposed changes in project scope with Traffic Operations staff prior to submitting
the project for formal review. Applicants who are unsure whether a Traffic Study is required for a
project and whether a project qualifies for a waiver of the TIS requirement should contact Traffic
Operations staff. Any proposed waiver of the TIS requirement by the Applicant must be accepted by
the City. Projects submitted without confirmation of a waiver by the City or without sufficient TIS
information provided will not be accepted and will be returned as incomplete submittals. The
applicant should assist the Development Review Coordinator by providing a written confirmation of
a TIS waiver. A waiver of the TIS requirement is typically noted in the Conceptual Review comment
letter by Traffic Operations staff, or the Applicant can request a waiver from Traffic Operations staff
and receive a waiver confirmation via email letter.
10. Preliminary or Final Drainage and Erosion Control Report – required of all new
development or redevelopment of property with an increase in impervious area greater than 1000
square feet. If there is an increase in imperviousness between 350 square feet and 1000 square
feet only a grading plan is required. Requirements for a redeveloping site are determined by the
extent of redevelopment, but at a minimum a grading plan is required. All engineering reports and
plans must be prepared by a professional engineer registered in the state of Colorado. Variances
to these requirements can be granted if justified with documentation and approved by the
Stormwater Utility. Drainage and erosion control report requirements are specified in the Storm
Drainage Design Criteria and Construction Standards. This report must comply with the appropriate
City Drainage Basin Master Plan and the report and plans must include at a minimum:
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a) All drawings shall be 24”x36” in size. A General Location Map shall be provided in sufficient
detail to identify drainage flow entering and leaving the development and general drainage
patterns. The map should be at a scale sufficient to show the path of all drainage from the upper
end of any off-site basins to major drainageways. The map shall identify any major construction
(i.e. development, irrigation ditches, existing detention facilities, culverts, storm sewers) along
the entire path of drainage.
b) All existing vegetation accurately located. All prominent features accurately depicted. Prominent
features include streams, canals, ponds, wetlands, major utilities (e.g. overhead electric lines or
underground utilities that cannot be practically located), etc.
c) Proposed landscaping: retaining walls, berms, planters, shrub beds, trees, etc.
d) Proposed building footprints, parking lots, sidewalks and streets.
e) All watercourses, rivers, or creeks which infringe upon the property or which are located within
500 feet adjacent to the property must be shown on the plans
f) All 100-year floodplain and floodway boundaries and base flood elevation lines shall be clearly
labeled. To the extent possible, this also applies to detention areas or nearby irrigation canals.
g) All drainageways, streets, arroyos, dry gullies, diversion ditches, spillways, reservoirs, erosion
buffer zones, drainage basin boundaries, etc., which may be incorporated into the storm drainage
system for the property shall be designated.
h) All irrigation ditches, laterals, and structures shall be shown.
i) All required on-site detention areas including notes indicating the approximate area and volume
of the facility with water quality extended detention. Detention volume requirements are to be
determined using UDSWMM for sites greater than 20 acres. The volume calculated using the
Rational or FAA method shall be multiplied by 1.25 on sites between 5 and 20 acres. Sites of 5
acres or less can use the Rational or FAA method without a multiplier. However, all sites over 5
acres will be required to size the detention volume with UDSWMM for final approval. A
preliminary grading plan for the detention pond is required to verify that enough area has been
set aside to attain the calculated detention volume. If a project proposes any construction in the
floodplain there is a separate set of “Preliminary Floodplain Submittal Requirements” which can
be obtained from the City’s Floodplain Administrator or Stormwater Utility Development staff.
j) Statement of compliance with all erosion control specifications with the final submittal.
k) All plans shall include a note indicating the proposed outlet for the storm drainage from the
property including the name of the drainageway (where appropriate), the downstream conditions
(developed, available drainageways, etc.), and any downstream restrictions, such as an
embankment which may cause flooding.
l) Existing and proposed contours at two-foot intervals or closer, if needed, to accurately show
grading and drainage patterns. The contours should extend at least 50 feet outside all project
boundaries or further, if necessary, to show the drainage relationship with adjacent property.
m) A Hydrological/Groundwater Report is required when site conditions are deemed such that
ground water conditions affect existing and proposed utilities.
