municipal services
SITE DEVELOPMENT
Planning and design are not always done on a large scale; often developers of single lots or small projects also require those services. We work with property owners and developers to provide them with site servicing plans required to obtain development permits for commercial, industrial, institutional, and multifamily residential projects.
Our services include:
Topographical survey: A ground survey is a good start to any project to determine the geodetic elevation and any other features on the land that will need to be incorporated into the design.
Concept plans: A concept plan for a site development would be used to show conceptually what could be developed on the parcel of land. This would include conceptual building size and massing, conceptual parking and circulation areas, and conceptual utility servicing for the purpose of due diligence prior to purchase or for market research.
Engineering design and plan preparation: Private site developments still require City review and approval to ensure that the design does not negatively impact the neighbours or City infrastructure. The design process also results in construction drawings with enough details to be used for entering into a construction contract and to carry out construction itself. The site servicing, grading, and drainage design go hand in hand to demonstrate how the lot will be serviced and built.
Stormwater Management Report: Stormwater management reports are prepared on a site level to design the piped and overland drainage systems to safely convey rainfall/runoff from the site to approved storm sewer connections. Private sites often have a limited release rate that is permitted to be discharged, meaning the sites will have to store runoff in trapped lows or underground storage tanks. These features are sized through the preparation of calculations or a model and/or a stormwater management report.
Erosion and Sediment Control Report: During construction, after topsoil and vegetation are stripped from a site and before pavement and concrete and installed the site has the potential to erode and transport silt and sediment to neighbouring properties or infrastructure. Erosion and Sediment Control Reports and drawings are prepared to design mitigations to ensure that runoff and sediment are not transported from the site during construction.
Parking lot layout: Parking lot layout must be balanced to maximize the number of stalls while also considering pedestrian safety, route-finding, convenience, drainage and aesthetics.
Roadway access plans: Private commercial, industrial, institutional and multifamily sites require access to the road network. This often includes application for additional access and/or right-in, right-out accesses to support their use. These accesses require analysis to assess their impact on the adjacent roadways and to define their detailed geometry.
Plan submissions and approvals: Each municipality has its own approval process for private site development. We are familiar with the specifics of the processes in the Calgary, Edmonton, and Medicine Hat regions and have the experience to work through the specific process in other Alberta municipalities.