Building Inspection

Site Plan Information Guide

INTRODUCTION

A site plan is required for every commercial, industrial, institutional, and multi-family (three or more unit) residential structure in the city prior to the issuance of a building permit. Further, all items on the approved site plan must be followed and completed before the occupancy permit to move into the building can be issued (§13.41 and §15.16(4)).

Changes in the use of existing property, number of employees or other measurements used in the ordinance, which result in more than a 15% change in the number of parking spaces needed from the previously approved plan also require a revised site plan to be approved on the basis of the adjusted new parking space needs.

The site plan illustrates the proposed structure and its use, the surrounding property including property lines, street rights-of-way, parking lot, driveway, drainage, setbacks, parking area, and other physical outside features of the property pertinent to its use, drawn to a suitable engineering scale. In some cases the site plan also serves as a land use permit, such as for development in floodplains, to meet Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources requirements.

Erosion control plans are also required for building permits and for other soil disturbances, per §13.60, and are to be submitted separately to the Inspection Division, Department of Planning.

SITE PLAN PROCESS FOR CERTIFICATION

Preliminary Plan

Eight copies to be submitted to the Inspection Division of the Planning Department, in Room 403 with the processing fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) plus five dollars ($5.00) per each 1,000 square feet of lot area of construction. Plan should include the owner’s name, property description, property lines, street rights-of-way, existing and proposed buildings, driveways, sidewalks, and a general estimate of square footage to be used as a retail, office space, number of dwelling units by bedrooms sizes, etc. Three copies of the erosion control plan may also be submitted at the same time for separate review.

The plan is logged in with the name, telephone number and address of the contact person being placed on the routing slip.

Information check. If the use is not permitted, or there is some other disqualification or special approval required, the contract person noted in step two (2) above will be called and/or otherwise notified why the plan cannot be processed.

A processing checklist is attached to acceptable plans and routed through the city departments for review, returning to the Inspection Division within seven to ten working days. Copies are also furnished to the Police, Fire, Water, and Economic Development departments for their information regarding the project and possible comments.

Inspection Division calls the contact person to advise that the plan may be picked up or will mail the copy of the preliminary site plan back to the contact person. A copy of the checklist is included with the comments/corrections on the plan to meet requirements. These must be added/changed to the original plan.

Final Plan

Submit five corrected copies to the Inspection Division in Room 403. Incomplete plans will be returned.
Plan is logged in with the name, telephone number and address of contact person being placed on the routing slip.
Information check. Discrepancies are brought to the attention of the contact person noted in number step number two (2) above and plan may need to be returned for additional changes.
Acceptable plan copies are stamped for certification and routed for approval.
Plans are then approved and initialed by each of the approving departments and returned to the Inspection Division with five to ten days. Discrepancies are brought to the attention of the contact person in number two (2) above.
The three approved city copies are distributed to the certifying city departments for their records.
The two owner’s copies are distributed to the contact person who will be called for possible pick up to save time, otherwise they will be mailed if not picked up at the end of that day.

SUBSEQUENT SITE PLAN REVISIONS

Follow the above process utilizing the previously approved final site plan, adding the changes thereon and highlighting the changed area on the plan. Major changes require a new plan; minor details may be changed or added if recertified on the existing plan.

SITE PLAN REVIEW

Date:

Preliminary: Final:

Receipt# Fee:

Parcel #

Work Class: Census Code:

Business Name:

Location Address:

Project:

Architect:

Contact Person:

Contact Person's Address:

(include city, state, zip code)

Contact Person's Phone #:

**General Minimum Off-Street Parking Space Requirements For Selected Common Uses**
Use	All of City except CBD (13.41)	Central Business District (13.42 Commercial Construction District)
One family dwelling	2 per unit	1 per unit
Two family dwelling	2 per unit	1 per unit
Multiple family apartment	2 per unit, plus 1 per 4 units for visitors	1 per unit, 1 per 3 units if for elderly
Day care homes, family	2 per dwelling unit and 1 per staff
Day care center	1 per 7 children and 1 per staff	(same)
Foster homes	1 per each 4 children
CBRF, 8 or less residents	2 per dwelling unit	1 per unit
CBRF, 9 or more	1 per staff and 1 per each 4 residents	(same)
Lodging or boarding house	2 per guest room	1 per unit
Motel	1 per unit and retail and office required	1 per unit
Church	1 per 6 seats	1 per 6 seats
Banks, business and professional offices	1 per 300 sq.ft. plus 1 per employere, first 8,000 sq. ft.	2 per 1000 sq. ft.
Restaurants/tavern	1 per each 3 seats or 1 per each 50 sq. ft.	1 per 3 persons
Retail stores/supermarkets	1 per 150 sq.ft., first 10,000 sq.ft. and loading zones	4.2 per 1,000 sq. ft.
Gas stations, car washes, restaurants with drive-up window service	1 per employee and two per service bays, 4 queued per service windown, and 4 per menu board	(same for auto related services)
Warehouse	1 per 2 employees and loading zone	(same)
General commercial	1 per 5 employees or each 1,000 sq. ft. whichever provides the greater amount of parking spaces
Manufacturing	1 per each 5 employees or each 1,000 sq. ft., whichever provides the greater amount of parking space

Note: Call the Inspection Division (920 488 3300) for the requirements of other uses not listed, truck loading requirements and other specifics as may be necessary. Larger uses have variable requirements, multiple uses are to be listed and computed separately on the site plan. Generally, all parking must be owned by and on the same parcel as the proposed use.

All parking lots and loading areas must be surfaced with concrete or blacktop, except a few industrial location, and must have wheel block, curbs an/or guardrails as noted by the city.

FENCES, SIGNS AND LANDSCAPING

Parking lot buffers when adjoining residential districts.

All parking lots, loading areas and outdoor storage areas, where permitted, are to be buffered from residentially zoned property, “To give sufficient protection to the resident . . . from physical hazards and unsightliness”.

Fences, walls, hedges and earth berms are important to control headlight glare and blowing debris. The method selected must be at least four feet, but not more than six feet in height, and must not extend into the front yard setback area, to allow a sufficient view of traffic and provide sight distance. These buffers must be impervious to sight. Fences in non-residential areas may extend to eight feet in height.

Buffer areas separating parking lots from adjoining Residential Districts. Landscaped 10 foot wide yards or setbacks are required where a non-residential use adjoins, abuts, or 25 feet if it is opposite a residential district. Generally these areas are to be landscaped with lawn and a hedge, fence, berm or wall four feet to six feet in height, and include a tree each 35 feet of its length.

Front yards. All front yard setback areas from the street are to be ‘landscaped and seeded’ to assure safe traffic sight distances, compatibility with building setbacks, and adjoining zoning setbacks, and to allow for possible future pavement widening. Front yard plant materials may include shrubs less than three (3) feet tall and deciduous trees that, when fully grown, will allow a safe view of street traffic underneath. Coniferous trees (evergreens) are not permitted near street intersections nor driveway connections at streets.

For those zoning districts that do not require front street setback areas, all parking surfaces must be setback a minimum of 15 feet from the public right-of-way. The setback areas shall be planted with grass and contain trees with at least a 2 inch caliper spaced on an average of every 35 feet. The front yard setback for parking lots in the downtown “Commercial Construction District” is five feet.

Interior parking lot landscaping. All off-street parking areas containing 25 spaces or more and/or more than 7,500 sq. ft. of parking and/or loading surface shall also include interior landscaping.

Interior landscaping for off-street parking areas shall be not less than 5% of the surfaced area. One tree shall be planted for every 100 sq. ft. of landscaped area of fraction thereof. Such landscaped area shall be located in such a manner as to divide and break up the expanse of paving.

Signs. Location of identity, advertising, and similar signs are to be shown and require a separate permit from the Building Inspection Division. Directional signs for traffic (i.e., “in”, “out”) are required for one-way driveways, not to exceed a certain size and do not require a separate permit.