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n) Preliminary soils information of the site shall be presented. Discussion shall include limiting
characteristics, groundwater depths and the suitability of the soils for the development.
Information shall be presented concerning the effectiveness of establishing vegetation.
Preliminary Drainage Report Items:
For initial submittals that require a public hearing, including PDP’s, a Preliminary Drainage and
Erosion Control Report shall include the following information:
a) Detention Requirements and Calculations
b) Offsite Flows (if applicable)
c) Floodplain Zone (if applicable)
d) Hydraulic Calculations
e) Detention Basin Calculations
f) Standard Water Quality and LID Calculations
g) Include Drainage Plan or Exhibit in the report
Additional Final Drainage Report Items:
After the public hearing, PDP projects must provide additional final-level information in the format
below with the Final Development Plan (FDP) submittal. For development submittals that do not
require a public hearing -- including Basic Development Review (BDR), Major Amendments (MJA)
and Minor Amendments (MA) -- the following additional submittal information must be provided with
the initial submittal unless a deferral or waiver is approved by staff:
h) Hydraulic Calculations
i) Four Step Process
j) SDI Data Spreadsheet (if applicable)
k) Erosion Control Materials
Additional explanation of stormwater drainage and erosion control criteria and content to be
addressed in the report can be found at the Stormwater Criteria Manual Resource Page, which
includes the following information:
Stormwater Criteria Manual Appendices:
A. Required Submittal Content
B. Stormwater Facilities Landscape Standards
C. LID Implementation
D. Erosion Control Guidance
E. Erosion Control Construction Measures Fact Sheets
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F. Erosion Control Construction Measures Standard Notes
See also -- City Utilities: Development Forms, Guidelines & Regulations
11. Soils Report – in conformance with the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards.
12. Subsurface Hydrologic Study – Resource Page: Stormwater Criteria Manual
13. Letters of Intent (Signed) from impacted off-site property owner(s) must be accepted by the
City (prior to scheduling a public hearing) indicating that all known off-site utility, access and
construction easements and off-site rights-of-way necessary for the development project can be
negotiated in time for the final plan submittal. See item 13 for final documentation requirements.
Contact Engineering Development Review staff for questions regarding the acceptable format for
letters of intent.
14. Draft Legal Descriptions for accompanying deeds of dedication by separate
document, such as right-of-way dedication or drainage easements that are not provided with the
project’s subdivision plat. More information: Easement and Right-of-Way Dedication Process
15. Draft Legal Descriptions for accompanying easement vacation request by
separate document such as a right-of-way vacation. More information: Vacation of Easements Process
16. Request(s) for any known engineering variance(s) from City design criteria and
standards submitted according to the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards section 1.9.4 A,
by a Professional Engineer licensed in the state of Colorado.
17. To be provided in letter format – Explanation for any known Land Use
Code Modification and/or Alternative Compliance Request(s) from City design
criteria and standards including the reason(s) and justification(s) for the request(s). (May be required
to be prepared by a professional engineer as appropriate).
Land Use Code Modifications:
Refer to Division 2.8 of the Land Use Code for more information regarding the purpose and
applicability of Modifications.
The decision maker may grant a modification of standards only if it finds that the granting of the
modification would not be detrimental to the public good, and that:
(1) the plan as submitted will promote the general purpose of the standard for which the modification
is requested equally well or better than would a plan which complies with the standard for which a
modification is requested; or
(2) the granting of a modification from the strict application of any standard would, without impairing
the intent and purpose of this Land Use Code, substantially alleviate an existing, defined and
described problem of city-wide concern or would result in a substantial benefit to the city by reason
of the fact that the proposed project would substantially address an important community need
specifically and expressly defined and described in the city's Comprehensive Plan or in an adopted
policy, ordinance or resolution of the City Council, and the strict application of such a standard would
render the project practically infeasible; or
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(3) by reason of exceptional physical conditions or other extraordinary and exceptional situations,
unique to such property, including, but not limited to, physical conditions such as exceptional
narrowness, shallowness or topography, or physical conditions which hinder the owner's ability to
install a solar energy system, the strict application of the standard sought to be modified would result
in unusual and exceptional practical difficulties, or exceptional or undue hardship upon the owner of
such property, provided that such difficulties or hardship are not caused by the act or omission of
the applicant; or
(4) the plan as submitted will not diverge from the standards of the Land Use Code that are
authorized by this Division to be modified except in a nominal, inconsequential way when considered
from the perspective of the entire development plan, and will continue to advance the purposes of
the Land Use Code as contained in Section 1.2.2.
