To make a site plan, work in this order: assemble the base data (boundary and topographic survey, zoning district and overlays, flood zone, utility availability), write the program, list every number the code binds the layout to, draw the layout, prove it in a site data table, take it to the pre-application or concept meeting, revise it to staff comments, and hand it to the engineer of record. Drawing is the fourth step, not the first. Murfreesboro, Tennessee describes what the early meetings want to see: a "dimensioned conceptual site plan" depicting "all proposed and existing structures, vehicle and pedestrian access, parking, landscaping, potential drainage area(s) and a site data table" [1].
The sequence at a glance
| Step | What you produce | A rule that shapes it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Base data | Boundary, contours, zoning, flood zone, utility letters | Bandera County, TX preliminary plat: 5 ft contours and the 100-year floodplain with FIRM panel and date [5] |
| 2. Program | Units, sites or keys; buildings; support facilities; phases | Texas: 15 connections or 25 people for 60 days a year makes a public water system [4] |
| 3. Binding numbers | A constraint list with code sections | Gwinnett County, GA: 9 ft x 18 ft stalls, at least 1 space per 500 SF [2] |
| 4. Layout | Buildings, pads, roads, parking, amenities | IFC D105: a 26 ft aerial lane 15 to 30 ft from the building [3] |
| 5. Site data table | Acreage, zoning, density, setbacks, parking, unit mix | Murfreesboro, TN checklist: a table of required minimum setbacks per Chart 2 [6] |
| 6. Pre-application | Concept plan and a question list | Gwinnett: a concept plan at a meeting held before any zoning application [7] |
| 7. Revisions | Revised plan answering staff comments | Gwinnett: resubmittal after the third review costs 50% of the review fee [8] |
| 8. Handoff | The plan the sealed set is built on | Bandera: road and drainage plans sealed by a PE before preliminary plat approval [5] |
Step 1: Assemble the base data
Base data is the ground the layout sits on. Collect four things before drawing a line.
Boundary. Use a surveyed boundary, not a parcel map. Gwinnett County requires a boundary survey with metes and bounds, impervious areas, environmental features and easements in a zoning submittal, prepared by a registered surveyor [7]. County GIS parcels are a screening layer only: Sonoma County's parcel service states that it does "not provide survey-quality spatial accuracy" [9].
Topography. Federal lidar gives the first surface. USGS reports 3DEP baseline lidar available or in progress for 99% of the nation at the end of FY2025 [10], and states that "All 3DEP products are available, free of charge and without use restrictions" [11]. Available or in progress is not the same as downloadable: the USGS status map notes that "some areas may be restricted" [12]. The jurisdiction then sets the interval it reviews. Bandera County, Texas wants 2 ft contours on grades up to 5% and 5 ft contours above 5% on road plans, and 5 ft contours on the preliminary plat [5]. A topographic survey replaces the lidar surface before engineering.
Flood, wetlands and soils. Screen with the federal layers, then draw what the code asks for. FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer metadata states that changes to flood risk information "may only be performed by FEMA" [13], so a screening map never replaces the effective map. Mansfield, Texas requires the FEMA 100-year limits on the topography sheet of a Specific Use Permit site plan [14]. In Kerr County, Texas, much of the floodplain is "Zone A," which lacks a detailed study [15]. The National Wetlands Inventory is intended for "regional and watershed data display and analysis rather than specific project data analysis" [16], and NRCS soil survey data are "intended for planning purposes only" [17]. A concept plan can show mapped features if it says so: a 2023 Gwinnett zoning plan, RZC2023-00002, noted that "streams and wetlands have not been verified with a field run delineation" [18].
Zoning district and overlays. The use table sets the approval path before the layout does. In unincorporated Gwinnett County a convenience store with fuel pumps is permitted by right in C-3, needs a Special Use Permit in C-2 and is prohibited in C-1 [19]. Murfreesboro's checklist asks for present and proposed zoning, the zoning of adjoining land, and the overlays: "airport zones, flood zones, battlefield protection districts, gateway design overlay districts, and historic districts" [6]. Unincorporated Texas counties have no zoning: under LGC Sec. 232.101(b) a commissioners court "shall not regulate... the use of any building or property for business, industrial, residential, or other purposes" or "the number of residential units that can be built per acre of land" [20].
