City Planning Department

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About

The Belize City Council's Town Planning Department is managed by the City Planner Ms. Carla Patnett and is overseen by the City Engineer Mr. Floyd Williams.

The development application is used by the Belize City Council as an administrative tool, to control and regulate development within Belize City. It is through these applications that residents of the City make known their intentions to develop a portion of land, and state the desired purpose, whether for commercial, residential, industrial or other uses.

Town planning dealt primarily with the regulation of land use and the physical arrangement of city structures, as guided by architectural, engineering, and land-development criteria. It then broadened to include the comprehensive guidance of the physical, economic, and social environment of a community. Elements characteristic of town planning include:

General plans that summarize the objectives of (and restraints on) land development;
Zoning and subdivision controls that specify permissible land uses, densities, and requirements for streets, utility services, and other improvements;
Plans for traffic flow and public transportation;
Strategies for economic revitalization of depressed urban and rural areas;
Strategies for supportive action to help disadvantaged social groups; and
Guidelines for environmental protection and preservation of scarce resources

Building Permit

All drawings, descriptions, calculations and specifications as required are to be submitted digitally to [email protected] for revision as per section 11 of the Belize Building Act. Approved plans are only valid for a period of 12 months, if the person fails to commence work within this period, he/she must reapply for a building permit.

Key Things to know:

Amount of parking space offered for Residential use and Commercial use:-

Residential R1/R2/R3/R4 1.0 space per dwelling unit
Commercial Hotels, guest house 1.0 space per guest unit, 1.0 space for each three guest rooms
Retail and office 1.0 space for each 500 sq ft useable floor area
Restaurant 1.0 space for each 100 sq ft of the public dining area
Dancehalls, discos, clubs, bars, and game rooms 1.0 space for each 200 sq ft of floor area
Industrial use Warehousing and light industry 1.0 space for each building up to 1500 sq ft plus for every other 1500 sq ft thereafter
Community Facilities Libraries, museums, exhibition buildings- 1.0 space for each 1000 sq ft of floor area
Assembly Halls auditorium, churches, courthouses, lecture halls, cinemas 1.0 space for each 20 seats
Hospitals 1.0 space for 6000 sq ft of floor
Clinics 2.0 spaces for each practitioner's office

Vehicles Loading or Off Loading Requirements:

Type of Buildings and the number of loading and offloading bays required:

Retail Outlets, showrooms 1.0 for each unit up to 1000 sq ft
Markets, hospitals 1.0 for each unit up to 1000 sq ft plus for each 15000 sq ft of floor area thereafter
Warehousing and light industry 1.0 for each building up to 5000 sq ft plus one for each 10000 sq ft of floor area in excess of 5000 sq ft to a total of 3.1.0 for each 50000 sq ft thereafter

Consideration will be given to dual use where time of operation alternative.

Criteria for plans:

Title block - name of owner, date, draftsman/architect
3 Site Plan - parking must be shown
Location Plan - cross section
Floor Plan for Elevations - electrical layout
Beam Details - septic tank & soak away
Stairs Details - Plumbing Layout

Procedure for Applying for a Building Permit

Once the person has finished designing his structure and has completed all the architectural plans (site plan, floor plans, elevation plans, cross section), structural plans (ground beams, foundation pile, beams and column cross-section, staircase, slab rebar design, etc), plumbing and electrical plans, along with the design of septic and soak away, and wishes to carry out construction within the city shall do the following:

Submit a copy of the construction documents, land documents, application payment fee receipt, PUC electrical approval (where applicable) electronically to [email protected] (letters of endorsement shall be addressed to the Technical Manager) – revision phase
Pay their relevant permit fees (to be determined based on the type and area of structure) – approval phase

The plans are then reviewed by the Belize City Council's Building Unit. If the plans do not conform to the applicable codes or other safety measures required, modifications to the drawings will be requested. The Building Unit makes every effort to provide prompt feedback to clients; however, it is important to mention that the Belize Building Act considers 14 working days for plans less than 5,000 sq. ft. Feel free to contact the BCBU to request an update on your application status if you have not received a response within this timeframe.

Once the requested modifications have been made, the owner is to resubmit the plans to the Belize City Council's Building Unit for a second revision. (There is no extra charge).

Once the plans are approved, the owner is charged a permit fee. Thereafter, the plans are returned to the owner with a no objection to commence works.

Before commencement of the proposed works, the Belize City Building Unit must be notified of the proposed start date of the development and the property owner must request that a representative from the Belize City’s Building Unit be present to approve the site layout.

If a person wants to make modifications to the approved structure, they must first request permission from Belize City Building Unit before doing so. A fine may be imposed on the owner if he or she fails to report such alterations.