Generally, most projects in the Broward Municipal Services District require either a full final or minor site plan review before applying for a building permit. Follow this checklist to schedule a review with Site Plan Committee. Use these dates to correlate Committee meeting dates with application deadlines.
If your project is located within a municipality, please contact them for information on their site planning process.
Review Process
Before submitting an application for site plan review, you must attend a mandatory pre-application conference to discuss filing requirements, fees, plat restrictions, neighborhood/municipal notices and sign posting procedures.
45-Day Review Period
Once we receive your application, we have 7 working days to accept or reject it based on completeness. Once accepted, the 45-day review process begins. After 45 days, you will receive an “Approval with Conditions” or “Intent to Deny” letter, including all relevant comments from review, municipal and neighborhood agencies.
Sign Posting
You have 7 working days after filing for a full final review to post a site plan sign in a visible location along each street frontage and to submit an affidavit as proof of posting. You must get the sign and all hardware from us. A deposit is required for each sign. The sign and all hardware must be returned, disassembled, after the 45 day review period ends and before your site plan receives final approval. Your deposit will be returned after all signs and hardware are returned.
Approval with Conditions
If you receive an “Approval with Conditions” letter, you have 6 months to fix all issues in order to receive a Site Plan Development Order (final approval). After all issues have been corrected, you must route 8 sets of signed and sealed corrected plans, including a survey and landscape and lighting plans, through the review agencies requesting the changes within the 6-month timeframe. You must also respond, in writing, to all written comments from municipal and neighborhood agencies. If not corrected, your site plan will expire.
Intent to Deny
If you receive an “Intent to Deny” letter, you have 14 working days to fix all issues. If not corrected, your site plan will be issued an official denial letter.
Site Plan Development Order
Once your site plan receives final approval, you have 6 months to route 3 sets of signed and sealed construction plans for official stamps and signatures of approval by review agencies. If not, your site plan will expire.
Building Permit Development Order
After you’ve received official stamps and signatures of approval, we will issue a Building Permit Development Order, which you can use to apply for a building permit from Building Code Division. You must apply for a building permit within 15 months of receiving a Site Plan Development Order or your site plan will expire.
Review Types
For informational purposes, you may file a conceptual site plan before applying for final site plan approval. You will receive written comments from review agencies which can be used to evaluate the feasibility of the plan. You must submit 22 sets of plans, an application fee and allow 45 days for review. No neighborhood or municipal notification is required.
Full Review
Any project with 20 or more residential units or 10,000 or more nonresidential square feet requires a full review. However, based upon a project's location or use, in conjunction with the neighborhood notification or municipal notification requirements, we have discretion to require a full review for many projects that do not exceed these criteria. You must submit 25 sets of plans, an application fee and allow 45 days for review. Approximately 20 County and State agencies, all unincorporated neighborhood associations within 1 mile of the site and all municipalities within 2 miles of the site are included in the review process.
Minor Review
Most minor reviews are small additions to existing sites, however we have discretion to determine if a project requires a full review. You must submit 3 sets of signed and sealed plans (which include survey, site plan, landscape plan, lighting plan and construction plans), an application fee and allow a maximum of 6 months for review. No neighborhood or municipal notification is required. You will need to deliver the plans to several review agencies for approval.
Site Plan Review Committee
Before submitting a site plan for full or minor review, we recommend you meet with the Site Plan Review Committee, consisting of several key review agencies. This optional meeting occurs on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at Government Center West in Plantation.
If you do not attend, we recommend you visit the following key agencies before submitting your site plan:
The Process
To schedule a meeting with the Committee, please complete a registration form and return it. You will be given your scheduled meeting date at that time. You should bring the following with you:
Survey
Conceptual site plan
If landscape retrofit, you also need an original copy of the site plan, which you can get from Building Code Division, Riverbend Corporate Park, 2307 West Broward Boulevard, Suite 300, Fort Lauderdale, 33312.
At the meeting, your project information will be reviewed by each of the members. They will submit comments to the Site Plan Review Coordinator within 5 working days. Final comments will be forwarded to you within 7 working days.
You will be called 2 days before the meeting as a reminder. If you are unable to attend, you must notify the Site Plan Review Coordinator at least 1 day before your scheduled meeting. If you haven’t and you don’t appear, you must pay a $150 fee before you can reschedule.
Meetings will not exceed the allowed time limit by more than 5 minutes. A standby list is maintained in case of cancellations.
Final Site Plan Checklist
Applications for final site plan approval must include the following before they are considered complete:
Pre-Application conference receipt
Completed, notarized application, including:
Folded sets (9 in. x 12 in.) of site plan, survey, lighting plan and landscape plan (number of sets indicated on pre-application conference receipt)
Copy of Tax Notice from the Records, Taxes and Treasury Division.
Non-residential site plans within 300 ft. of residential areas must include a submit a statement explaining method(s) of reducing potential impacts to adjacent residential areas.
Minimum Site Plan Requirements
All site plans must be 24 in. x 36 in. and drawn at a scale no less than 1 in. = 50 ft.
Site plans must have an accurate legal description, location sketch, a north arrow and a clearly defined boundary.
Building square footage must be equal to proposed square footage indicated on application.
A site data table with:
- gross acreage
net acreage
building square footage and proposed use
number of dwelling units
required number of parking spaces and number of parking spaces provided
building height
pervious and impervious area figures in square feet and percentage
A commercial site plan must have a minimum of 30% pervious area.
An industrial site plan must have a minimum of 25% pervious area.
A residential site plan must have a minimum of 40% pervious area.
