Commercial site development engineers in Atlanta and North Georgia
Last updated: November 2026
Quick answer: Commercial site development engineering is everything outside the building that has to be approved before the building permit issues: site feasibility, zoning exhibits, the concept site plan and parking yield, the land disturbance permit plan set, grading and utilities, stormwater detention and water quality, NPDES coverage and construction administration through the certificate of occupancy. Mack Engineering provides all of it for medical office, industrial and flex, recreation, retail pad sites and large footprint projects across Metro Atlanta and North Georgia, with one engineer of record accountable from contract to certificate of occupancy.
Key takeaways
- A commercial site is a capital decision before it is an engineering problem. Parking count, detention footprint, access and the permit calendar set the return before a shovel moves.
- The land disturbance permit comes before the building permit in every North Georgia county. Georgia SB 447 gives the county 45 days to act on a complete application, and the clock stops on an incomplete one.
- The complete first-cycle plan set is the single largest schedule lever on a commercial site. We hold a pre-submittal meeting with the county on every commercial plan set.
- Each property type has its own deal killers: medical parking ratios, industrial detention, the pickleball noise setback, pad site stacking and shared ponds. Each has its own page below.
- Named proof: two medical office sites in Cherokee County and a 45,000-square-foot indoor recreation facility in the Athens market, each with a case study, plus feasibility, industrial and pad site work across North Georgia on the sector pages below.
Who this page is for
- Developers and property owners taking a commercial parcel from contract to opening.
- Commercial brokers who need a written answer on a site before the buyer goes hard.
- Architects and general contractors who need a civil partner that clears review and coordinates in Revit.
- Franchisees, tenants and operators fitting a prototype building to a specific lot.
A commercial site is a capital decision before it is an engineering problem. Engineered correctly from the beginning, it is easier to finance, easier to permit and easier to build.
Commercial project types we engineer
Each page below is written for that property type: the parking, access, stormwater and permitting questions that decide whether the site works.
| Property type | What decides the site | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Medical and healthcare | Medical parking ratios, accessible parking at 10 percent, possible state plan review | /commercial-site-development/medical-office/ |
| Industrial, warehouse and flex | A flat pad, a truck court and detention for a site that is mostly roof and pavement | /commercial-site-development/industrial-warehouse-flex/ |
| Recreation and sports facilities | Court geometry, the 800-foot noise setback, parking that turns over by the hour | /commercial-site-development/recreation-sports-facilities/ |
| Retail, restaurant and pad sites | Cross access, drive-through stacking, shared detention sized years ago | /commercial-site-development/retail-restaurant-pad-sites/ |
| Data centers | Power and water first, campus stormwater, phased plan sets | Data center civil engineering in Georgia |
What we do on a commercial site
- Due diligence and pad site feasibility. Zoning and use, parking and building yield, stormwater footprint, utility and fire flow availability, access and DOT, wetlands and stream buffers. A written report tied to the purchase decision. See our commercial due diligence and feasibility page.
- Concept site plans and parking yield. Building placement, parking count, drive aisle geometry, truck and emergency access, drawn to the setbacks and buffers that apply. See site planning.
- Zoning exhibits and hearing support. Rezonings, special use permits and variances. Read what a zoning exhibit actually includes.
- Land disturbance permit plan sets. Cover, site, grading and drainage, utility, phased erosion and sediment control, profiles, details, tree preservation and lighting, with the stormwater and hydrology report. Prepared for first-cycle approval.
- Grading and utility design. Earthwork balance, retaining walls, domestic water, fire protection, sanitary sewer or commercial septic, storm drainage.
- Stormwater management. Detention and water quality designed to the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual, underground where surface area is tight. See stormwater design and hydrology studies.
- NPDES coverage. Notice of Intent, certified erosion control plans and inspection documentation. See stormwater permitting and compliance.
- Construction administration through CO. Shop drawings, RFIs, site visits, as-builts, stormwater facility certification and county closeout.