Alternative Compliance:
With regards to Alternative Compliance, some portions of the Land Use Code allow for compliance
through alternative design and provide criteria for the review and approval of the alternative design.
References to Alternative Compliance are incorporated in to the individual Sections in the Land Use
Code. The applicant and design consultants should review these requirements and provide a letter
explaining the basis and applicable justification for the alternative compliance.
The submittals of Modification or Alternative compliance requests are not a guarantee that the
requests will be supported. Modifications and Alternative Compliance are not intended to allow
projects that are detrimental to the purposes of the Land Use Code.
18. Parking Alternative Compliance Studies – such as a Transportation Demand
Management (TDM) Plan, Parking Impact Study or Shared Parking Study may be required if off-
street parking reductions are proposed. See LUC 3.2.2(k) for more information. TDM requirements
are available at the City’s Submittal Requirements web page.
19. Hazardous Materials Impact Analysis – if applicable. This analysis shall be required
for all development proposals that have potential on-site and/or off-site hazardous materials impacts.
The analysis shall conform to the requirements of the Poudre Fire Authority.
C. Additional items required with the initial submittal application for final-
level projects – After the public hearing, PDP projects must provide additional final-level
information in the format below with the Final Development Plan (FDP) submittal. For development
submittals that do not require a public hearing -- including Basic Development Reviews (BDR) and
Minor Amendments (MA) -- the following additional submittal information must be provided with the
initial submittal unless an item is documented by staff on the project’s submittal checklist as waived,
deferred or not applicable. Some items listed below may only be required based on the project type
and scope proposed:
20. Any Updates/Finalization of Reports – Documents provided prior to hearing, including
the TIS, Soils Report and other supporting documents must be updated or finalized per staff
comments and/or changes in project scope approved with the hearing.
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21. Certification of Notice to Mineral Owner(s) Mineral Rights Certificate.pdf (if
applicable)
22. Development Agreement Application Form – A Development Agreement may be
required for the project. A development agreement is a legal document between the City, developer,
and owner of a property. The development agreement describes and defines many of the terms and
code requirements that apply to all developments and those specific to the development. Information
regarding the legal entities and signatories is needed to prepare the development agreement for
review.
For a copy of a draft base document or more information on this document or process please contact
Engineering Development Review at 970-221-6605. Engineering Main Page. The drafting of the
development agreement contains final information specific to the project, which cannot be finalized
until the final review stage of the project. SITE CONSTRUCTION CANNOT BEGIN UNTIL THE
DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT AND ALL RELATED FINAL PLANS ARE ACCEPTED AND
RECORDED. See Step 10 of the Development Review Flowchart for more information.
23. Final Legal Descriptions and Exhibits for easements, other agreements or Deeds of
Dedication, if not included on the project’s plat or re-plat. This includes any Final Off-site Utility,
Access and Construction Easements as needed to construct and serve the project (provided as
Letters of Intent Prior to the Hearing). These documents, if needed, are also recorded at the County.
24. Final Off-site Utility, Access and Construction Easements as needed to
construct and serve the project (includes letters of intent prior to hearing).
25. Erosion Control Cost Estimate – This information is submitted and finalized during Step
8 of the development review process and is incorporated into the Development Agreement. The cost
estimate is also used to establish an escrow fund to ensure that site disturbances can be restored if
required by the City. The Erosion Control Escrow is provided in the form of a security bond or letter
of credit. For more information, see City Utilities: Development Forms, Guidelines & Regulations.
See Step 10 of the Development Review Flowchart to see how this item is incorporated into the
review process.
