Peer review is when another consultant or consulting firm is hired to take an independent examination of the plans, application or plan segment. For example, a plan that has a detailed stormwater system adjacent to a river might be peer reviewed by one firm for the stormwater design and another firm for environmental design.

One of the point of contention is that the applicant hires/pay for the firm that does the peer reviewing. On the surface this, once one gets past the  not insignificant detail of paying for two firms to agree on one project design and that the second firm works for the municipality (not the applicant), is not such a negative thing. Two sets of eyes make for a better project design and faster permit approval, yes?

Unfortunately, the answer increasingly, no.

Peer review, while honorably intended to identify errors and provide expertise for a board that may not have that experience behind the table, has increasingly been adapted to a strategy for breaking projects (or clients) that are politically unpopular. This is known as the “bleed ‘em dry” strategy. These projects can be identified pretty quickly:

• An applicant has irritated someone in the town prior to project proposal. Municipalities and agencies have long memories.
• The project is unpopular or a property is popular. A memory comes to mind during the research phase where an agent pulled out a newspaper article and informed that a project was successfully blocked 10 years ago and they would do it again. Bear in mind this was the research phase. No design or application submitted.
• The peer review doesn’t become a review, but a checklist/request list of impossible and inappropriate demands that have no base in regulation.
• There are few rebuttals of the proposed work, but a seemingly never-ending request for new information. More soil logs, more experts, more on-site meetings and reports. It can seem like professional wrestling, but with science and engineering.
• The area is affluent enough that litigation is legitimate passtime. These municipalities are used to receiving and used to avoiding lawsuits. Peer review is one way avoid this possibility.

Make no mistake, peer review has its place and when it is appropriately used, it is a wonderful tool. Large, complex, ambitious or designs with experimental elements are all appropriate uses of peer review and they make for better designs. When this occurs, the applicant will see the two consultants collaborating almost seamlessly and moving quickly in the same direction for a project approval.

If, however,  the permitting process begins to resemble championship wrestling (but with engineers), it may be time to take a moment and consider a strategy change.

Survey Plans. They Are Not All Alike.

It can be a maddening experience.

In common practice, all plans that include a survey

component are mistakenly called Plot Plans.  Need a septic system? Get a plot plan. Need to go through Army Corp of Engineers? Get a plot plan. Need your land divided? Get a plot plan. Need a floodplain certificate? Get a plot plan. Need to build a retail center? Get a… you get the idea.

So you say plot plan and your surveyor says something else and it suddenly becomes confusing and you wonder if you are signing up for the wrong service.

The truth is that each of these requires a different plan type and while good surveyor will both know what you mean and set you up with right plan. Still, not knowing the difference can make for a potentially expensive situation.

A Plot Plan: has the least amount of information and generally shows property boundaries and existing structures. It is commonly used in mortgage transactions.

A Site Plan aka Permit Site Plan: is a highly variable beast. It is frequently used for development and geared towards the permit sought to be obtained. Thus it includes all the requirements listed to meet the permit requirements such as: Existing conditions, proposed conditions, utilities, stormwater, wetlands, structures, easements and a host of other items.

An ANR (Approval Not Required): is for subdividing one lot into two and is one step above a plot plan in terms of detail.  It is designed to meet ANR requirements of the subdivision rules and regulations of a particular town/city. It often includes: Abutters, all ways (roads) abutting the property, zoning setbacks,  lot square footage, contiguous upland (and the like) and any other identified requirements. It is sent to the Planning Board and with luck, meets administrative approval does not require a public hearing or denial.

An Exhibit Plan: is an individually tailored plan showing only certain elements. A surveyor can locate and plot any object desired. Sometimes, the circumstances demand that atraditional items be located. For example, if a commission wants every tree over 18 inches to be identified, an exhibit plan might be prepared. Or, for example, the town wants rare species habitat mapped over a landscape, an exhibit plan might be prepared.

While these are just a few (not even touching upon Chapter 91, Land Court or Alta Surveys), they should get you though the basic conversation about needed services with your surveyor. Plus it should keep you from being surprised if you asked for a plot plan to build a new retail center and your surveyor provided you with a proposal for a site plan.