Site Plans & Permit Drawings for Chapel Hill Projects.

Chapel Hill publishes unusually detailed triggers for when a survey-based site plan is needed.

Chapel Hill Building and Development Services requires residential permits for new single-family homes, sheds, decks, patios, driveways, pools, fences and other work described in its guidance. Exterior work receives zoning review for setbacks, height, land disturbance and impervious surface. The Town accepts clear hand-drawn plans in some situations, but its reviewers may demand a survey-based site plan when required.

The Town's residential guide lists survey site-plan triggers including new dwelling units, encroachments into Resource Conservation District areas or disturbance within 20 feet of an RCD, structures within one foot of a setback, impervious area approaching within five percent of the limit, and land disturbance approaching within 500 square feet of a threshold. The Town can also require a survey where grading, floodplain, Jordan buffer or resource impacts cannot be assessed.

Site-plan instructions identify entire-lot existing conditions, setback lines, proposed dimensions and heights, land-disturbance area, impervious coverage, contours or slope and erosion-control measures. Where applicable, the drawing needs RCD streams, floodplains, drainage for downspouts or a landscape-protection plan. Actual property maps and recorded documents govern, not a blanket rule for every Chapel Hill address.