Planning and Building Procedure Guidelines

Sustainable Building Review Guidelines. Procedure dated 05/15/04, verified as current on 6/12/07.

Before you begin#

The following procedure is designed to assist land owners through the design and building review and approval process. We hope this will help facilitate the process and minimize any delay, while safeguarding the vision of the Quarries ecoVillage community. Steps 1, 2, and 3 are intended as a resource to help develop designs with the community vision in mind. We believe that participation in every step would be very helpful to all concerned; however, Steps 1, 4, and 5 are mandatory.

• In order to assist ART in evaluating your plans, please give us four (4) copies of your drawings with two weeks lead time to evaluate them. We cannot guarantee that plans will be approved at the same meeting as the scheduled review, so please allow plenty of time whenever possible.
• Preliminary Site Plans may be submitted prior to and independently of Building Plans, to provide for approved site clearing, landscaping, and road and utility access. Preliminary Site Plan approval does not constitute approval of forthcoming Building Plans, which are submitted for review at a later time.
• Building Plan approval by Nelson County does not constitute approval by ART, and does not independently give land owners the right to begin building. It is therefore highly recommended to obtain Site and Building Plan approvals from ART prior to submission to the County.
• Following both the Quarries and Nelson County Site and Building Plan approvals, any proposed modifications or changes during construction which substantially differ from the approved Site Plan and Building Plans, Materials and Mechanical Systems, and Energy Performance must be resubmitted to ART and Nelson County for re-evaluation and approval prior to construction of the proposed changes.

Step 1. Informal personal introduction and information session#

Mandatory. Initial meeting with the Owners (or the Owner's representative) and ART.

Disbursement of General Information Packets, including:

• Mission Statement
• Visions and Design & Building Principles
• Site and Building Plan Minimum Drawing Requirements (with examples)
• Energy Performance Guidelines (with sample worksheet)
• Preferred and Prohibited Building Materials Options
• Reference listing of local sustainable-practice designers and builders

Step 2. Preliminary schematic design sketches submittal#

Recommended. Meeting with the Owners, ART, and the selected designer and/or contractor if known.

• Discussion of conceptual floor plans, building structure, materials, and mechanical systems under consideration. (May be hand drawn to scale.)

Step 3. Intermediate design development drawings submittal#

Recommended. Meeting with the Owners, ART, and the designer and/or contractor.

• Critique of proposed floor plans, elevations, typical wall section, and materials and mechanical systems specifications.
• Predicted energy performance calculations.

Step 4. Final design and building construction documents submittal#

Mandatory. Meeting with the Owners, ART, and the designer and/or contractor.

• Review and approval of the completed minimum set of working drawings, including Site Plan, Foundation Plan, Floor Plans, Exterior Elevations, and Wall Sections.
• Final Materials and Mechanical Systems specifications, and Energy Performance verification.

Step 5. Construction monitoring and final inspection#

Mandatory, prior to occupancy. To coincide with regular Nelson County inspections.

• To verify that work in progress conforms to the intentions of the Quarries Covenants and the construction documents approved by ART.
• Please note that the Quarries reserves the right to issue a "Stop Work Order" on any project found to substantially differ from the approved Site and Building Plans, Materials and Mechanical Systems, and Energy Performance Criteria. Such work must be corrected at the Owner's expense, or resubmitted to ART and Nelson County for re-evaluation and approval, prior to resuming construction.