References: §13.36, §13.41, §13.415, §13.375, §13.38 and §13.385 of the Code of General Ordinances.

Interior parking lot landscaping. All off-street parking areas containing 25 spaces or more and/or more than 7,500 sq. ft. of parking and/or loading surface shall also include interior landscaping.

Interior landscaping for off-street parking areas shall be not less than 5% of the surfaced area. One tree shall be planted for every 100 sq. ft. of landscaped area of fraction thereof. Such landscaped area shall be located in such a manner as to divide and break up the expanse of paving.

References: §13.36, §13.41, §13.415, §13.375, §13.38 and §13.385 of the Code of General Ordinances.

WISCONSIN ENROLLED COMMERCIAL BUILDING CODE

TABLE COMM 61.1106
ACCESSIBLE PARKING SPACES

TOTAL PARKING SPACES PROVIDED	REQUIRED MINIMUM NUMBER OF ACCESSIBLE PARKING SPACES
1 to 25	1
26 to 50	2
51 to 75	3
76 to 100	4
101 to 150	5
151 to 200	6
201 to 300	7
301 to 400	8
401 to 500	9
501 to 1,000	2% of total
1,001 and over	20 plus 1 for each 100 over 1,000

Except as provided in (b), access aisles adjacent to accessible spaces shall be 60 inches (1,525 mm) wide minimum.

(b) One in every eight accessible spaces, but not less than one, shall be served by an access aisle 96 inches (2,440 mm) wide minimum and shall be designated “van accessible” as required by 4.6.4. The vertical clearance at such spaces shall comply with 4.6.5. All such spaces may be grouped on one level of a parking structure.

(d) At facilities providing medical care and other services for persons with mobility impairments, parking spaces complying with 4.6 shall be provided in accordance with 4.1.2(5)(a) except as follows:

(i) Outpatient units and facilities: 10% of the total number of parking spaces provided serving each such outpatient unit or facility;

(ii) Units and facilities that specialize in treatment or services for persons with mobility impairments: 20% of the total number of parking spaces provided serving each such unit or facility.

DRIVEWAYS

Unless vehicular access is prohibited or specially controlled, as along freeways and some major streets, the following rules generally apply. County and state permits may also be required, the most restrictive standards govern.

Use	Maximum width at property line and setback line	Maximum width	Maximum width at curb line	Maximum number of driveways
One/two family -double drive single drive	20 feet 12 feet	8 feet 8 feet	24 feet 16 feet	1/street
All other uses -Two way drive (if used by semi-trailers)	20 feet 25 feet		30 feet 35 feet	1/200 foot spacing
All other uses - One way drive	15 feet		25 feet	Pair each 200 foot spacing

Note: In addition to being shown and approved on the site plan, a “curb-cut permit” is also required from the Inspection Division, at $50.00 for commercial and $30.00 for multi-family. Special driveway circumstances can be reviewed by the Plan Commission and/or the Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals.

COMPARATIVE DIMENSIONS FOR VARIOUS PARKING ANGLES
9 X 18.5 FOOT STALLS

(n) Parking angle in degrees	(p) Width of parking in feet	(s) Dept of stall in feet	(a) Width of aisle in feet	(c) Curb length per car in feet	A* Area per car in square feet
0	30.0	9.0	12.0	23.0	345.0
30	45.6	17.3	12.0	18.0	419.4
35	46.0	17.4	12.0	16.3	381.4
40	46.5	17.4	12.0	14.5	339.3
45	47.0	17.5	12.0	12.7	298.5
50	49.3	18.0	12.0	12.0	288.0
55	51.6	18.5	14.0	11.2	285.6
60	54.0	19.0	16.0	10.4	280.8
65	56.7	19.2	18.3	10.1	286.3
70	59.4	19.4	20.6	9.7	288.1
75	62.0	19.5	23.0	9.3	288.3
80	62.0	19.3	24.0	9.2	288.0
85	63.0	18.9	25.0	9.1	285.7
90	63.0	18.5	26.0	9.0	283.5