Civil Engineering

Preliminary Engineering

For many development projects, obtaining land use entitlements is the first major step in the process. Each project requires different entitlements (i.e. Conditional Use Permit, Design Review, Site Plan Review) depending on the scope of the project, but usually any entitlement will require preliminary Civil Engineering plans that must be approved by the Planning Department. Typically, this is, at a minimum, a Site Plan, Grading Plan, and Utility Plan that shows the proposed development improvements (i.e. new buildings, parking, driveways, spot elevations of pavement, finished floor elevations, water and sewer services, storm drainage system, etc.).

Our work, coordinated/designed with other consultants (e.g. architects, landscape architects, traffic engineers, environmental consultants, arborists, etc.), is for the purpose of obtaining land use entitlements/approval so that the developer/owner can then move on to the construction permitting phase. While our plans are preliminary in nature, they are required to be detailed enough so that the reviewing jurisdiction understands the project fully and completely. The approved project will have final Conditions of Approval that must be fulfilled in the construction permitting phase, so the preliminary plans we prepare need to be sufficiently detailed so that final project development satisfies all parties involved (i.e. owner, controlling jurisdiction(s), developer, etc.).

It is highly recommended (for most projects) to engage with an architect early on, and to have us complete a Boundary and Topographic Survey to start the project. This will often save time and expense down the road due to design changes.