Utility availability. Ask each provider, in writing, whether it can serve the program. Bandera County's preliminary plat carries a 911 letter, a power letter, a water and wastewater availability letter, an on-site sewage facility planning report and a groundwater certification [5]. Capacity can stop a project after the layout is approved: Murfreesboro staff told one applicant it "would not be able to obtain any building permits for this property until sanitary sewer upgrades were constructed and completed in this area" [21].
Step 2: Write the program
The program is the list of what the site must hold: units, sites or keys; buildings and their floor areas; support facilities; parking; phases. Write it with counts, because codes attach thresholds to counts.
- Texas utilities. A water system serving "at least 15 connections or 25 people at least 60 days out of the year" is a public water system, and an on-site sewage facility treating over 5,000 gallons per day, about 100 hookups, needs a TCEQ domestic wastewater permit [4]. For an RV park, the site count is also a utility permit decision.
- Florida RV parks. The state rule adds facilities as the count grows: a sanitary dump station for each 100 spaces, or each 250 when more than half the spaces have sewer hookups, and a potable water station for each 100 spaces without water hookups [22].
- Review level. In Murfreesboro, a nonresidential development of one or more acres or 5,000 ft2 of floor area needs Planning Commission site plan approval [23].
- Use limits. Apex, North Carolina limits a self storage facility's on-site business to "the rental of storage bays and the pickup and deposit of goods or property in dead storage" [24].
Step 3: List the binding numbers
Before drawing, write down every number that binds the layout, with its code section beside it. The categories repeat across asset classes. The values do not.
| Constraint | Example rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Front setback | Murfreesboro CH district: 42 ft (Chart 2, 2017 edition, as cited in 2020 BZA minutes) | [25, 26] |
| Setback that grows with height | Murfreesboro Chart 2 endnote (2017 edition), MU side yard next to single-family: "20 feet plus 10 additional feet for each story over two" | [26] |
| Density and space size | Florida RV parks: 25 units per acre of gross site; 1,200 sq ft minimum per space | [27] |
| Coverage and FAR | Gwinnett C-1, C-2, C-3: 80% lot coverage; FAR 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 | [19] |
| Height | Apex self storage: 24 ft, or 30 ft with the parapet | [24] |
| Parking ratio | Gwinnett: min 1 per 500 SF | [2] |
| Parking field | Murfreesboro: no more than 20 spaces in a row without a landscape island | [28] |
| Drive aisles | Gwinnett fuel stations: 40 ft around pump islands. Apex storage: 21 ft one-way, 30 ft two-way | [29, 24] |
| Fire access | IFC D105: a roof above 30 ft needs a 26 ft aerial lane 15 to 30 ft from the building | [3] |
| Hydrants | IFC 2021 ยง 507.5.1: on-site hydrants where any part is more than 400 ft from one; 600 ft if sprinklered | [30] |
| Stacking | Frisco, TX car washes: 6 stacking spaces per bay (full service), 3 per bay (self service, automated) | [31] |
| Roads | Bandera County: 60 ft right of way, 22 ft local pavement, 4 ft shoulders | [5] |
Two habits keep the list honest. First, write the edition beside every number, because code tables are amended. The Murfreesboro setbacks above come from the 2017 edition of Chart 2 [26], and the city's 2026 zoning ordinance lists Ordinance 26-O-13, which amended Chart 2 and its endnotes on May 21, 2026 [32]. Second, where two sources give different numbers, put both on the list and ask staff instead of resolving the difference yourself. Confirm the adopted fire code edition and its local amendments with the fire marshal.
Step 4: Draw the layout
Draw from the outside in, in the order the constraints bind.
- No-build areas. Floodplain, wetlands and stream buffers, landscape buffers, easements. In Apex a storage development "shall not encroach into any buffer required by this Ordinance" [24].
- Access and fire routes. Driveways, the fire apparatus route, turnarounds. A permanent dead-end street in Bandera County needs a turnaround with a 150 ft right of way diameter [5].
- Buildings, pads and sites. Place them against the setbacks and the fire geometry. Under IFC D105.3 one aerial route runs 15 to 30 ft from the building, "parallel to one entire side," and under D105.4 overhead utility and power lines may not sit over it or between it and the building [3].
- Circulation and parking. Fit aisles, stalls and rows to the rules. Murfreesboro divides large lots into sub-lots of no more than 36 spaces along either side of an aisle [28].
