How to Draw a Site Plan for Macon-Bibb County Permit Applications
A free, step-by-step guide for homeowners and builders applying for a fence permit, home addition, or new construction permit. No drafting experience required.
If this guide saves you some time and money, we’d love it if you left us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Google Review. It helps other Macon homeowners find us when they need it most.
Leave Us a Google Review ➡ HERE
Quick Resource Links
Qpublic - Bibb County: Interactive Property Map. Search by address or parcel number.
Macon-Bibb Official Zoning Map: Verify your official zoning designation.
Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning: To look up zoning requirements and regulations. Also where you will submit your application.
Street Classifications Chart: Look up whether your road is arterial, collector, or minor/local.
Request Your Record Plat & Deed (Free): Fill out our request form and we’ll send you a copy at no charge.
You Might Not Need to Hire Anyone for This
You've decided to add a bedroom to the back of your house. Or maybe you want to put up a fence. Or you've got an empty lot and you're finally ready to build. You head over to the Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning office, and they tell you to submit an application and a “site plan.”
Your heart sinks a little. A site plan? Do you need an architect for that? An engineer? Are you looking at thousands of dollars before you've even broken ground?
Here's the good news: for most residential permits in Macon-Bibb County, fences, additions, new construction on a vacant lot. You can create your own site plan using free online tools. It takes about 30 minutes once you know what you're doing. And that's exactly what this guide (and the video above) will walk you through.
What Is a Site Plan, and What Does Macon-Bibb Actually Need?
A site plan is a bird's-eye drawing of your property showing where things are and where things will be. For a building application, Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning is looking for:
The shape and boundaries of your entire lot
The location of streets adjacent to the property
The location of existing buildings (like your home)
The location of your proposed project with setback distances from property lines
Any natural features: streams, creeks, or flood zones
Any known easements on the property
You don't need to be an architect. You just need to show that you know where your property lines are, where you're planning to build, and that you're not crossing any setbacks. That's it.
Understanding Setbacks: The Most Important Part
A setback is the minimum distance a structure must be from a property line. Get too close, and your permit gets denied, or worse, you build something that has to be torn down.
In Macon-Bibb County, setbacks depend on two things: your zoning designation and your road type. Here's how to figure out both:
Step 1: Find Your Zoning on Qpublic and Official Zoning Map
Head to Qpublic.net, select Georgia → Bibb County → Search. Search for your property by address or parcel number. Once you've found your lot, click “Map” and turn on the Zoning layer in the sidebar. Note your zoning type, a common one for residential lots in Macon is R1A.
Then confirm it by cross-referencing with the official Macon-Bibb Zoning Map. Qpublic is a great tool, but the official map is the authority.
Step 2: Look Up Your Setbacks in the Muni Code
With your zoning confirmed, go to Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning and find your zoning type. Examples: R-1, R-1A, R-1AA, etc. In the video example, our sample lot is R-1A, that is Chapter 9 in the Macon-Bibb Municode.
Look for the “Yard Requirements (setback distances)” section in the chapter for your zoning designation.
You'll see a table with setbacks based on road type:
Arterial and Collector streets — higher-traffic, larger roads
Minor and Local streets — most residential neighborhoods fall here
Interior lot lines — the property line between you and a neighbor (not a road)
In our video example, for R1A on minor/local street, setbacks are 30 feet in the front, 30 feet in the rear, and 10 feet on the side on an interior lot line (not on a road). Whatever they are for your project, jot them down, you’ll use them when drawing your site plan.
Step 3: Confirm Your Road Type
Check the Street Classifications Chart in the Muni Code (Chapter 32) and look up your street name alphabetically.
If your road isn't listed, don't panic. Scroll to the bottom. “Any street not otherwise designated with a right-of-way greater than 20 feet is classified as a minor or local residential street.”
You can quickly verify the approximate right-of-way width using the measurement tool in Qpublic.
Drawing Your Site Plan: Step by Step
All of this happens directly in Qpublic. No software to download, no account required. Here's how:
Enable layers in Qpublic: Turn on Streams & Rivers (small and large), and Zoning for reference. Check the Flood Map (based on FEMA data) to make sure you are not in a flood zone.
Use the measurement tool (ruler icon) to measure your setbacks from each property line. Mark these setbacks in green using the drawing/pencil tool, and label them (e.g., "30 ft setback").
Draw your proposed addition or structure in red, clearly within the setback lines. Use the same measurement tool to document approximate distances from the property line (e.g., "32 ft from rear property line").
Add a text label for any streams or creeks visible on the map (e.g., "Rocky Creek").
Before you click away, hit the Print button immediately. Qpublic doesn't save your drawings between sessions. Print as a PDF at 300 DPI, 11×17 landscape, or 8.5x11 and save it to your computer. This file goes into the site plan upload section of your application.
A Word on Easements
Easements are the trickiest part of any site plan. An easement is a legal right for someone else to use a portion of your property. Utility companies, for example, often have easements along property lines.
For your application, the best starting point is to submit a copy of your survey plat and deed. If your property is in a subdivision, a subdivision plat should exist. Together, these documents will surface a majority of the recorded easements.
We are happy to send you a copy of your recoded plat and deed for FREE. Click the button directly below this paragraph that says "I need a copy of my plat & deed” and we will send you a copy of what is recorded in the county courthouse. We believe every property owner should own a copy of their plat and deed.
One More Thing Before You Submit
When your addition or new structure is close to a setback line, consider noting in your application that you plan to have a licensed surveyor stake out the property corners and verify the structure won't cross the setback.
This simple statement shows Planning and Zoning that you understand the rules and intend to follow them, and it goes a long way toward getting your application approved smoothly.
If you're in that situation, reach out to us , staking out corners before you build is exactly the kind of work we do every day.
Questions? We're Happy to Help.
If you get feedback from Planning and Zoning, or need a surveyor to verify your property corners before you build, reach out to our team.
We work with Macon-Bibb homeowners and builders every day, and we're happy to point you in the right direction.
No pressure, just straight answers.
Good luck with your application. You've got this.