(a) A new building in the historic districts shall be visually compatible with its neighbors in spacing, setback, massing, materials, roof shape, window divisions and siding emphasis. A new building must not be identical with its neighbors in these respects, but attention shall be given to the immediate architectural environment of the new building. Any new building should support and enhance a block's design unity and sense of character through consideration of silhouette, spacing, setbacks, proportions, volume/mass, entryway, material/surface, shadow/texture, and style/image. In addition, these guidelines apply only to the parts of the building visible from a public way. Within the City's requirements, the designer should have free rein.
(b) In residential districts present a residential atmosphere. To accomplish this, new buildings should be compatible in size, scale, and mass with existing buildings.
(c) Rhythms of building spacing should be maintained. There is an existing pattern of paired buildings followed by a space before the next set of paired buildings. This pattern should continue, taking into account the constraints of locations of infrastructure.
(d) Front of buildings facing the street. The buildings in Clarksburg are characterized by their linear appearance. The front of nearly every building faces the street. Although this may not be achievable on every site due to other constraints, architectural treatments can achieve the same effect. Parking should be located at the rear and side of buildings.
(e) Entrances and porches are often the focus of buildings, particularly when they occur on primary elevations. Together with their functional and decorative features such as doors, steps, balustrades, pilasters and entablatures, they can be extremely important in defining the overall character of a building. The porch treatment of new structures should relate to the porch treatment of existing adjacent structures. Open porches are strongly encouraged, but screened in porches may be acceptable if well-detailed.
(f) The roof, with its shape; features such as cresting, dormers and chimneys; and the size, color and patterning of the roofing material, can be extremely important in defining the building's overall character.
(g) Roof profiles contribute strongly to the character of a street, and new construction should relate to the predominant roof shape and pitch of existing adjacent buildings. Where flat roofs appear historically, they almost always project beyond the facade line and are frequently supported by brackets. New roofs should follow the traditional types: gabled, gambrel, hipped and mansard. Roofing material should be unobtrusive and not call attention to itself, except on buildings where pattern is a part of the overall design.
Asphalt shingle is acceptable, provided it is a relatively dark shade. Random mingling of shingle shapes and colors should not be permitted and consideration should be given to whether there is stylistic justification for the use of shaped shingles at all.
(h) The proportion, size and detailing of windows in new construction should relate to that of existing adjacent buildings. Most windows in the City’s historic districts have a vertical orientation. Also, wooden double-hung windows are more traditional in Clarksburg.
The use of large picture windows should not be permitted in domestic structures, nor should any window which is basically horizontal in orientation. Reflective glass is not allowed
Projecting bay windows with a polygonal plan are appropriate. If a bay window is added, a projecting bay window is preferable to a curving bow window.
Window type and materials are to be compatible with the front facade and the historic and architectural character of the buildings. Exterior storm windows and doors should be visually unobtrusive. Aluminum should be painted in an appropriate manner.
(i) Stylistic trim using cornices, scroll work, and the like is encouraged. Shutters are appropriate for new structures in the City’s historic districts. Shutters should be paneled or louvered. Plank or board and batten shutters should not be permitted. Shutters should not be pierced with sawn initials or other motifs.
Shutters should be dimensioned to cover the window opening. The height of shutters should be equal to the distance from the sill to the lintel, and the width of each unit should be half the width of the frame, all measured on the exterior. Attachment of shutters to the building with hinges is preferable to an immovable mounting.
(j) Exterior materials are to be natural in appearance. For siding of new structures, diagonal and vertical siding are generally unacceptable. Siding of new structures should have the same directional emphasis as the siding on original structures in the City’s historic districts. Clapboard is the preferred siding material of new buildings. Materials which imitate natural materials may be acceptable, imitative materials such as asphalt siding, wood-textured metal siding or artificial siding stone or brick should not be used, four-inch metal siding, when installed and carefully detailed, may be acceptable.
(k) Colors should be compatible with the palate of colors and typical of the period from which the architectural style was developed.