Perales Land Development LLC

Who we are

At Perales Land Development LLC, we are leading other companies in the design and construction of progressive and cost-effective water quality and detention alternatives. This enables us to design sites that can accommodate the conceptual requirements of our clients and allows the site to be developed for its best and highest use.

Formerly known as Perales Engineering, we have committed ourselves to building a better path for water detention services since 2011.

What we do

From rain gardens to floodplain mapping and site plans, we've found ways to build cleaner and more efficient wastewater solutions.

In two words: rain gardens. When the cost and site allow for it, our wastewater and runoff collection systems offer a unique solution that sets us aside from other civil engineers. Coordinating with the city of Austin and other officials, our solutions bring rain gardens to the forefront of the land development scene, allowing land development and water management to form a cohesive whole.

What is a rain garden?

A rain garden is a planted depression that allows rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas (like roofs, driveways, walkways, parking lots, and compacted lawn areas) to be absorbed into the ground. This reduces rain runoff and pollution by allowing stormwater to soak into the ground, reducing rain runoff while improving the water quality of nearby creeks and rivers.

On the surface, a rain garden contains the same wild flowers and other native plants you’d expect to see in any garden or landscaping, but the difference runs deep. During a storm or shower, the rain garden soaks up inches of water runoff from roofs, driveways, or other paved surfaces, letting the water slowly seep into the ground instead of gathering oils, E. coli and other pollutants while heading to the nearest storm drain.

How does what we do help?

A rain garden requires an area where water can collect and infiltrate, with plants to maintain infiltration rates, diverse microbe communities, and water holding capacity. Transpiration by growing plants accelerates soil drying between storms. This includes any plant extending roots to the garden area. Sometimes, simply adjusting the landscape so that downspouts and paved surfaces drain into existing gardens may be all that is needed, as the soil has been well loosened and plants are well established, but at other times, more water runs off one’s roof than the existing plants' roots can tolerate. Add this to the garden's required location and storage capacity, and rain garden plants must be selected to match the situation.

Why does that matter?

Rain gardens are beneficial for many reasons. They improve water quality by filtering runoff, provide localized flood control, and are aesthetically pleasing while providing interesting planting opportunities. They also encourage wildlife and biodiversity, tie together buildings and their surrounding environments in attractive and environmentally advantageous ways, and provide significant partial solutions to important environmental problems that affect us all. Rain gardens provide a way to use and optimize any rain that falls, reducing or avoiding the need for irrigation. They allow a household or building to deal with excessive rainwater runoff without burdening the public storm water systems. And—unlike retention basins—the water infiltrates the ground quickly enough to not allow mosquitoes to breed.

Rain gardens come in all shapes and sizes, and every little bit helps!

While our core service is rain gardens, we also specialize in a number of services to best develop the land. Click on a service for further details:

  • We can help locate a piece of property for you and help determine is highest and best use.

  • We can prepare a due-diligence study that will identify issues that may affect development. These items include, but are not limited to, political jurisdictions, subdivision, development regulations, transportation and access, floodplain, stormwater quality and drainage, utilities, and TCEQ permitting. The purpose of this feasibility is to gather, assemble and consolidate known site development related information about a particular site and project type to help determine the appropriate site development strategy and help expedite the site development process, which could include a Site Plan Correction, Site Plan Exemption, Final Plat and/or Site Plan. If a site plan exemption is not approved, then a full consolidated or small project site plan may be required by the City of Austin. Once a best suited strategy for this development has been determined after our research and meeting with the City of Austin, we will provide a proposal for the additional scope of work. We can include an executive summary letter analysis and a bound report.

  • Will prepare and submit to the appropriate City review departments the all application materials. We will also work with you and your team along with City Staff members, the City Commissions and neighborhood groups. The coordination tasks may include:

    1. Client consultation pertaining to property.
    2. Arranging meetings/appointments with COA staff.
    3. Arranging meetings with COA neighborhood liaison staff, if necessary.
    4. Contacting neighborhood leaders/NA association membership, if necessary.
    5. Attending NA meetings to assess issues and report feedback, if necessary.
    6. Holding private conversations with commissioners/preservation members, if necessary.
    7. Exploring mitigation requests from community, if necessary.
    8. Attending strategic planning meetings with client.
    9. Attending public hearings.
    10. Making community outreach efforts to help neutralize any potential community concerns, if necessary.

