Stillwater Civil Design, a Civil Engineer Napa Based Firm

Civil Engineer Napa

Stillwater Civil Design, established in May of 2012, providing professional civil engineering services to Northern California including the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. A centrally located Civil Engineer in Napa, California.

J. Rangel Gonzales, P.E., QSD/QSP is the Lead Civil Engineer and Founder of Stillwater Civil Design.

Rangel is a licensed professional civil engineer in the State of California.

Rangel graduated from Humboldt State University in 2003 with a degree in Environmental Resources Engineering.  His career began in Sacramento, California working as an environmental engineer.  In 2007, Rangel moved to the Napa Valley working as a civil engineer.

Stillwater Civil Design is a Civil Engineer Napa Valley Firm offering a simple and direct approach to providing Civil Engineering Design and Services.

  • competitive rates
  • excellent customer service
  • outstanding products.

Projects within the unincorporated lands of Napa County are permitted through the County of Napa Planning, Building and Environmental Services Department. Permits available through the Napa County Planning, Building and Environmental Services Department include:

  • Building Permits
  • Grading Permits
  • Septic System Permits
  • Use Permits.

The best place to start is visiting the Napa County Planning and Conservation Division when learning about what type of permit may be required for your development project. Special planning approvals may be required if your development area has;

  • steep slopes
  • contains water resources such as a pond or a stream
  • can be seen from a major roadway
  • plans to grade over 1,000 cubic yards of material

Planning approvals such as a use permit may require a much longer review process and require additional fees.

Septic systems,  key step, is finding out the condition of an existing septic system or determining a suitable location for a new septic system. Regulatory Code for septic systems has been changing substantially over the past 20-years.  An existing septic system often requires improving to meet the current standards in order to obtain permitting through Napa County.

Obtaining a building permit through Napa County requires showing that:

  • the driveway servicing the property is up to current fire code.
  • all the proposed structures are designed to current State of California Building Code
  • that there is adequate domestic water supply
  • that there is an adequate septic system.

Achieving a complete building permit application commonly requires a property owner hiring a Building Designer or Architect, a Civil Engineer, a Geotechnical Engineer, and a Structural Engineer. It is helpful for a property owner hiring one of these consultants or hiring a General Contractor to act as the Project Manager making sure that all the required design and required permit application items are completed. Napa County will not accept partial or incomplete permit applications.

Incorporated areas in Napa County include;

  • the City of American Canyon
  • the City of Napa
  • the Town of Yountville
  • the City of St. Helena
  •   City of Calistoga

If a property is located within one of these incorporated areas then building permits and planning department approval must be obtained directly from these agencies and not through Napa County. However, Napa County will still be required to permit septic systems and wells that are located within these incorporated areas.