Services
Site civil design from concept through construction documents — grading, drainage, utilities, entitlements, and permitting for residential and commercial developers across Alabama and Georgia.
Our Services
Your contractor needs plans that are clear, coordinated, and buildable the first time. We deliver grading, utility, drainage, and roadway layouts designed together from the start — so conflicts get caught in our office, not in the field. Fewer redesigns. Fewer RFIs. Fewer change orders that eat into your margin.
An experienced engineer with the right tools can add immense value in stormwater design. Optimizing pond sizes, refining conveyance routes, and right-sizing detention systems means more buildable area on your site — and more profit in your pro forma. We model detention, retention, and conveyance to meet local, state, and federal requirements while maximizing every square foot of usable ground.
This is what separates us from most firms. We don't just design what works — we optimize. Retaining walls, detention alternatives, pavement sections, pipe sizing — we challenge every assumption that adds cost without adding value to your project. The savings show up in your bid numbers, not just on paper.
Great land planning is where real value gets created. We take creative approaches that embrace engineering constraints like grade breaks and topography — turning limitations into opportunities instead of liabilities. When a compelling site vision is presented to a community, it opens doors that a generic layout never will. Density, product mix, access, open space — planned correctly, these decisions don't just check boxes, they add measurable value to the development.
Our Approach
What we hear from developers who've worked with other firms: slow, uncommunicative, over-engineered. We built Samford Group to be the opposite — smaller project load, parallel design across all disciplines, and plans engineered around your pro forma from day one. A set of plans that technically works but blows your budget isn't a set of plans that works.
Meet the Team → Also need land surveying? We do that too →A civil engineer designs the site infrastructure — grading, roads, stormwater drainage, water and sewer utilities, and erosion control — and prepares the construction drawings and permit applications your contractor needs to build. At Samford Group, we also handle value engineering, agency coordination, and the full entitlement process so developers don't have to manage multiple firms.
For a typical residential subdivision, construction documents take 8–12 weeks from notice to proceed. Samford Group commits to an 8-week turnaround from NTP to submittal. Permitting timelines depend on the jurisdiction — Auburn and Lee County typically take 4–8 weeks for plan review after submittal.
It depends on project complexity and the jurisdiction's review cycle. In Auburn, the DRT (Development Review Team) permit process typically takes 6–12 weeks from submittal to approval. In Opelika, the LDP (Land Disturbance Permit) process is generally faster at 4–8 weeks. The entitlement process — rezoning, planning commission, city council — can add 60–120 days depending on the hearing schedule. Samford Group manages the full submittal and review process on your behalf.
Yes. Any commercial development requires civil site design including grading, stormwater management, utility connections, parking, and ADA compliance. You'll also need agency permits and, in most cases, a rezoning or site plan approval from the local jurisdiction. Samford Group handles all of it — from concept through construction documents and permitting.
Contact
Have a development project in Auburn, Opelika, Lee County, or anywhere in Alabama and Georgia? Tell us the site and the product type — we'll put together a scope and fee that fits your timeline.