26. Electric Utility Service (C-1 Form) The Applicant should work with city staff to determine the
power requirements for the site as early in the development process as possible. This information is
encouraged to be submitted as a pre-hearing item with the initial pre-hearing review. Power
requirements effect the size of existing and proposed transformers, and may necessitate revisions
to transformer locations, building size and landscaping placement, which could result in a Major
Amendment of approved hearing plans. For more information refer to City Utilities: Development
Forms, Guidelines & Regulations.
27. Other Information and Data as the Director may require – While this submittal
requirements document is intended to be a comprehensive explanation of the required submittal
checklist items to assist applicants with preparing documents for development review, some projects
may require other information to be submitted during the review process for the full and complete
consideration of the development, pursuant to Article 2 of the Land Use Code.
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Reference Guide for Post Development Review Submittal Items:
Documents required prior to issuance of any site permit, site disturbance or
Development activity (See Step 10 of the Development Review Flowchart for more information):
1. Signing, Acceptance and Recording of all Final Plans and Documents –
See Step 9 of the Development Review Flowchart for more information.
2. Coordinate any Required Site Permits – Types of permits include: Development
Construction Permit (DCP), Encroachment Permit, Sidewalk or Drive Approach Permit, Floodplain
Use Permit and Street Tree Permit. Site work may commence once permits are issued and erosion
control is inspected, while the building permit review process is completed (see Steps 11 and 12).
More information: Engineering Main Page City Contact: Engineering Development Review 970-221-
6605
3. Cost Estimate for any Public Improvements
4. A Construction Management Plan (CMP) may be required for larger or more complex
projects. The CMP should be prepared and coordinated with Engineering and Traffic Operations staff
at such time that a general contractor has devised a plan to construct the development. The plan
should look to minimize any impacts to right-of-way. The utilization of right-of-way for material storage,
parking, crane location, etc. is highly discouraged. Encroachment permits and/or lane rental fees for
any approved closures of right-of-way could be required by the City.
5. Finalized Electric Utility Service and Fees (C-1 Form) and CAD line diagram. The
Applicant should work with Electric Systems Engineering staff to finalize power service to the site and
any associated fees. For more information refer to City Utilities: Development Forms, Guidelines &
Regulations.
Documents required prior to Building Permit Issuance (See Step 12 of the
Development Review Flowchart for more information):
6. Full Building Permit Review Required – Building Services is the quality control and
building safety expert for Fort Collins, ensuring the built project complies with the Municipal and Land
Use Codes. Please Note: Building Permits will not be reviewed until Development Plan review
process is completed. All required fees must be paid prior to issuance of full building permit. Certain
site work elements must be in place and accepted prior to issuance of a full building permit.
Online Resources:
Building Permit Submittal Requirements
Building Codes and Standards
Permit Applications and Forms
Permit Fees, including Capital Improvement Expansion Fees, Utility Fees, Larimer County Road
Impact Fees and Transportation Capital Expansion Fees (TCEF) are due at the time of building
permit.
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Green Building Green Codes and Energy Forms
Required Contractor Licensing
Irrigation plan submittal requirements and standards Irrigation plans must be reviewed and approved
prior to issuance of full building permit.
Building Services Inspections
Water meter/service line inspection and specs
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Section M. Electronic Submittal Requirements and File Naming
Standards (See Section B for Summary of Plans and Documents)
Submittal Requirements (Quick Checklist):
(please read all of the following pages for complete guidelines and helpful tips)
General Submittal Guidelines:
Submit each review round on a flash drive or disc. PDF files are provided for all plan sheets, documents
and reports. PDF file content must be included within not more than one file folder; no subfolders.
All site plan, landscape plan and civil construction plan sheets are grouped into individual plan sets, and
not separate PDFs for each sheet.
All jpegs and other images embedded into the drawing are of high resolution, with raster images and text
clearly legible. 300 DPI is recommended.
Maximum file size limit for each PDF: 150 MB.
Preparing PDF Plans from CAD software:
All plans are saved as optimized/flattened PDFs to reduce file size and remove layers.
AutoCAD SHX attributes have been removed from the PDF’s.
Bookmarks are provided for each page (drawing sheet) in the PDF plan sets, listing the sheet number
and sheet title.
All PDF plan pages are properly oriented, with the top of the page oriented to the top of the computer
screen.
