For preparation and submittal information refer to Electronic Plan Requirements and Electronic Review Efficiency. For questions regarding your plan submittals, contact your land use planner.
Description of Proposal
A detailed project narrative and overall design intent description (if applicable) is necessary for staff to better understand your proposal. Your narrative should correspond with your submittal documents and overall project scope. The narrative should describe what the existing conditions and uses are, details of your proposed development and proposed uses, and how it will comply with the required decision criteria for the permit approval you are seeking i.e. Design Review, Conditional Use Permit, Land Use Exemption, Administrative Amendment, etc.
Your project narrative should provide a minimum of the following, where applicable:
- Structures, existing and proposed.
- Proposed landscaping plan, including any significant trees to be retained.
- The context of surrounding environment.
- Transition zoning (if applicable).
- Parking (include number of proposed spaces by use).
- Building square footage by use, overall building heights and total project square footage
- Concomitant zoning agreements or other legal agreements (identifying by name and file or recording number all concomitant agreements, rezone conditions, parking agreements, or any other legal agreements affecting site development; attach a copy of each agreement).
- General description of existing and proposed easements.
- Overall consistency with Comprehensive Plan plans and policies.
- Proposed land use deviations
- Is this an affordable housing proposal? 100% affordable or mixed-use proposal?
- For a Critical Areas permit, describe what the general scope of work and types of critical areas, buffers and setbacks being impacted by the proposal.
Building Materials and Color Samples
Color samples and building materials are necessary to better understand a buildings’ design, scale, texture, and overall aesthetic appearance. Your application should provide a plan sheet which details all proposed exterior colors and materials, architectural features such as weather protection, railings, gates, permanent street furniture elements, mechanical equipment screening and any other elements applicable to your proposal. In addition to your plan sheet, staff will require a physical color and materials board consistent with your plan sheet, to be submitted after your first round of revisions. A physical color and materials board should be no larger than 24” x 36” and provide high quality material samples mounted to it. A foam core board is acceptable for mounting.
A physical color and materials board allows staff to better understand actual color and material samples that cannot be adequately understood in electronic format. These boards are used by staff during review of your proposal and are kept until construction is completed to ensure consistency with what was approved in your application.
Amenity Plan and Chart
An amenity plan and chart may be required for your proposal, depending on where your project is located. The Land Use Code specifies amenity incentive programs for projects located in Downtown, East Main and Bel Red. Each of these land use code sections detail out an amenity incentive program that development proposals participate in if the proposal exceeds the minimum base FAR or base building height. Refer to specific land use code sections for details of each amenity incentive program.
If your project is subject to an amenity incentive program, an amenity table and corresponding graphic site plan depicting the locations of each amenity chosen, square footage and linear footage (if applicable), etc. will be required to be submitted with your application.
Bird's Eye Perspective and Photo Simulations
These perspectives provide staff and the public a better view into how your proposal will appear from different angles, including how your proposed colors and building materials relate to the surrounding built environment. These are typically rendered drawings within your plan set that depict the proposal from all elevations around the proposal to ensure the entire development is captured. Provide a corresponding key diagram with each perspective to identify which angle the perspective is taken from.
In addition, photo simulations depicting your development project in relation to the surrounding adjacent properties, correctly proportioned, with visual contrast between proposed and existing development, should also be submitted. If you’re proposing a wireless facility, a spatially accurate and photorealistic visual simulation of the proposed wireless facility superimposed onto a digital photograph of the existing development is necessary.
For a standalone Master Development Plan application that is not combined with an associated Design Review application, a massing model with contours at 2-foot intervals and adjacent existing and proposed structures may also be submitted.