Site Plans for Florida Permits and Zoning

What a site plan has to prove

A site plan is the zoning department’s sheet, not the building department’s. It has to demonstrate that what you are building sits where it is allowed to sit and does not exceed what the lot is allowed to carry.

• Setbacks — front, rear and side, plus the ones people forget: corner lots, waterfront, easements and accessory structures with their own separate rules.
• Lot coverage and floor area — against the limits for that specific zoning district.
• Impervious area — driveways, patios and pool decks all count, and this is where pool and addition projects most often fail.
• Parking — counts, dimensions, drive aisles and accessible spaces with their routes for commercial work.
• Drainage and grading — where the jurisdiction requires it, including retention.
• Easements and rights of way — utility, drainage and access easements you cannot build over.

A survey is not a site plan

This is the single most common misunderstanding we deal with. A boundary survey shows what exists and where the property lines are. A site plan shows what is proposed, dimensioned to those lines, with the zoning compliance demonstrated on the sheet.

Most jurisdictions want the proposed work drawn over a signed and sealed survey. If you have a survey, send it — we work from it. If you do not, we will tell you whether the jurisdiction will require one before we draw anything.

When zoning says no

Sometimes the project as conceived does not comply. At that point the options are to redesign to fit, or to pursue a variance or administrative deviation — a separate application with its own hearing, timeline and no guaranteed outcome. We will tell you plainly which situation you are in and what each path realistically involves.