All PDF plan pages are provided at 24x36 inches and are at ‘full size’ and ‘to-scale’ to ensure proper
measuring of lines and areas electronically.
Plans must include a scale bar on each sheet. When more than one scale is used on a sheet, an
independent graphic scale must accompany the applicable detail.
Vector-based PDF files are provided. Raster-based PDF files are accepted only if generating vector-
based files is infeasible. Images provided within the PDF sheets (such as photographs) will remain raster-
based.
If raster-based PDF files are provided for 24x36 linework drawings, files are printed at not more than 100-
150 dpi, monochrome and compressed.
File Naming:
PDFs meet file naming standards, with no consultant project file numbers, subfolders, or added
characters provided in the file naming.
The file names clearly convey the review content of the file. Site plan sheets are named “site plan.pdf”.
Landscape plan sheets are named “landscape plan.pdf”, Utility plan sheets are named “Utility Plan.pdf”,
etc.
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A. General Submittal Guidelines:
1) Submittal: All electronic submittals for each round of review must be submitted on a disc or
flash drive.
2) PDFs Only: Only PDF files shall be accepted for plan sheets, documents and reports.
3) Submit Only the Files to be Reviewed: Files shall only include the digital files that are
being submitted for review. Discs or flash drives that include small extraneous or residual
files such as plot files shall be rejected.
4) One Folder: Contents of the disc or flash drive must be included within not more than one
digital file folder. Subfolders that divide the submittal into subtopics such as “Civil Plans”,
“Planning Documents”, “Photometrics Plan”, etc. are not necessary and will be rejected.
5) File Naming: For all electronic files submitted, each file name should only include
information related to the subject of the file as outlined in the file naming examples below.
No consultant project file numbers, subfolders, or added characters should be provided in
the file naming. Acronyms should also not be used.
6) Maximum PDF File Size: The maximum file size limit for each PDF is 150 MB (megabytes).
7) Grouping Sheets Together: All site plan, landscape plan and civil construction plan sheets
shall be grouped into individual plan sets, and not provided as individual PDF’s for each plan
sheet within the plan set. For example, if the project is broken up into multiple 20-scale site
plan sheets and a cover sheet, it is not necessary to provide a PDF for each individual site
plan sheet (“site plan sheet 01.pdf”, “site plan sheet 02.pdf”, etc.). If the grouped plan set is
greater than the 150 MB maximum file size limit, then the set can be grouped into subsets
as needed.
8) Organizing Planning File Names: For review purposes, the “Planning Package” should be
divided up into individual PDF sets based on subject matter, such as “Site Plan”,
“Neighborhood Context Plan”, “Lighting Plans and Details”, “Trash Enclosure Plans and
Details”, “Building Elevations”, etc. If required details are incorporated into a particular plan
sheet, they may be grouped into the PDF and file name, such as “Site Plan and Details” “or
Landscape Plans and Details”. This communicates to staff to look for other documents in the
PDF other than plans, such as trash enclosure details or hardscape details. Although the
“Planning Package” may be divided up into PDF’s based on subject matter for review
purposes, a Sheet Index is required on the cover page indicating all sheets provided in the
Planning Package, with sheet numbers provided for each sheet in the Planning Package,
(See Section D for cover page explanation). PDF file naming for review purposes should be
based on review content, and not the sheet numbers provided with any sheet index.
9) Images: All jpegs and other images embedded into the drawing must be of high resolution.
300 DPI is recommended. Please take note of this requirement when saving images (such
as lighting specification cut sheets, site furniture images, material images, etc.). When
printing PDF sheets, image quality for jpegs and other images should be adjusted within the
software as needed to provide high quality images. Submittals that include images that are
not readable or reproducible may be rejected or not fully reviewed, requiring additional
rounds of review.
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B. Preparing Electronic Plans (PDFs) for Submittal:
1) Optimized PDFs: Each ‘Plan’ (or ‘Plan set’) must be saved as a flattened/optimized PDF to
remove layers and unnecessary data. This process creates a vector-based PDF with
improved viewing performance, allowing staff to review files on a computer screen
effectively.