Mack perspective: Mack Engineering is owned by a licensed general contractor, so our civil design is filtered through field constructability: how the grading will actually be phased, where the trucks will actually go, and what the detention pond will look like after a Georgia thunderstorm. Plans are sealed by the responsible engineer of record. For owners who want one accountable team through vertical construction, Mack Engineering also provides construction management and owner’s representative services. Our sister company, Mack Development Group, is a licensed general contractor, and that field experience is where our constructability standard comes from.
How a commercial site moves from contract to CO
These are typical North Georgia ranges for a ground-up project that does not need rezoning, taken from our Metro Atlanta LDP cost and timeline guide and our medical office permit to CO timeline. Rezoning adds three to six months in front of everything else.
| Phase | Typical duration | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Due diligence and feasibility | 30 to 60 days | Site walk, survey, zoning verification, utility availability, concept yield, feasibility report |
| Concept design and pre-application | 30 to 45 days | Concept site plan, parking and accessible layout, conceptual stormwater, county pre-submittal review |
| Construction documents | 60 to 90 days | Civil plan set, hydrology report, coordination with architect, MEP, structural, landscape and lighting |
| Plan review and permitting | 45 to 120 days | Land disturbance permit, fire marshal, water and sewer authority, environmental health if septic, DOT driveway permit, NPDES Notice of Intent |
| Site work and shell | 6 to 10 months | Grading, utilities, paving, building shell |
| Inspections and closeout | 4 to 8 weeks | As-builts, stormwater certification, building and fire finals, certificate of occupancy |
Georgia SB 447 gives a county 45 days to act on a complete land disturbance permit application. The clock stops on an incomplete one.
The complete first-cycle plan set is the single largest schedule lever on a commercial site. It is the one we spend the most effort on, because every cycle saved is a month of carry the owner keeps.
Commercial permitting by county
Updated November 2026. Figures are each county’s published numbers and our project files; confirm current fees with the county before budgeting. The full comparison, with required plan sheets and special requirements, is on our commercial LDPs by county page.
| County | Where plans go | Review cycle | Published review fees | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee | CityView portal, Development Services Center | About five business days per cycle; a complete set typically clears in two to three cycles; free preliminary review Thursdays | Plan review $255 to $1,075 by acreage, $200 fire review, LDP $700 per disturbed acre ($1,000 minimum) | Water and sewer through CCWSA, a separate agency |
| Forsyth | Customer Self Service portal, Planning and Community Development | Monday deadline, review meeting nine business days later | Per the county fee schedule; $3,000 per acre performance bond | Sketch plat and public hearing at two acres (five in M-1) |
| Dawson | County permit portal, Community Development | At least 14 working days per cycle | $50 per disturbed acre ($500 minimum), $1,000 site plan review, $150 fire review; resubmittals $300, $500, $750 | Water and sewer through Etowah Water and Sewer Authority |
| Fulton and North Fulton cities | County or city portal | 30 to 75 days typical | $450 to $500 base plus per acre | Overlay districts in Alpharetta, Milton and Roswell add review depth |
| Cobb | County portal | 45 to 75 days typical | $600 base plus per acre | Trip generation review on commercial projects |
| Gwinnett | County portal | 30 to 60 days typical | $500 base plus per acre | Electronic submittal process |
| Hall | Public Works and Utilities, Development Review Division; Accela ePermitting portal | Plans in by 4:00 p.m. Monday go to the Wednesday Development Review meeting; up to two weeks per cycle | Commercial LDP $2,000 plus $40 per disturbed acre; third and later reviews $200; as-built review $750 | Hydrology report at 5,000 square feet of new impervious area or one acre disturbed; as-built approved before CO |
Sources: Cherokee County Plan Approval Customer Package, Forsyth County Land Development page, Dawson County Land Disturbance Requirements 2026, Dawson County Fee Schedule, and our county guides linked below.
Commercial projects
- Union Hill Medical Building, Canton. 7.49 acres, a former outdoor storage yard redeveloped for a 20,000-square-foot medical office. Read the case study.
