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Steps to drawing a Site Plan
An accurate site plan gives staff the critical information needed to process your permit application rapidly. While some applicants use professionals (architects, engineers, surveyors, etc.) to help with the site plan, others don’t – especially for minor projects.
The following four steps will help you to prepare a site plan and includes a drawing of what the plan might look like at the end of all four steps. In order to draw your site plan, you need to be familiar with your site including lot and house dimensions, size and location of driveways and sidewalk, location of well and septic tank (including distance between), size and location of protected trees, slope of site, limits of clearing, sediment controls, and environmentally sensitive features.
Step 1
Using graph paper, choose a scale of measurement for the plan drawing. To ensure all information will fit on the page and be easy to read, a good example would be to have each block of the graph paper equal five (5) feet (or 1 inch = 25 feet). After choosing your scale of measurement, draw lot lines the place the house, driveway and any sidewalks on the plan. Write in the closest distances in feet of the lot lines to the house (i.e. building setbacks), and draw an arrow pointing north.
Step 2
Locate the well and septic tank (with drain field) on the site plan, if applicable. Show the distance in feet between them. (Minimum distance is 75 feet). Include the distance from any wells or septic tanks located on adjacent properties as required by the Volusia County Environmental Health Department.
Step 3
Identify any environmentally sensitive features (i.e. wetlands, sinkholes, 100 year floodplain, etc.) that may be located on your property. Also locate and identify the protected trees on site by drawing a small circle and writing the name and size of the tree beside it. On the site plan, protected trees to be removed should be crossed out. Protected trees include any tree having a diameter of six inches or greater at breast height.
To measure the diameter of a tree at breast height (DBH), measure inches around the tree at the height of 54 inches above the ground. Then divide the number of inches by 3.14. The resulting number equals the diameter of the tree or DBH.
During construction, all areas surrounding the tree trunk of a protected tree within a minimum of 75% of the radius of the critical protection zone (CPZ) must be protected from all development activity, including material stockpiling, parking and other related construction activity.
The CPZ is the area surrounding a tree within a circle described by a radius of one foot for each one inch of the tree’s diameter at 54 inches above the ground (DBH). Seventy-five percent of the CPZ is protected against encroachment by development or related activity.
Step 4
Identify and draw the area of the site that will contain the proposed construction activity. Then show the slope of pattern of storm water runoff of the site with arrows pointing downhill in the direction of the storm water runoff. Locate and draw the sediment controls (silt fences) and tree barricades needed for protecting your trees, your neighbors and environmental features.
Please feel free to contact the Building Department staff with any questions you may have regarding drawing your site plan.
The following four steps will help you to prepare a site plan and includes a drawing of what the plan might look like at the end of all four steps. In order to draw your site plan, you need to be familiar with your site including lot and house dimensions, size and location of driveways and sidewalk, location of well and septic tank (including distance between), size and location of protected trees, slope of site, limits of clearing, sediment controls, and environmentally sensitive features.
Step 1
Using graph paper, choose a scale of measurement for the plan drawing. To ensure all information will fit on the page and be easy to read, a good example would be to have each block of the graph paper equal five (5) feet (or 1 inch = 25 feet). After choosing your scale of measurement, draw lot lines the place the house, driveway and any sidewalks on the plan. Write in the closest distances in feet of the lot lines to the house (i.e. building setbacks), and draw an arrow pointing north.
Step 2
Locate the well and septic tank (with drain field) on the site plan, if applicable. Show the distance in feet between them. (Minimum distance is 75 feet). Include the distance from any wells or septic tanks located on adjacent properties as required by the Volusia County Environmental Health Department.
Step 3
Identify any environmentally sensitive features (i.e. wetlands, sinkholes, 100 year floodplain, etc.) that may be located on your property. Also locate and identify the protected trees on site by drawing a small circle and writing the name and size of the tree beside it. On the site plan, protected trees to be removed should be crossed out. Protected trees include any tree having a diameter of six inches or greater at breast height.
To measure the diameter of a tree at breast height (DBH), measure inches around the tree at the height of 54 inches above the ground. Then divide the number of inches by 3.14. The resulting number equals the diameter of the tree or DBH.
During construction, all areas surrounding the tree trunk of a protected tree within a minimum of 75% of the radius of the critical protection zone (CPZ) must be protected from all development activity, including material stockpiling, parking and other related construction activity.
The CPZ is the area surrounding a tree within a circle described by a radius of one foot for each one inch of the tree’s diameter at 54 inches above the ground (DBH). Seventy-five percent of the CPZ is protected against encroachment by development or related activity.
Step 4
Identify and draw the area of the site that will contain the proposed construction activity. Then show the slope of pattern of storm water runoff of the site with arrows pointing downhill in the direction of the storm water runoff. Locate and draw the sediment controls (silt fences) and tree barricades needed for protecting your trees, your neighbors and environmental features.
Please feel free to contact the Building Department staff with any questions you may have regarding drawing your site plan.