Contents of site plan
(a) Presubmission conference. Before submitting a site plan, an applicant for site plan review shall meet with a staff member of the planning division to discuss the proposed project and to establish what documents and information the applicant must submit. The required contents of the site plan will depend on the scope and complexity of the proposed project. The staff member will indicate the required contents on a site plan application checklist.
(b) Site plan. A site plan shall be drawn to scale by a registered architect, landscape architect, engineer or licensed land surveyor, and may require multiple drawings, including maps, plans, elevations, sections, and narrative documents. Site plans shall include as much of the following information as the planning division deems necessary to evaluate the proposed project. The project will not be scheduled for review, unless the planning division is satisfied as to the content of the site plan submission based upon the following submission checklist.
(1) Legal data.
— Proposed name of the project;
— Names and addresses of the owner of record, applicant, and architect or engineer;
— North arrow, scale, and date;
— Section, block, and lot number of the property;
— Precise boundaries of the property and the total acreage encompassed thereby;
— Zoning boundaries;
— Location, widths, and names of all adjacent streets and curblines;
— Location, widths, and purpose of all existing and proposed rights-of-way, easements, and reservations, within and adjacent to the property;
— Names and addresses of the owners of all adjoining land, as shown on latest tax records;
— Existing deed restrictions or covenants applying to the property;
— All building setbacks required by this ordinance;
(2) Natural features.
— Existing land contours, at two-foot intervals;
— Natural site drainage patterns, including swales, kettleholes, wetlands, and watercourses;
— Location of rock outcrops, and trees with a diameter of eight inches or more, measured at a point three feet above the base of the trunk;
— Location and surveyed boundaries of any coastal features including beaches, dunes, cliffs, bluffs, embankments, rocky shores, and manmade shorelines;
— The use categories of any tidal waters abutting or within 200 feet of the site, as set by the coastal resources management council;
— Location, descriptions, and surveyed boundaries of all waterbodies, waterways, and freshwater and coastal wetlands, as those lands are defined in this ordinance;
— Location and surveyed boundaries of any high water table limitations overlay district, as that district is defined in this ordinance;
— Soil surveys, test boring data, and studies showing maximum and average seasonal water table levels;
— Location and surveyed boundaries of any steep slope overlay district, as that district is defined in this ordinance;
— Location and surveyed boundaries of any special flood hazard area overlay district, as that district is defined in this ordinance;
— Location, description, and boundaries of any historic district, as that district is defined in this ordinance;
(3) Existing structures and utilities.
— Location and dimensions of all platted lots;
— Location, description, and dimensions of existing structures and uses on and within 100 feet of the property;
— Location, description, and dimensions of existing public open spaces, including parks, playgrounds, greenbelts, and public shoreline accessways to the Narragansett Bay and Atlantic Ocean;
— Location, dimensions, grades, and flow direction of existing sewers, water mains, culverts, and other underground and aboveground utilities on and within 100 feet of the property;
— Location and dimensions of existing paved areas, sidewalks, vehicular drives, and parking areas on and within 100 feet of the property;
— Description of other existing improvements, including fences, landscaping, screen planting, and lighting;
(4) Proposed development.
— Location, description, dimensions, and finished floor elevations of proposed principal and accessory buildings and structural improvements;
— Location, arrangement, and dimensions of proposed automobile parking spaces, width of aisles, width of bays, angle of parking, number of spaces designated for use by physically handicapped persons;
— Location and dimensions of proposed vehicular drives, entrances, exits, acceleration and deceleration lanes; pedestrian entrances, exits, walks, and walkways; and loading and stacking areas with access drives;
— Location, description, and dimensions of proposed dedicated or reserved public open spaces, including parks, playgrounds, greenbelts, and public shoreline accessways to the Narragansett Bay and Atlantic Ocean;
— Proposed drainage plan, showing final contours at two-foot intervals, finished grades, drainageways, swales, ditches, retention and detention areas;
— Stormwater runoff computations, as required by this ordinance;
— Proposed erosion control plan;
— Description of the extent to which any watercourse will be altered or relocated as a result of the proposed project;
— Proposed sanitary sewer plan, including maximum sewer load computations;
— Proposed water supply plan;
— Location, height, and materials of walls, fences, screen planting, and lighting;
— Final vegetation plan, showing trees, shrubs, and ground cover, and giving proposed planting schedules;
— Construction/development schedule and phases;
— Traffic study showing the impact of the proposed project on local traffic flows and patterns, using the methodology and traffic service levels in the "Highway Capacity Manual, Special Report 209," published by the transportation research board, Washington, D.C.;
— Proposed measures to mitigate the environmental impacts of the project on significant natural resources;
— Typical street cross sections;
— Total number of dwelling units (if any) and proposed overall density;
— Percentage of project site to be devoted to roads, buildings, and other impervious surfaces;
— For any part of the property which is in a floodplain:
a. Elevation of area above mean sea level;
b. Elevation of lowest floor, including the basement, of all proposed structures;
c. Elevation to which all structures will be floodproofed;
d. Elevation of all streets, sidewalks, and underground utilities;
— Draft deed restrictions, covenants, and provisions for homeowners' associations and common ownership;
— Certification or other evidence that all easements for utility lines have been provided;
— Evidence that all necessary approvals and permits have been obtained;
— Any other information that the planning division deems relevant and necessary.
(c) Environmental assessment. All applications must include a short environmental assessment. Applications for projects which are likely to have a significant impact on the environment (as indicated by the short environmental assessment) must include a long environmental assessment. Applicants may obtain short and long environmental assessment forms ("EAFs") and site plan application checklists from the planning division.
(d) Waiver. If the planning division determines that any of the above information is superfluous, unnecessary, or inappropriate, or that providing the information would cause undue hardship, it may recommend that the planning board vary or waive the required provisions of the unnecessary or burdensome information, except if such waiver would adversely affect the public health, safety or general welfare, or would nullify the intent and purposes of this section or ordinance.