The elements of your site such as topography, vegetation, infrastructure, weather, culture and

even existing buildings and local policies all influence the final design of a building. Once you've
conducted a thorough site analysis, you then need to present your concept with a site plan showing
existing as well as proposed conditions.

Property lines

Including the property line of your site is one

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

Existing and proposed

conditions

For city officials and plan

reviewers to grasp the full scope of
your design, you'll want to present
both existing and proposed
conditions. This shows how your
design will affect the site and
maybe even how the site impacts
your design. It also lets you know if
other city officials such as
inspectors need to be present
throughout the construction of your
concept.
Distance between buildings and property lines

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

Parking

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

There are many code requirements governing the design of access onto your site from the driveway
width to curb cut dimensions. Make sure you know the rules and then include all dimensions in your
site plan.
Surrounding streets

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

This one is almost an extension of the last one. You want to tell the whole story of your site. So
when you draw your streets, include things like stop signs, highways signs, etc. You'll even want to
include traffic lights, too.
Landscaped areas
Landscaping is not only there for aesthetics but often times it's part of a fragile ecosystem that must
be preserved. Bulldozing all the trees and starting over may seem like a quick fix but often times is
not ideal, especially in this day and age of sustainability and reducing site impact. So make sure you
include existing and proposed landscaping improvements in your site plans.
Easements

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

Not only is access to the site important for occupants it's also necessary for emergency help. There
are codes governing the distance your building will need to be from fire hydrants depending on the
type of construction. If you're doing a renovation often times this won't be needed, but if you’re doing
new construction you can almost bet this issue will come up when you're submitting your plans to the
city. So make sure to include fire hydrants in your site plan as well. When you're putting together
your site plan, try to think of it like telling the story of the site and your building. For plan review to
understand your design, you must tell the whole story. Leave no room for unexpected interpretations.
Often times, more is better when it comes to the site plan.
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Topography

If a site is flat, the topography may not

influence the location and layout of
the building, but on a sloping site, the
topography is likely to be a significant
design factor.

The slope of a site and/or the slope of

adjacent sites may affect access to
sun and views. For example, an east-
facing hillside will have reduced
afternoon and evening sunlight,
 particularly in winter, and depending on the height and steepness, a south-facing site may receive
little or no sun during the winter months.

The location and layout of the building should be designed to minimise:

 the need for excavation or fill – as well as increasing costs, large-scale earthworks increase the risk
of erosion by altering soil stability and water run-off patterns, increase sediment run-off during
construction and significantly affect natural biodiversity by removing soils and plants
 the building’s footprint by using low-impact foundation systems such as pole frame construction to
reduce the amount of site work and disruption
 the visual impact of the building form on the landscape.
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Existing vegetation

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

They also provide aesthetic value and, if removed, take many years to replace.
 If possible, design and locate the building to accommodate established trees and plants that are not
easily transplanted. Design considerations include:

 the degree of shading – the shade provided may be desirable in the summer but less so in the winter;
however, for deciduous trees, winter shade is unlikely to be a problem
 the age and condition of trees – some may require removal to avoid the risk of damage to the
completed building or they may present a risk of damage to foundations from root systems
 the impact of the building’s proximity to an existing tree – a building too close to a tree may affect its
long-term viability
 the possibility of incorporating a tree or shrub into the building design, for example, designing a house
or a deck around it
 trees that are protected under the District Plan or site-specific documents such as an open space
covenant and must be retained.
Specifying protection
 Specify protection measures for protected trees or other critical features.
 Allow space for delivery of materials, service vehicles (for example, concrete pumps), and waste
materials storage during construction to minimise the effect on the existing landform, plants and trees.
 Retain existing vegetation to reduce the risk of soil erosion, slips and sediment run-off from the site.
 Where removal of topsoil and planting is necessary, specify limiting the amount of topsoil stripping to
the building area, careful removal, storage and reinstatement when building work is complete.

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LOCATION
SIZE AND ZONING

NATURAL FEATURES
MAN MADE FEATURE

INFRASTRUCTURE

CIRCULATION