Module 5: Residential Site Planning Flashcards
Consideration to external factors when development or consolidation of parcel of land takes place?
Adjacent and beighbourhood land use patterns
Does this include existing zoning?
Stream and drainage sources
Visuals, smells and sounds
Neighbouring aesthetic character
Public utility locations and capacities
Transportation ways and systems
Proposed match current?
Which external consideration should be taken first?
Existing zoning, with current and proposed zoning around it
Proposed layout of roads and streets must be compatible with adjacent street pattern
Comply with overall conceptual plan for the area?
When a site if being presented, what should be established?
Exact location, shape, size relative to adjacent properties
Reference legal plans and plans of subdivision at the LTO
Establish legal boundary of the site and of adjacent properties
This get widths of adjacent road allowances
Why must existing road allowance widths be determined?
Determine the need for any additional road dedications
Ex: an adjacent rural road may have been designated a future arterial road, so road may have to be widened. Accomplished during subdivision process
This ensures the newly created lots along road will be of adequate size with the proper building setback to suit future upgrading of the road
What does a title search accomplish?
Confirms ownership and any other parties having an interest in the property
Establish if any ROWs (road, railroad, hydro) or easements (service and service access) have been established on, or adjacent to, the property
How to establish the name, pavement width, condition of road surface and location of sidewalks, curbs and gutters?
Review adjacent roadway system and ‘Record’ or ‘As Constructed’ drawings of a municipality should be carried out
May establish where sidewalks should be located and determine the nature and extent of any offsite road improvements that may be required
After initial site considerations, what comes next? Considerations of this type include? Where can this information be obtained?
Location, size, capacity of existing or nearest utilities
External Site Factors! Includes:
Sanitary sewers
Capacity and impact of proposed development on tributary flows may be a problem
Storm sewers
Location of sewers, ditches, creeks should be established
Water mains
Water supply for residential consumption and firefighting needs
Establish boundaries and extent of pressure zones and the ability to provide the necessary flows
Electrical power
Any upgrades needed?
Communications
Gas
Information of urban plans showing existing developments, utilities and servicing requirements are public documents
Can be obtained from local authorities
Municipal halls, regional districts
Planning and engineering departments
What may affect sanitary sewers?
Local topography
May require pumping station
Treatment plant may need upgrading if the proposed development is large enough and staged over years
Why must the location of storm sewers, ditches and creeks be established?
Discharge of storm drainage from proposed development has to be accommodate and handled in satisfactory manner
May require approval of the Department of Federal Fisheries and Oceans, Recreational Fisheries Branch of the Ministry of Environment
May need conceptual plans of ideas at early level of planning to determine impacts
Do any creeks, ditches flow into the proposed site?
May need to expand mapping of discharges of system into adjacent tributary lands
What type of information may be needed to establish the nature and extent of upstream lands?
Topography maps with contour lines
Air photos help identify ground cover and tree stands
Feasibility study can help with…
Developers engage planning and engineering consultants to complete a feasibility study for a given site
Ways in which existing buildings, railroads and power lines can affect the proposed development?
Impact location of entries and exits to development
Impacts prevailing winds
Sounds, smells which may be nuisance
Sunlight
Final checks include what?
Prepared by the district or municipality
Can be many things, different for each municipality/regional district
Could include (Taken from Columbia Shuswap Regional District)
Obtain a copy of certificate of title
Is your property within a ____ zoned area (blank refers to that regional district)
Is your property within a Development Permit Area
Is your property within the Agricultural Land Reserve
Contact MoTI
Obtain building, plumbing, solid fuel burning permit (?)
Contact Technical Safety BC
Contact Registered Onsite Wastewater Practictioner or Professional Engineer
Contact BC Housing
External Services: What needs to be established first? Consideration then to?
Location, size and capacity of existing or nearest utilities
Consideration to
Sanitary sewers
Storm sewers
Water mains
Electrical power
Gas
Problems with proposed developments on sewers?