- Amenities, landscape, trash and signs. Gwinnett keeps dumpsters out of front yards and at least 5 ft from property lines and buffers [29].
Some layout rules are design rules. Apex requires perimeter storage buildings to be "two (2) stories in height and designed to look like office buildings," with bay doors that neither face residential property nor show from a public road [24]. What you draw can also bind you. Murfreesboro's Planning Commission has required "the construction of all parking areas depicted on the site plan with the initial development" [33], and Florida fixes the separation distances between RV sites at "the distances established at the time of the initial approval" (F.S. 513.1115(1)) [34].
Step 5: Build the site data table
The site data table proves the drawing. It states acreage, zoning, density against the cap, setbacks, parking required against provided, and the unit mix, and reviewers check the plan against it. Jurisdictions ask for it item by item:
| Jurisdiction | What the plan or table must state | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Murfreesboro, TN | Required setbacks per Chart 2; parking and loading per Section 26; EV capable, EV ready and installed spaces | [6] |
| Mansfield, TX | Parking table: required spaces by use, method of calculation, proposed spaces; masonry percentage per facade | [14] |
| Gwinnett County, GA | Lot coverage, FAR, building floor area and height, parking with calculations | [7] |
| Bandera County, TX | Space numbers and areas to 0.01, an area table, 24 x 36 sheets at 1 in = 200 ft or larger | [5] |
| Florida DOH | Tract area and dimensions, space numbers, location and size of every RV and tent space | [35] |
Put the code section beside each required value, and carry the conflicts from step 3 into a note, so a reviewer can check the table line by line.
Step 6: Take it to the pre-application meeting
Most jurisdictions want to see the concept before the application. The meeting goes by different names and runs on different rules:
| Jurisdiction | Meeting | What to bring | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murfreesboro, TN | Due diligence meeting, then pre-application meeting | Dimensioned conceptual site plan with site data table; plans "90-95% complete" for pre-application | Request pre-application "at least 2 weeks prior to the initial submittal" [1, 36] |
| Gwinnett County, GA | Pre-application meeting | Concept plan uploaded to the county portal | Required before the application; minutes issued [7] |
| Polk County, FL | Pre-application conference | Concept plan | $250 fee [37] |
| Bandera County, TX | Informal meeting and sketch plan | Sketch plan "not required to be drawn with precision" | Submitted at least 10 days before court [5] |
| Apex, NC | Rezoning pre-application meeting, neighborhood meeting | Layout, use list, proposed conditions | Neighborhood meeting valid 6 months before filing [38] |
Bring a written question list: which edition of each code applies, how a conflict like Gwinnett's setbacks resolves, whether the fire marshal accepts the access layout, and which items staff will want sealed at the next stage. For a subdivision, the sketch or concept plan is often a voluntary pre-application step, followed by the preliminary plat, engineered construction plans, the final plat and recording. In Washington, final plat approval is "ministerial, non-discretionary" once the preliminary terms are met (RCW 58.17.170) [39].
Step 7: Revise to staff comments
Plan for at least one review loop. In Murfreesboro the Planning Department runs a planning and engineering review, tells the applicant whether the Planning Commission or staff will decide the plan, and publishes "a final version of staff comments" in the Commission's agenda packet [36]. The Commission meets on the third Wednesday [40]. Hotel approvals there in 2024 to 2026 passed "subject to all staff comments" [41, 42].
Revisions have a price and a clock:
- Gwinnett charges 50% of the review fee for a resubmittal after the third review [8]. Its Board of Commissioners hears no more than eight special use permit requests a month [7], and if the Planning Commission does not report within 30 days it is deemed to have recommended "no comment" (UDO 270-20.1.B) [43].
- Mansfield's Planning and Zoning Commission may recommend conditions on "operation, setbacks, ingress and egress, off-street parking and loading arrangements, landscaping and screening location," and a Specific Use Permit lapses after 2 years unless construction is substantially underway [14].
- Apex's conditional zoning can rewrite a base standard. Ordinance 22CZ15 set a storage building height of 48 ft against the 24 ft base cap, and that rezoning took about 12 weeks, from filing on June 1, 2022 to the Council vote on August 23, 2022 [44, 24].
