Site Plan Review
Site Plans in the City of De Pere
What is a site plan?
A site plan is an architectural document that functions as a readable map of a new or modified building site. A developer uses a site plan to provide the city with details about how the features of a building site will be oriented on a lot. An architect or an engineer creates diagrams for the city that shows the plot of land with property lines, landscape features, structural elements, setbacks, driveways, parking lots, utility poles and power lines, fencing, storm water management, and on-site structures.
- Most site plans are 2D aerial maps that give a clear overview of a property’s features.
- For more complex projects, 3D color renderings are utilized to convey the size, colors, materials, mass, and layout of a development.
Elements that are near the property, like landscaping, adjacent buildings and parking lots, environmentally sensitive areas, and other features that don’t sit right on the site plan property should be documented on a site plan. That information is important because it can impact how development and interconnectivity between lots occurs.
Each site plan page should be listed on the title page (first page) of the site plan document set. This makes it easy for the city staff to find a specific document page when working with multiple people, including property owners, developers, engineers, and architects.
When do I need a site plan?
A site plan is needed for all developments in De Pere. There are four exceptions:
- A development with no more than two detached house units.
- A development with no more than two semi-detached house units.
- A development with no more than two two-unit house units.
- A development with a City approved Master Plan that included approved site plans.
Townhouses and multi-unit developments require site plans.
A condominium is a form of ownership, not a building type. Determine the building type(s) and count the number of units to determine if a development is exempt from a site plan.
What are the steps in the site plan approval process?
The following identifies the steps required to obtained city approval of a site plan. When a good site plan is submitted, with no required revisions/edits, start-to-finish approval (concept discussion through final review) can occur in about 1.5 months.
1. Contact the City Planner to discuss the concept project, timeline, and schedule “virtual pre-application meeting.”
Be prepared with concept sketches, a list of who your designers are, who your primary contact will be, and a desired project start date and finish date. Establishing a primary contact is very important for efficiency as the city needs to know one person to share information with – a project will slow down if multiple people are calling the city and only bits and pieces of information are shared.
If a project appears to work, a mandatory virtual pre-application meeting will be scheduled before the city will accept a formal site plan submittal. The concept sketch should be further developed into a scaled footprint site plan, at a minimum, for the meeting.
2. Attend the virtual pre-application meeting.
Meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 8:00am. All or part of the city’s site plan review team will attend the meeting with you.
Be ready to give a very brief summary about what the site plan is showing and what you need the City to review. The review team will then ask questions to clarify what they are looking at. The review team may offer recommendations about information that should be highly detailed in the formal site plan, or information that should be added that is not in the summary list of minimal required elements.
Please note that the pre-application meeting does not guarantee approval or denial of a project. It is utilized to help the review team better understand what is being shown in the site plan when they cannot easily talk to the designer. Thus, this meeting should not be used as a ‘sales pitch’ to make the project a good idea; rather, the meeting should be used to clarify site plan details that may not be understood when the reviewer is looking at the plan for the first time.
The following is the link to the virtual pre-application meeting room:
Click here when attending a virtual pre-application meeting.
3. Applicant submits application form with fee and supporting site plan documentation.
This is the formal site plan submittal, which includes an application form and review fee. The formal submittal will only be accepted after the completion of a successful pre-application meeting. An application, necessary documents, and a review fee are all required to be considered a complete application submittal.
Most site plans are reviewed for approval or denial by staff only. If a site plan also requires review by Plan Commission, staff will work with you for placement on an upcoming Plan Commission agenda. Staff will attempt but cannot guarantee placement on specific Plan Commission agenda dates.
Click here for the online application form for site plan reviews.
4. Staff review.
The site plan will initially be reviewed by staff. Most of the staff met the petitioner during the virtual pre-application meeting, but there are a few additional reviewers that the petitioner may not have met. After about two weeks, staff will provide the petitioner with either an email letter stating that the site plan is approved, denied, or denied with a list of conditions that can be addressed to change a denial status.
- If approved, the applicant can proceed to Inspection Division to begin the process of obtaining building permits.
- If denied, reasons for denial will be provided and the review process ends.
- If denied with a list of conditions, the applicant has an opportunity to make revisions and submit a revised site plan to staff for consideration. This opportunity expires after one year.
5. If needed, Plan Commission review (fourth Monday of every month).
The Plan Commission may review a site plan, or parts of a site plan, when the Zoning Ordinance indicates the requirement is needed. The Plan Commission may add conditions to the conditions made by staff.
Following the Plan Commission meeting, staff will notify the petitioner of the meeting outcome and any conditions to address with a revised site plan.
6. Conditions to address prior to requesting occupancy permits.
Many site plans have all conditions resolved prior to obtaining site plan approval. A few conditions may not be able to be resolved until after construction begins. Any approval letter will specifically identify this type of condition(s) as being due prior to requesting occupancy permits. An applicant should not apply or ask for an occupancy permit until AFTER resolving all of this type of condition(s).
7. Small site plan revisions after approval.
An applicant may request small revisions to a site plan after approval, if made prior to obtaining occupancy permits. Staff will work with the applicant to determine if a revision is small enough to be part of the same site plan application, or if a new application and review fee are needed.
What do I need to submit in a site plan review?
Five things are needed:
- The completed application form.
- The review fee payment.
- Digital PDF copies of the site plan and facade elevations.
- The PDF(s) needs to be properly scaled for printing on both 11”x17” and on 24”x36” paper.
- If requested, submit digital CAD copies.
- If requested, submit paper site plan copies (one set in 11x17” and one set 24”x36”).
- Any request for hard copies likely will occur after the site plan is submitted. Staff makes an attempt to initially use digital copies in order to save the petitioner printing costs.
All drawings should be drawn to an engineering scale no greater than 1” to 100’.
What, at minimum, do my site plan drawings need to include?
Click here to see the minimum items that should be included with a site plan application.
Staff and the Plan Commission may ask for additional information, depending on the simplicity or complexity of the site plan.
How much is the site plan review application fee?
The application fee is automatically calculated at the bottom of the online application form. Click the below link if you prefer to see the application fee schedule in a Table.
