Site Plan Description

Drawing a site plan

If you’re submitting a permit application that requires a site plan (e.g. fencing, sheds, patios, etc.), you’ll need to know where your property lines* are, as well as how to identify setbacks* and easements*. Please draw to scale, showing property dimensions, setbacks, existing structures, patios, walkways, etc., as well as indicating proposed structures on your permit application (marking dimensions on a satellite map is often effective, as long as tree canopy does not hide/mask the view).

Example site plan

Property lines: The limits of your property’s lot, as recorded in the plat records with Washington County.

For side and back property lines: You can’t necessarily rely on fences and hedges between neighbors to be placed on the actual property line. The following are some ideas that can help:

• Talk to your neighbor – they may have had a survey done.

• Use County property maps to find exact dimensions of your property.

• Look for the “pins” that mark the corners (know someone with a metal detector?).

• Call a surveying service.

For front property lines: The County right-of-way is reserved for streets, curbs, sidewalks, and utility lines and is typically 50 ft wide, with the paved area somewhat closer to 30 ft. You can call the office to verify your right-of-way. Areas without sidewalks still have utilities, so the edge of the street is not necessarily the edge of your property (note: corner houses have two frontages). You can find your front property line using the street as your starting point:

• Measure the street, edge to edge to find the center (watch for traffic!).

• Measure from the center toward your property, one half the width of the official County right-of-way (50 ft right-of-way = 25 ft measurement). Make some kind of mark, for later use.

• If you have sidewalks, you’ll likely end up measuring to within 1 ft of the house-side of the sidewalk. If you don’t have sidewalks, you may be surprised to see how much of “your” front yard is really the County right-of-way.

 Why is this important? Because structures in the County right-of-way are generally prohibited, and certain things cannot be built within the setback, which begins at the property line.

Setbacks: A setback is the distance from the property line within which building certain structures is prohibited by either Washington County or the Association. Reasons for having a setback include aesthetics, safety, and emergency/utility access.

Side setbacks: 5 ft This defines the Required Side Yard*.

Rear setbacks: 5 ft for small items (sheds, decks, etc.) and 15 ft for large items (large sheds, house additions, etc.) which defines the Required Back Yard*.

Front setbacks: depend on the individual property. Although Washington County has defined front setbacks generally for the area, the Association has its own list of specific setbacks for the front of each property. See Exhibit C of the Restrictions and look for your property by tax block/lot for each plat. This defines the Required Front Yard*.

The two setback systems match in many cases, but where they don’t, the more restrictive one “wins”. Check with the office if you have a question.

Easements: An easement is a space running along the side and rear property lines reserved by authorized entities (e.g. the County, the Association), for use by utility providers.

The Restrictions declare an easement reserving a 5 ft wide space running along the side and rear property lines for each property to ensure access for any current (or future) utilities needing maintenance (think telephone poles, guy wires, cables, sewers, etc.). Building structures in an easement is essentially prohibited for this reason. Some exceptions may be allowed with Board approval, conditioned on the homeowner agreeing to remove the encroaching item upon notice from the Association.

Date: 11/2023
Policy adopted by
Board of Directors
Homes Association of Cedar Hills