Step 8: Hand off to the engineer of record
The preliminary site plan is the layout the sealed set is built on. It carries the site disposition, buildings, internal roads, parking, pads or sites, amenities and the site data table. Your engineer of record adds the engineering layer and the seals:
| Item | Preliminary site plan | Engineer or surveyor of record adds |
|---|---|---|
| Boundary | Survey as base input | Sealed boundary and legal description; in Mansfield, the sealed metes and bounds [14] |
| Roads and drainage | Road layout and widths; drainage areas reserved | Bandera: road and drainage plans "signed and sealed by a Professional Engineer" before preliminary plat approval [5] |
| Stormwater | Pond and detention areas reserved | Murfreesboro: detention areas "with engineered stamped calculations" [6] |
| Water and wastewater | Availability letters noted | Florida: water supply and sewage plans under 64E-15.010(2)(e) and (f) [22] |
| Groundwater | Well locations noted | Bandera: certification sealed by a PE or P.G., after an aquifer test of 24 hour minimum [5] |
The plan is preliminary by design. Engineering, including grading, drainage and utilities, is done by your engineer of record, who builds the sealed set on the layout staff have already seen.
Where to go next
- To have the plan drawn: preliminary site plans and site plan services. See how a project runs on process, or start a project.
- By asset class: RV parks, RV resorts, car washes, gas stations, self storage, hotels and single-family and townhome subdivisions.
- The sequence worked through one jurisdiction at a time, as model projects: select-service hotel, Murfreesboro, gas station and c-store, Gwinnett County, express car wash, Mansfield, self storage, Apex, RV resort, Bandera County and RV park, Polk County.
- Related guides: what is a site plan, preliminary vs final site plan, who prepares a site plan, site plan cost and RV sites per acre.
- Which stages take a plan without a seal: where unsealed site plans are accepted. For a homeowner's permit drawing: site plan for a permit and permit site plans.
- From the blog: anatomy of a permit-ready site plan and the commercial site plan process.
Frequently asked questions
What are the steps to make a site plan?
Gather the base data (boundary and topographic survey, zoning and overlays, flood zone, utility availability), write the program, list the binding code numbers, draw the layout, build the site data table, take the plan to a pre-application meeting, revise it to staff comments, then hand it to the engineer of record. Murfreesboro, Tennessee requires a due diligence meeting before a pre-application meeting can be requested [1].
Can I draw a site plan without a seal?
At the concept stages, often yes. Bandera County, Texas defines its sketch plan as a map "not required to be drawn with precision" [5], Gwinnett County, Georgia takes a concept plan at the pre-application meeting [7], and Mansfield, Texas requires only the metes and bounds description of a Specific Use Permit site plan to be sealed, by a registered surveyor [14]. Road, drainage and utility plans are sealed by the engineer of record.
What scale is a site plan drawn at?
What goes in a site data table?
Acreage, zoning, density against the cap, setbacks, parking required against provided, and the unit mix. Murfreesboro's checklist asks for "a table of the required minimum setbacks as per Chart 2 of this article including the footnotes contained therein" [6]. Mansfield asks for required spaces by use, the method of calculation and the proposed spaces [14].
Where does topography for a concept site plan come from?
When does the engineer of record take over?
Sources
- 1)Current Planning (due diligence and pre-application meetings), City of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 2)UDO Section 240-20, Parking Space Requirements, Gwinnett County, Georgia (eLaws). Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 3)IFC Appendix D, Section D105, Aerial Fire Apparatus Access Roads (as adopted in the Lincolnton, NC code), American Legal Publishing. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 4)RG-499, RV parks: water, wastewater and stormwater requirements (revised February 2024), Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 5)Bandera County Subdivision and Land Development Regulations (revised through August 25, 2022), Bandera County, Texas. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 6)Site Plan Review Checklist, Appendix A (updated February 12, 2026), City of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 7)Rezoning and Special Use Permit Procedures and Instructions, Gwinnett County Planning Division, Georgia. Accessed 2026-10-09.
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- 24)Apex Unified Development Ordinance, Article 4, Sec. 4.4 Supplemental Standards (September 24, 2024 edition), Town of Apex, North Carolina. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- 25)Regular Meeting Minutes of the Murfreesboro Board of Zoning Appeals, City of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Accessed 2026-10-09.
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- 38)Rezoning Petition to Amend the Official Zoning District Map (neighborhood meeting requirements), Town of Apex, North Carolina. Accessed 2026-10-09.
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How these sources were chosen and when the page is reviewed: how we research.