New Lodestar Campus, Oakland, CA
Calichi partnered with LCA Architects and Bjork Construction to deliver the new Lodestar Campus in Oakland.
ENR Best Project — K-12 Education, Northern California
Calichi received the 2022 ENR Best Project Award for Fremont Union High School Transformation.
Calichi Awarded 7 OUSD Living Schoolyards Sites
Awarded 7 of 13 sites in the OUSD Living Schoolyards CalFire-grant-funded program.
Dublin Transit Center Parking — County of Alameda
Calichi provided civil engineering for the 516-stall Dublin Transit Center parking garage.
New Office in Hood River, Oregon
Calichi opened a new office in Hood River to serve the Columbia River Gorge.
New Oakland Headquarters
Calichi Design Group moved the Oakland headquarters into a new, expanded space at 3206 Hannah Street #3.
How to Calculate ADA Parking Requirements — Calichi Design Group
How to calculate ADA parking requirements using CBC Table 11B-208.2. Van-accessible stalls, access aisle dimensions, signage rules, and common plan check mis...
Can a Playground Be a Stormwater Basin? Turns Out, Your Kids...
Bay Area K-12 schools are combining C.3 stormwater BMPs with play areas and outdoor classrooms. How living schoolyard design works and how to pay for it.
How Does Site Planning for K-12 Schools Work in Walnut Creek?
K-12 school site planning in Walnut Creek: DSA approval, C.3 stormwater, CCCFPD fire access, and ADA compliance — by a licensed CA PE.
K-12 School Site Planning in Honolulu: Drainage, Grading, and...
Site planning for K-12 schools in Honolulu means navigating coral soils, CZMA coastal zones, and Hawaii DOE permit timelines. Here's what it takes.
K-12 Site Planning in the Pacific Northwest: Rain, Terrain,...
Site planning for K-12 schools in Oregon and Washington means designing for heavy rain, steep terrain, and green schoolyard requirements. Here is how...
Multifamily Site Planning in Walnut Creek: Parking, Grading,...
Multifamily site planning in Walnut Creek: parking, C.3 stormwater, grading, density bonus, and utility coordination — by a licensed CA PE.
Oakland Mixed-Use Site Planning: Navigating Entitlements and...
Site planning for retail mixed-use projects in Oakland: Broadway Valdez, Lake Merritt Station Area, SB 35, C.3 stormwater, EBMUD, and Oakland Fire...
Portland Stormwater Management: BES, PSMM, and Why Your...
Portland's BES and the PSMM require on-site stormwater management for ALL development. Here's what California engineers need to know before they su...
Retail and Mixed-Use Site Planning in Walnut Creek: What the...
Site planning for retail and mixed-use projects in Walnut Creek: parking ratios, C.3 stormwater, CCCSD, EBMUD, and Downtown Specific Plan requirements...
Site Planning for Oakland Schools: DSA, Playgrounds, and ADA...
Site planning for Oakland K-12 schools means navigating DSA, OUSD Living Schoolyards, C.3 stormwater, and ADA path-of-travel. Here's how we approach it.
What Oakland Developers Need to Know About Multifamily Site Plans
Site planning for multifamily housing in Oakland: SB 35, density bonus law, C.3 stormwater compliance, and Oakland Fire access rules explained for...
What Sacramento School Districts Need from a Civil Site Plan
K-12 school site planning in Sacramento: DSA approval, C.3 stormwater, Central Valley flood zones, expansive soils, and ADA compliance — by a licensed...
Why Bay Area K-12 Projects Need Stormwater-First Site Planning
Bay Area K-12 school site planning must account for MRP C.3 stormwater requirements from day one. We explain why and how we design around it.
Your Entire Site Is Impervious. Your Stormwater Engineer Just...
Industrial sites in California face C.3, IGP/MSGP, and hydromodification rules all at once. We explain what they mean and how to design around them.
Composite Utility Plans: The Drawing That Saves Your Project...
A composite utility plan overlays all utility designs onto one drawing to catch conflicts before construction. Here's why it should be mandatory on...