Plans that contain ‘Layers’, ‘Objects’, ‘Comments’ or other editable content are not
acceptable: Avoid exporting drawings directly from AutoCAD to PDF with the CAD "objects"
or "layers" in the file. This will create a much larger PDF file size and a slower, cumbersome
file for plan review. Files should be optimized to reduce to the smallest size possible to
provide quick access to the files and remove layers and editable content. If optimization is
not available in the software program, then flattening the drawing prior to creating the PDF is
recommended.
How to Create and Save an Optimized PDF:
The following steps should be used to remove layers, objects and AutoCAD comments from
PDF documents in Adobe Acrobat:
a) Right Click on the PDF file, select ‘open with’, and select Acrobat DC or Acrobat Pro
(Not Acrobat Reader).
b) Access the PDF Optimizer window box. This can be done in two ways. The second
way is described in steps c and d below.
First way: Select “File”, then “Save As Other”, then “Optimized PDF”:
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c) Second method to access the PDF Optimizer: Go to ‘Tools’ and select ‘Optimize
PDF’.
d) Select ‘Advanced Optimization’ or prior versions may say ‘Optimize PDF’.
e) OPTIMIZATION SELECTIONS – STEP 1: Once the PDF Optimizer window has
been accessed, select “Discard User Data”, then select ALL but the second option,
but do not click “OK” yet. The most important selections are the first, third, and last
options:
• Discard all comments, forms and multimedia.
• Discard all object data.
• Discard hidden layer content and flatten visible layers.
f) OPTIMIZATION SELECTIONS – STEP 2: Next, in the PDF Optimizer window, select
‘Discard Objects’ and check all boxes in this section, then select ‘OK’. In most
cases, after selecting ‘OK’, a window will appear stating ‘Save Optimized As’. When
this occurs, change file name and select ‘save’ (if this message appears, skip step
h):
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g) Select ‘File’ then ‘Save‐as’ and give the PDF file a new name (important to rename
file).
2) IMPORTANT – Remove AutoCAD SHX comments from the PDF’s: This avoids having
AutoCAD drawing text turned into comments in a PDF. The default setting is “1” in
AutoCAD for this feature. To change the setting and remove this feature, type “EPDFSHX”
in the command line and enter “0”. PDF’s that are submitted with this feature must be
resubmitted with the SHX text comments removed. Read this article at Autodesk.com for
more tips on this topic:
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticl
es/Drawing-text-appears-as-Comments-in-a-PDF-created-by-AutoCAD.html
Following the optimization instructions above should also remove these SHX
comments from the PDF without changing the AutoCAD default setting.
4) Bookmarks: Plan sets are required to have bookmarks for each page (drawing sheet),
listing the sheet number and sheet title, to facilitate the electronic plan review process.
5) Merging and Grouping Files: All site plan, landscape plan and civil construction plan
sheets shall be grouped into individual plan sets, and not provided as individual PDF’s for
each plan sheet within the plan set. For example, if the project is broken up into multiple 20-
scale site plan sheets and a cover sheet, it is not necessary to provide a PDF for each
individual site plan sheet (“site plan sheet 01.pdf”, “site plan sheet 02.pdf”, etc.). If each plan
set consists of multiple files for each page (drawing sheet) they must be merged into a
single PDF file sets per the above guidelines. If multiple PDF’s are merged, verify that
bookmarks are consistent and that the merged files are less than 150 MB. If the merged
plan set is greater than the 150 MB maximum file size limit, then the set can be merged into
subsets as needed.
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6) Page Orientation: Pages (sheets) must all be properly oriented, meaning upright, not
sideways or upside down, so that the document can be viewed without rotation. Failure to
submit correctly oriented plans may result in a request for resubmittal which will delay the
review. To check that pages are properly oriented, open the document in a PDF application
(Adobe Reader or Pro) and do a ‘print preview’. Scroll through each page in the preview
window to make sure the pages are properly oriented. Make sure the correct paper size is
selected and look for incorrectly rotated pages. The top of the drawing sheet must be
oriented to the top of the computer screen.
7) Scale and Page Size: Plans must be saved at ‘full size’ and ‘to-scale’ to ensure proper
measuring of lines and areas electronically. Plan sets must not have a page size larger than
24x36 inches.
8) Scale Bar: Plans must include a scale bar on each sheet. When more than one scale is
used on a sheet, an independent graphic scale must accompany the applicable detail.