  • A conceptual site can be created and modified to bring to life a project. With this concept land plan and the results of the boundary, topographic and tree surveys provided, we will work with your team to generate a Detailed Site Plan that will accurately display the site layout, lot acreage, access, parking, detention/water quality ponds and utility layouts in accordance with the jurisdictional regulations for this project. We will amend the site plan as required to meet your objectives. Once this Detailed Site Plan has been reviewed and approved by the client, it will be used to generate a Site Development Permit application (construction plans) for submittal to the City for permitting.

  • The approval of the site plan exemption will be based on the limits of construction and proposed impervious cover of the project. The construction may not exceed 1,000 square feet, and the limits of construction may not exceed 3,000 square feet. The exemption request must be accompanied by a plan view depicting, but not limited to: land use table including site area, limits of construction, existing and proposed impervious cover etc., existing trees, buildings, parking areas, utility lines, roadway/streets, all areas of impervious cover levels (existing and proposed), erosion controls, limits of construction, type of construction, location of construction, accessible parking, and access route.

  • A site plan correction consists of updating an approved site plan to include client requested changes. A site plan correction is typically small changes to the site plan. Perales Engineering has successfully processed corrections which have included updated building designs provided by an architect, including vertical construction to increase the height of an existing parking garage and change a condominium from 2-stories to 3. Corrections to an approved site plan may be deemed a Revision by City of Austin Staff if the changes being requested are deemed significant enough.

    • Prepare the required application, and assemble other information required for submittal with the site plan correction.
    • We will submit the application to the City of Austin for review and comment.
    • We will coordinate with City and County staff to address comments and pursue approval of this application.

  • A site plan revision is similar to a correction with regard to updating and already approved plan. This plan update however can be more extensive to modify and update the entire plan if necessary. A site plan revision is typically required when the drainage plan and hydrologic models have to be updated and reviewed by City Staff. This review can only be done by the drainage review staff in the Development Services Department of the City of Austin.

  • Using the Detailed Site Plan in CAD format, we can prepare construction documents for related access, site, utility, drainage and water quality improvements to serve the proposed development. These construction documents will be submitted to the City for review, approval and permitting prior to City issuance of any Building Permits for the building pad(s), and generally consist of the following:

    • Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plans, showing the location of silt fences, tree protection, construction entrances and staging areas in accordance with City criteria.
    • Site Plans showing the footprint of new buildings, parking layouts, pavement designs from the geotechnical report (typically asphalt or concrete), curbs and gutters, striping, site dimensions, site access, impervious cover calculations and other site information required by the City.
    • Grading and Drainage Plans to establish finished floor elevations, final parking lot grades, and the location/design of any necessary drainage appurtenances, including stormwater detention and water quality facilities if required by the City.
    • Utility Plans showing the layout of utilities to within five (5) feet of the new buildings, including domestic water, fire protection and wastewater service. Design of electric, telephone, gas, fire sprinkler systems, fire booster pump and/or fire water storage are not included in this proposal.
    • Construction details to better illustrate key parking, utility and drainage appurtenances including, but not limited to, handicap signage, parking lot striping, manholes, meters, valve assemblies, fire hydrants, recommended pavement designs, retaining walls, and other related items.
    • Project meetings with the Architect, owner-appointed consultants and City staff to address comments regarding approval of the Site Development Permit. We anticipate that revisions to the construction documents will be required to address City comments for this project, even if no Architect- or Owner-generated changes are made after submittal.