Electrical Vaults: Sizing, Placement, and Why They Always End...
Electrical vault sizing, placement constraints, clearance requirements, and coordination tips for California civil engineers — including why vaults...
Industrial Dry Utility Design: When Your Power Demand Is the...
Industrial dry utility consulting in California: dedicated feeders, PG&E capacity studies, and conduit routing for warehouses, cold storage, and...
Joint Trench Design: What Every Developer Needs to Know...
A Bay Area civil engineer breaks down PG&E joint trench design requirements, realistic timelines, common developer mistakes, and the civil engineer'...
Joint Trench and Dry Utility Design in Portland: PGE, Pacific...
How dry utility coordination in Portland actually works — PGE vs. Pacific Power territories, BDS and PBOT routing, Lumen and Comcast, and why...
PG&E's New Joint Trench Process: Submit Your Building Permit...
PG&E now requires approved building permit drawings before starting joint trench design — and their turnaround is roughly 90 days. Here's what chang...
Switchgear Pads and Pull Boxes: The Equipment Nobody Draws...
PG&E's switchgear pads and pull boxes show up on design drawings after your site plan is already permitted. Here's what civil and electrical en...
The PG&E Green Book: A Civil Engineer's Translation Guide — Calichi Design Group
A civil engineer's guide to PG&E's Green Book — Rule 16, Rule 20, joint trench design, clearance requirements, and the timeline realities of dry utility coor...
The PG&E Green Book: A Civil Engineer's Translation Guide
The PG&E Electric and Gas Service Requirements is 600 pages of standards most developers never read. Here's what actually matters for your Bay Area...
Transformer Pad Clearances: The 10 Feet Nobody Planned For
PG&E transformer pad clearance requirements explained by a civil PE — front, side, and rear dimensions, NEC rules, and why every site plan needs to...
Why Dry Utility Coordination Takes Longer Than You Think (And...
Dry utility coordination in California takes months, not weeks. Here is the honest timeline for PG&E, AT&T, and telecom — and how to front-load it so...
2% Cross-Slope: The Three Characters That Make Affordable...
CBC 11B's 2% max cross-slope on accessible routes creates a real tension with drainage. Here's how it drives cost on affordable housing projects — ...
40 Acres of Concrete and Nowhere for the Rain to Go
Industrial site planning is a different discipline. Massive impervious areas, WB-67 truck templates, IGP permits, and C.3 BMPs that eat your yard....
ADA Path of Travel: Maximum Slopes, Landing Sizes, and...
California CBC 11B path of travel: 5% max running slope, 2% max cross-slope, 60" x 60" landings, 48" clear width. The numbers that matter and ...
Affordable Housing Site Planning in California: TCAC, C.3,...
How site plan decisions affect TCAC scoring, C.3 stormwater on tight infill lots, parking reductions under AB 2097, ADA compliance, and the 18–24 month...
Bay Area Mixed-Use Projects: The Site Planning Challenges...
Multi-jurisdiction stormwater, C.3 compliance, SB 35 density bonus, and CEQA surprises — the real site planning challenges on Bay Area mixed-use...
Bay Area Multifamily Site Planning: C.3 Compliance and Beyond
Planning a multifamily project in the Bay Area? Calichi walks through C.3 stormwater compliance, density bonus, SB 35, and the multi-jurisdiction...
Bike Lockers vs. Bike Racks: What Your City Actually Requires
CALGreen requires both short-term racks and secure long-term storage — but Oakland and SF go further. Here's what each class requires, where it goes,...
Building Better Schools in Portland: A Civil Engineer's Guide...
Portland K-12 school site planning requires navigating BES stormwater rules, BDS plan check, and Oregon structural code. Here's what civil engineers...
CALGreen EV Charging: EV Ready, EV Capable, and EVSE — What...
CALGreen 2022 defines three EV infrastructure tiers — EV Capable, EV Ready, and EVSE — each with different electrical and conduit requirements. Here’s...
CBC 11B on Schools: The Plan Check Comments That Follow You Home
The 10 CBC 11B plan check comments civil engineers see on every K-12 school project — cross-slopes, ramp landings, curb ramps, accessible parking, and...
