Development Services Staff Meets with Frisco Chamber of Commerce Staff

With so much construction and growth in Frisco’s business community, the Frisco Chamber of Commerce receives many questions from our members regarding building permits and inspections.  Frisco Chamber of Commerce staff met with the City of Frisco Development Services and Engineering Services so that we could understand the building inspection and permitting process and, in turn, help educate our business community. The Development Services department for the City of Frisco has a very comprehensive website. On this site, you can view monthly Development Services Activity Updates, which shows both commercial and business development, including single family lot inventory, pipeline estimates by neighborhood, commercial permit activity for new construction and interior finish out, as well as rezoning requests and approvals by the Planning & Zoning Commission. With the booming growth of business in Frisco, Development Services receives 50 to 60 permit requests per month!  The following information is helpful as you begin to prepare to build a new commercial building.

• Schedule a pre-submittal meeting (held 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays of the month) with the Planning Division to allow you to become more familiar with the City’s development codes and procedures and to ensure that applications will contain the required information. After reviewing Common Pre-Submittal Issues and Resources, contact Anthony Satarino, Senior Planner, at (972) 292-5354 or via email at ASatarino@friscotexas.gov  to schedule an appointment. Available time slots fill quickly; therefore, it is recommended that you request an appointment a minimum of two weeks in advance (slots are often filled up to a month in advance.)
• It is important to remember that passage by Planning  & Zoning does not equal a complete review by Development Services. Engineering, Traffic, Public Works, landscape, and an approved site and façade plan are required.
• New buildings to be constructed must have a project assignment by Planning and Engineering prior to submitting for any Building Permit. However they do not require the site plan to be approved before submittal.
• When filling out the Commercial Application, please fill it out in its entirety. Applicants can schedule appointments with plan examiners for pre-submittal of a building permit or to review questions about the application package.
• Provide multiple email addresses on the application so that everyone receives communication, including the business owner and/or manager.
• A pre-construction meeting with Building Inspections is required prior to the issuing of the Building Permit. It is a good idea to have subcontractors included in this meeting.

A special thanks to John Lettelleir and staff who took time to visit with us. Our City of Frisco staff is working hard to make the process as seamless as possible, knowing that a thriving business community is great for Frisco! In the next newsletter, we will look at the inspection process. In the meantime, you can check the status of your request or schedule an inspection by visiting the website.