- Hickory Flat Medical Building, Hickory Flat. 3.95-acre medical office site on Hickory Flat Highway, rezoned to Office and Institutional in February 2026; Mack is civil engineer of record for site design and permitting. Read the case study.
- Pickleball Kingdom, Athens area (Oconee County). 3.5-acre site for a 45,000 square foot, 16-court indoor pickleball facility at Hog Mountain Road and Macon Highway. Full civil engineering by Mack. Read the case study.
Why owners bring Mack in on commercial work
One accountable engineer
The same engineer of record runs the project from feasibility to closeout. One technical point of contact, not a chain of assistants.
Plans built to clear review
We hold a pre-submittal meeting with the county on every commercial plan set. The plan set goes in complete. Fewer cycles, a shorter calendar, a cheaper carry. Read how to avoid delays in land disturbance permit approval.
We know the review desks
We submit in Cherokee, Forsyth, Dawson, Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett and Hall and draw to what each review desk looks for. Our county guides are written from those project files and the counties’ own documents.
Drawn by people who build
Our plans are drawn by people who have had to build from plans. See construction management and our guide to owner’s side construction management for Georgia commercial projects.
Scoped to the site, not the clock
Proposals are scoped to the parcel and the program, with pre-submittal coordination included rather than added at the end.
Owner tip: Ask for the pre-submittal meeting before the plan set is finished, not after. Cherokee offers a free preliminary review every Thursday and Forsyth runs a nine-business-day review meeting. A reviewer who has seen the concept will flag the buffer, tree density and detention questions while they are still cheap to fix.
Frequently asked questions
About five business days per review cycle through CityView, so total time depends on the number of cycles. A set that resolves stormwater, buffers and tree density before first submittal typically clears in two to three cycles; a set that does not can take four or more. Commercial LDPs in Cherokee typically run 45 to 120 days from complete submittal to issued permit, and our medical office projects there have run 60 to 120 days.
$8,000 to $25,000 for a 5- to 20-acre commercial parcel in Metro Atlanta, with surveys, environmental and geotechnical work priced separately. A pad site screen for a broker or buyer under contract is priced below that.
Engineering fees for a small commercial site under five acres typically run $10,000 to $25,000 or more for the land disturbance plan set, and $25,000 to $90,000 or more for an industrial or warehouse site of 5 to 30 acres, depending on acreage, stormwater complexity and utility coordination. County permit fees are the smaller part of the total. Every fee is quoted to the parcel and the program.
Yes, in every North Georgia county we work in. The LDP authorizes grading, utilities, paving and stormwater. The building permit does not issue until the LDP is processed.
It depends on use and jurisdiction. Medical office runs 3.5 to 7 spaces per 1,000 square feet, general office 2.5 to 4, and recreation uses are set by a demand model rather than the zoning default. Parking is the first thing we size on a concept plan, because it decides whether the building fits.
Yes. Detention and water quality are designed to the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual, the erosion and sediment control plan carries the required certification, and the Notice of Intent is filed with Georgia EPD at least 14 days before land disturbance begins, or earlier where the county requires it before LDP approval, as Cherokee does.
Yes. We coordinate directly with the architect, geotechnical engineer, MEP and structural teams and the local building and fire marshal offices, and we model civil elements in Revit for teams that coordinate in BIM.
Cherokee, Forsyth, Dawson, Fulton and the North Fulton cities, Cobb, Gwinnett and Hall, plus projects in the Athens area and across Georgia. Mack Engineering is licensed in Georgia.
Have a commercial site under contract?
Send us the parcel number and your concept. You get back a feasibility exhibit with buffers, tree density, detention volume, parking yield and the review schedule before you go hard on the deal.
Call (770) 715-7295 or contact Mack Engineering to schedule a feasibility conversation. Our office is at 5745 Stables Wy A-09, Alpharetta, GA 30004, and we serve Metro Atlanta and North Georgia.
This page is general information about civil engineering and permitting for commercial sites in Georgia. It is not a parcel specific permit determination, legal advice, or a cost estimate. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and change frequently; confirm current rules with the reviewing agencies and your engineer of record.