9) Raster images embedded in the AutoCAD drawing: If sketches, photographs, product
specification sheets or other raster images are incorporated into the plan sheets, these
images should be set to be saved at 300 DPI when creating vector-based PDF sheets of the
plans. A lower resolution setting may be possible, but could create fuzzy images within the
plan set. To ensure that these images load quickly in the PDF reader, be sure to set image
transparency ‘off’ before plotting. Transparent raster images require considerable resources
to display. Even though the source image is not transparent, your CAD software may be
plotting it with transparency (white pixels plotted as see‐thru).
10) Vector vs. Raster files: Vector-based PDF files must be provided if this option is available
when creating the PDFs. Vector based PDF’s are preferred because they can be scaled by
any amount without any degrading image quality. This allows the plans to be reviewed in a
much higher level of clarity on a computer screen. The optimization instructions above
create a vector-based PDF.
Helpful Recommendations for Raster-based scans:
• Raster-based PDF files are images of the plans which contain a specific number of
pixels. These images are typically created by scanning paper copies of plans, and
then converting the scan to a PDF format. Raster image PDF’s are only accepted if
vector-based PDF’s cannot be created. An example of this would be an old plan is
used as a base sheet, where a scanned image is the only document available and
reconstructing the plan linework in a CAD application is not feasible.
• If plan sheets must be provided as raster images, set the scanner to around 100-150
dpi resolution. This should create a clear, legible PDF but keeps the file size to a
minimum. This also reduces regeneration time when loading the plan on a computer
screen.
• The following processing steps are recommended if creating raster PDF files:
a) Saving the plan sheets as 8‐bit (grayscale) or 24‐bit (full‐color) raster files will
drastically increase the file size. Even if the images contain only black and
white objects, 8‐bit and 24‐bit files still contain all of the shade and color data.
Linework plans should be saved as 1‐bit (monochrome).
b) Uncompressed files are much larger than compressed files. When creating or
saving PDF files specify “compressed.” A lossless compression (such as
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LZW) is recommended. Typically, plan sheets contain mostly white space.
The data required to store this white space can be significantly reduced using
compression when saving the plans to PDF.
C. File Naming:
1) No consultant project file numbers, dates or added characters should be provided in the file
naming. Acronyms should also not be used, such as TIS or ECS.
2) The file name must clearly convey the review content of the file. The site plan should be named
“site plan.pdf”. The landscape plan should be named “landscape plan.pdf”, etc.
3) Providing the project name in addition to the review subject of the file is not necessary.
Sufficiently describing the contents of the file and the review subjects of the sheets that are
included is the priority.
4) Examples of suitable file naming conventions (See Section B for Summary of Plans and
Documents):
Examples of Plan Names:
a) Site Plan.pdf, or Site Plan Sheets.pdf
b) Utility Plans.pdf or Civil Construction Plans.pdf
c) Prelim Plat.pdf or Final Plat.pdf
d) Architectural Plans and Details.pdf
e) Landscape Plan and Details.pdf
f) Lighting Plans and Details.pdf
g) Trash Enclosure Plans and Details.pdf
h) Existing Tree Inventory Plan.pdf
i) Neighborhood Context Plan.pdf
Examples of Reports and Supporting Document Names:
j) Project Narrative.pdf or Statement of Planning Objectives.pdf
k) Existing Tree Removal Feasibility Letter.pdf
l) PDP 2nd Round Comment Responses.pdf
m) Prelim (or Final) Drainage and Erosion Report.pdf
n) Soils Report.pdf
o) Ecological Characterization Study.pdf
p) Traffic Impact Study.pdf
q) Engineering Variance 1.pdf
r) Alternative Compliance Landscaping.pdf
s) Parking Plan Vignettes.pdf or Parking Garage Plans.pdf
t) Building Floor Plans.pdf
u) Fire Circulation Diagram.pdf
v) Parking Impact Study.pdf
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Document Version Date and Changelog
Current Version Date: 9-4-2018
Change Log:
1. Submittal Requirements Original Date Issued: 9-4-2018
2. 8-1-2019 Revision of Section M to include file PDF prep instructions; Optimization; etc.