  • A final subdivision plat be submitted and approved as a part of the development process for this project. The final subdivision plat is a legal document which places legal restrictions on the property and is recorded in the deed or plat records of the county in which the property is located and allows subsequent development applications, including building permit applications, to proceed. The plat illustrates and locates with acceptable accuracy the boundaries of the property being platted, the new lots and blocks into which it is being divided, and the location and width of public right of ways, easements, and restrictions in the form of plat notes. It may also include additional restrictions or requirements through restrictive covenants or agreements, which will be recorded simultaneously with the plat. Utilizing the final plat prepared by your surveyor, we will certify to the engineering elements, including drainage and access, as well as submit to City and County development departments and obtain approvals for the final plat. We will provide the following services as part of this phase of the project:

    • Prepare the required Engineer's Report, application, and assemble other information required for submittal with the final plat.
    • We will submit the final plat application to the City of Austin and Travis County for review and comment.
    • Through coordination with City and County staff, we will advise you of any fees due, letters of credit, subdivision construction agreements, restrictive covenants, etc., which must be posted prepared and/or submitted.
    • We will coordinate with City and County staff to address comments and pursue approval of this subdivision application.
    • Should a public hearing be required, we will represent you at this hearing.

  • We can develop an offsite and onsite drainage study to analyze the current and proposed runoff that may enter the project site during a rain event. The methodology used will be according to the current governing body rules. We will analyze the 2, 10, 25, and 100 year 24-hour rain events for the site to determine the anticipated storm water runoff discharge rates to the site. With the results of the offsite drainage study prepared, we can coordinate with your landscape architect regarding an erosion control and grading plan to divert rainfall runoff from the proposed development.

    We can design detention and water quality facilities for onsite control of flooding and pollutant runoff. Our design methodology is to create detention and water quality facilities that blend into the site's landscaping to allow for maximum building coverage. We built the first commercial rain gardens at the Villa Courts Condominium site. Perales has been working with the City of Austin to combine water quality and detention in "stacked rain gardens". These designs have since spread across the City with mixed results. Our detention and water quality facilities exist throughout the City without a single failure.

  • We have extensive experience with FEMA floodplain mapping and the modification of the official maps. We have helped develop much of the current drainage studies on file for the City of Austin to help create the City of Austin Fully Developed Floodplain Maps. These City maps are more extensive than the FEMA FIRM panels for the area. Our methodology includes creating digital terrain models for surface topography. We then create channel cross sections within the digital environment and export the data to the Hydrologic Engineering Center's (CEIWR-HEC) – River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) to perform one-dimensional steady flow, one and two-dimensional unsteady flow calculations, sediment transport/mobile bed computations, and water temperature/water quality modeling. The results of the HEC-RAS analysis is then digitally delineated on the terrain model creating a floodplain for all rain events. The digital terrain model can be modified with proposed grading. Subsequent changes to the floodplain can be mapped and the best site configuration can be determined.

  • Utility tap plans are construction documents prepared and submitted to the City for review, approval and permitting prior to issuance of any Building Permits and generally consist of the following:

    • Utility Plans showing the layout of utilities to within five (5) feet of the building. Design of electric, telephone, gas, fire sprinkler systems, fire booster pump and/or fire water storage are not included in this proposal.
    • Construction details to better illustrate utility appurtenances including, but not limited to manholes, meters, valve assemblies, fire hydrants and other related items.
    • Project meetings with the client and City staff to address comments regarding approval of the Utility Connection Permit. We anticipate that revisions to the construction documents will be required to address City comments for this project, even if no Architect or Owner-generated changes are made after submittal. City-generated corrections and revisions to the construction documents are included in this scope of work.

  • PLACEHOLDER - We also offer plans to idealize and streamline land for minimal traffic.

  • Throughout the life of the construction portion of the project we can be available at a moments notice. We will attend all City required pre-construction meetings, and complete periodic construction observations and work with your contractors to make field modifications if necessary to keep the project moving. Once construction is complete, PE will prepare an Engineer's Letter of Concurrence (ELOC) stating that the site improvements have been constructed in general conformance with the City approved plans. We can make any plans changes through the COA correction process as required and can be onsite to meet inspectors if field conditions require. We can work with your contractors for design/build projects and are approved by the City of Austin for the Fast Track Program for phased construction. This City of Austin Program allows for the phasing of the below grade and above grade portions of the project and can be very beneficial for urban projects with significant below grade construction, such as parking garages for mid- and high-rise buildings.

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One of Perales' first rain gardens, a grassy three-foot recession in the suburbs of Villa Court that includes a tree and a bench.
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