Density Bonus: When the City Hands You 40 Extra Units and...
California's density bonus law hands you extra units. But more units means more parking, more impervious area, bigger BMPs, and a grading plan that...
Every Sidewalk, Every Ramp, Every Cross-Slope: ADA on a...
CBC Chapter 11B on a K-12 campus means every walkway, ramp, and playground route is a regulated path of travel. Here's what DSA actually enforces — and...
Fire Access Road Requirements: Width, Turning Radius, and the...
CFC Chapter 5 fire access road requirements: 20 ft minimum width, 28.5 ft turning radius, 150 ft dead-end limit, 13.5 ft clearance. The specific...
Fire Department Turnarounds: Hammerhead vs. Cul-de-Sac and...
CFC 503.2.5: any dead-end fire access road over 150 feet needs a turnaround. Here are the actual dimensions for hammerhead (60x20 ft legs), cul-de-sac...
Half an Inch Across 200,000 Square Feet: Warehouse Grading Is...
Warehouse grading tolerances, dock approach profiles, cut/fill balance, subgrade prep, and drainage across massive industrial pads. What the civil...
How Flat Is Too Flat? The ADA-vs-Drainage Problem That Haunts...
The 2% ADA cross-slope limit and the minimum drainage slope create a real engineering tension. Here's how we solve it in the grading plan — before the...
How Long Does DSA Really Take? Grab a Chair.
The honest timeline for DSA plan review on California K-12 projects: what gets reviewed, what causes delays, and how to keep your project moving.
How Portland's Green Infrastructure Rules Shape Mixed-Use...
Portland's PSMM, green streets policy, ecoroof requirements, and Central City Plan District rules define every mixed-use site plan. Here's how civi...
How to Calculate ADA Parking Requirements (With the Table...
The complete ADA and CBC accessible parking table, van accessible ratios, stall dimensions, slope limits, and common mistakes — all in one place.
How to Calculate Bike Parking Requirements (Short-Term vs....
CALGreen and city-specific bike parking tables by occupancy type — short-term racks vs. long-term secure storage, rack spacing, aisle widths, and the...
How to Calculate EV Parking Requirements in California...
CALGreen 2022 EV parking requirements by occupancy type — exact percentages, conduit sizing, panel capacity, and how local Bay Area jurisdictions make...
How to Navigate Sacramento's Multifamily Site Planning Process
A practical guide to multifamily site planning in Sacramento — covering City CDD entitlements, SB 35 streamlining, C.3 stormwater compliance, SMUD...
How to Read a Grading Plan: Contours, Spot Elevations, and...
Learn how to read a grading plan — contour lines, spot elevations, flow arrows, cut/fill, and slope callouts explained in plain language for developers...
Maximum Driveway Slopes in California: What the Code Says and...
California driveway slope limits range from 5% (ADA) to 20% (residential). Learn the code citations, fire lane rules, and what actually works on...
Mixed-Use Site Planning Across the Pacific Northwest:...
Oregon and Washington have different stormwater rules, permit timelines, and green building codes — and they all shape your mixed-use site plan. Here's...
Mixed-Use Site Planning in Honolulu: Balancing Density with...
Honolulu mixed-use development requires navigating DPP permits, BWS water availability, HCDA Kakaako rules, and coral soil drainage. Here’s how we...
Multifamily Housing in Hood River: Site Planning for a...
Hood River is growing fast and the land supply is tight. We break down what multifamily site planning actually requires in Hood River — terrain, UGB...
Multifamily Site Planning in the Pacific Northwest: What...
Thinking about a multifamily project in Oregon or Washington? We break down the stormwater rules, green building mandates, and density regulations that...
Nobody Budgeted the Civil Scope: A School Modernization...
California school modernization projects trigger far more civil work than anyone budgets for. Here's what the ADA path-of-travel rule, stormwater...
Planning a Mixed-Use Project in Hood River? Start with the Site
Planning a mixed-use or retail project in Hood River? Here's what the site is telling you before permits, parking, and the City even get involved.