Sewers
Capacity and impact on tributary flows
Local topography may require local pumping station to connect to existing gravity system
Treatment plant may need upgrading
Why must the location of sewers, open ditches and creeks be established?
Discharge of storm drainage from proposed development must be handled appropriately
May have to also deal with site discharge but also lands, creeks and springs that flow into lot
Internal Site Factors: Road and Lot Layout principles?
Principles
Proposed plan should blend with natural features of the land
Take advantage of views
Proposed density should conform with existing zoning, proposed zoning
Comply with overall objectives of the community or neighbourhood plan
Show dimensions and classifications
What are unopened road allowances? What is gazetting? How to close ROW or gazetted road?
Road that exists on a legal plan but was never constructed
May exist adjacent or across property
Conceptual plan may indicate that portions of a previously dedicated or gazetted road ROW be closed in favour of a revised alignment
Gazetting
No longer used
Refers to establishing a public highway or public access simply by the Crown publishing a notice to that effect in the BC Gazette
Did not require legal survey plan or to be deposited at LTO
Establish a ‘road exchange bylaw’
Includes a public hearing so that interested parties can be informed and raise concerns regarding the realignment
Creeks, ravines and ROWs principles?
Principles
Are creeks traversing the property of interest to the Ministry of Environment or Federal Fisheries Department?
May require restrictive covenant (document registered against the property in LTO that places specific restriction on land use)
Lot layout MUST integrate the preservation of such areas
Must identify the location and purpose of ROWs, easements registered against property
Includes powerlines, gas pipes
Existing Contours
Use contours to establish the natural lay of the land
Slope, aspect, gradient
Acquire a topographic survey if contours are not enough
Will show steep grades and swampy conditions
Natural Features considerations
Location and nature of rock outcrops, tree stands, natural springs and ravines
Tree preservation plan to retain significant trees perhaps
Natural hazards present?
Snow avalanches
Rolling rocks
Unstable soils
Conceptual Site Servicing principles? When is it really needed? factors?
Principles
I guess determining where servicing difficulties might be encountered
Preliminary calculations showing adequacy if water main system may be required (water pressure zones)
Septic tank disposal? Percolation tests?
Soils capacity to absorb the effluent from a septic field
Really needed when underground utilities are to be provided. Factors:
Show location and grades
Excessive grades (>12-15%) may require preliminary profiles to illustrate possible or alternate solutions
Conceptual Site Drainage principles?
Includes storm water management
Principles
Ensure compliance with policies and regulations
Show proposed development in relation to natural catchment area
What lands drain on to property
How on site drainage will be controlled
Impact of discharge on downstream sewers, creeks
Reference lot grading techniques, proposed flood routes for surface flow
Is development near flood prone zone?
Landscaping principles? In relation to commercial/industrial zones? Other influences on the need for special landscaping?
Principles
Screening
Privacy
Reduce noise
Aesthetics
Adjacent to industrial/commercial zones?
Preserve natural tree stands
Landscaping could be a buffer zone
Other influences
Reduce noise from arterial roads
Reverse frontage onto arterial roads
Subsoil conditions principles
Must have some knowledge of subsoil structure
Presence of bedrock?
Unstable ground?
High ground water table?
Valuable subsurface mineral content?
Gravel
Sands
Existing buildings principles? If they are retained, what are requirements?
Do existing buildings need to be demolished? Relocated? Retained?
If retained:
Buildings must conform with proposed layout
Must not encroach on adjacent properties
Certificate of Non-Encroachment
List some internal site factors
Subsoil conditions
Existing buildings
Landscaping
Unopened road structures
Natural Landscape
Site Draining
Site Servicing
Existing Contours
Bodies of Water
Bodies of Water principles. What must be shown? What dictates access requirements?
Development location must be clearly identified
Access to waterfront must be shown
Fluctuation in water level must be shown
Size and depth of body of water dictates access requirements
What is Site Assessment: what needs to be followed if the proposed development is adjacent to the ALR? What does frontage need to have?
Site assessment
Suitability of land and planning designation, depth of undisturbed native mineral soil
Observation holes, percolation test holes
Soils texture and structure
Ground discharge proposed, method of treatment
Ground and soil conditions
Surrounding or future planning development
Density and lot sizes proposed
Number of units
Topography and drainage
Site grading plans
Indication of level of hydrogeological sensitivity
Depth to ground water
Groundwater conditions (confined, unconfined, perched aquifers)
Soil moisture and near surface ground water conditions
Qualification of site evaluators
Site capability
ALR adjacent
Must follow ALR subdivision standards
Frontage
Access to public road allowance
Each lot must have its own legal access and provision for an adequate driveway
Lot slopes may restrict driveway grades
What are servicing corridors? What are the primary services?
Each lot must be fully serviced; so each house must have provision for the house to be connected to the primary services at the property line
Gravity flow connections are provided at standard locations along front property
Service corridors are on easements/ROWs through lots
When they have to cross private property, They are potential sources of problems
If they straddle property lines, fences may have to be removed if repairs are needed
Solution: place ROW completely on one side of the lot line (setback now becomes full width of the proposed ROW)
ex: building envelope cannot encroach on right of way see https://docs.google.com/document/d/14V81691LvPTYg9SI_PuacgqVr0zLg6FZgD4u7m7Dauc/edit
Primary services
Storm
Sanitary
water
Power
How to illustrate how proposed lots would drain? Methods of grading lots for drainage control?
Prepare an overall lot grading plan, as part of the stormwater management policy
Objective is to maintain a surface drainage regime for the protection of homeowners
Each lot must meet legal requirements under zoning bylaw and remain independently serviced
Methods
Can be Independently or collectively
Swale (form of ditch), very shallow with gentle sloping sides, forms a channel for overland flow from lawns to drain
Use ROW to preserve
Will prevent downstream neighbours causing interruption
ROWs are registered as a charge against title in favour of adjacent lot
Prevent sewer backup by establishing minimum basement elevations
Should reflex elevation of the minimum habitable floor area
Raising the basement floor slab by a few inches (above water table?)
Storm sewer surcharging = situation where the sewer entrance and exit are submerged, pipe is flowing full and under pressure; surface of wastewater in manholes rises about the top of the collection pipe
Sump pumps and backflow preventors stop surcharging of gravity sewer connections
List and describe the external servicing considerations that may influence the lot layout proposed for a given site
Gas
Need to find location of existing, proposed
ROWs
Electricity
Need to find location of existing, proposed
ROWs
Drainage
Creeks, rabies, ditches
Flowing from, into; tributary, downstream
Affecting neighbours?
Storm sewers
Find location of them!
Water
Water bodies? Need clear surveys of water levels, fluctuations
Water supply for both residential and firefighting needs
Boundaries and extent of pressure zones, ability to provide flows
Rainfall cache basins?
Sanitation
Need additional pumping stations?
Gravity fed system ok?
Upgrades at sanitation facilities needed?
Capacity
Impact of proposed development on tributary flows
State the three non-service type considerations and give examples of the positive or negative effect on the subdivision of these types of external factors
Visuals, smells, sounds, aesthetics
Adjacent and neighbourhood land use patterns
Surrounding land use may already have satisfactory utilities installed, servicing requirements planned
Zoning may be inconsistent with desired density/type of development in mind
May require additional landscaping
Transportation ways and systems
Provides entrance, exit, access to development
May need widening, changes; noisy
List the typical servicing requirements for a new development in your area. How do these compare with the services provided for your particular home?
Schedule B: Standards for Street Configurations
Schedule C: Standards for Clearing, Grading, Draining and Surfacing Streets
Schedule D: Standards for Water Distribution Systems
Schedule E: Standards for Sanitary Sewage and Storm-Water Collection Systems or Combined Sewer Collection Systems