Portland Multifamily Site Planning: Stormwater, Density, and...
Planning a multifamily project in Portland? We break down BES stormwater requirements, green street compliance, inclusionary zoning, and density...
SB 35 Streamlining: What It Actually Means for Your Civil...
SB 35 speeds up ministerial approval for qualifying multifamily projects—but stormwater, fire access, and objective design standards still apply....
Sacramento Retail Site Planning: Utilities, Access, and City...
Planning a retail or mixed-use project in Sacramento? We walk through utilities (SMUD, SRCSD), access, CDD entitlements, Central City Specific Plan,...
Site Planning for Honolulu Multifamily Projects: Slopes,...
Site planning for multifamily housing in Honolulu means navigating steep terrain, volcanic soils, coastal zone rules, and City and County DPP...
Small-Town School Site Planning: Lessons from Hood River, Oregon
Hood River K-12 school site planning means working around steep terrain, Oregon DEQ stormwater rules, and a small-town infrastructure grid with no room...
Van Accessible Parking Stalls: Dimensions, Access Aisles, and...
CBC 11B-502: primary van accessible stall is 12' wide + 5' aisle. Exception: 9' + 8' aisle. 98" vertical clearance. 2% max slope. Th...
What Is a Will-Serve Letter and Why Your Project Can't Move...
A will-serve letter is a written commitment from a utility that your project can be served. Here's who issues them, when you need them, how to request...
Your Fire Marshal Just Red-Lined Your Site Plan. Here's Why...
26-foot fire lanes, aerial apparatus setbacks, 3,000 GPM fire flow, and the trailer-in-the-fire-lane problem that kills occupancy permits. What CFC...
Bioretention Isn’t Always the Answer. But It’s Always the...
Bioretention works on most sites — but high groundwater, clay soils, and tight urban lots demand a smarter BMP selection process. Here’s how we walk...
Does My Project Trigger C.3? It's Not One Threshold Anymore — Calichi Design Group
MRP 3.0 dropped the C.3 threshold from 10,000 SF to 5,000 SF for most projects in 2023. Here's the full tier system — 2,500, 5,000, and 10,000 SF — and what ...
Does My Project Trigger C.3? The Square Footage Thresholds...
Wondering what triggers C.3 stormwater requirements in the Bay Area? Here are the exact thresholds — 5,000 sq ft for most projects under MRP 3.0, 2,500 sq ft...
Fitting a Bioretention Basin on a Half-Acre Lot Is Like...
Affordable housing stormwater compliance on tight Bay Area sites: the 4% rule math, flow-through planters, underground detention, and how to stop...
How to Size a Bioretention Basin: The 4% Rule and When It...
Learn how to size a bioretention basin using the 4% rule, BASMAA calculator, and IMP worksheets. When the rule works—and when clay soils and high...
How to Write a Stormwater Control Plan That Doesn't Come Back...
A stormwater control plan is the C.3 compliance document your project can't get a grading permit without. Here's how to write one that doesn't...
Hydromodification: The Word Your Client Can't Pronounce but...
Hydromodification compliance in California — what it is, when it applies, how BAHM analysis works, and why it can double your stormwater BMP...
Provision C.3: The Three Pages of Permit Language That...
Provision C.3 of the Municipal Regional Permit reshapes every Bay Area project over 5,000 SF under MRP 3.0. Here's what source control, site design, and...
Silva Cells: When Your Stormwater Solution Grows a 50-Foot Tree — Calichi Design Group
Silva Cells are modular underground systems that grow full-size trees under pavement while treating stormwater for C.3 compliance. Here's how they work, what...
Stormwater Requirements for Small Projects: Yes, Your 5,000...
Think stormwater rules only apply to big developments? Think again. Here's exactly when a small addition, ADU, or parking lot repave triggers C.3,...
What Is C.3 Stormwater? A Plain-English Explanation for...
C.3 is the stormwater provision developers keep hearing about but nobody explains clearly. Here's what it means, what triggers it, and what compliance...