(A) Purpose. The purpose of these standards is to promote attractive well-designed development that is built to human-scale; to encourage creativity in new development (as opposed to homogeneity or “look-alike” projects); and to foster attractive streetscapes and pedestrian environments, while accommodating vehicular movement and access.
(B) Applicability. These standards shall apply to all developments that are subject to design review (see § 151.053).
(C) Prohibited building materials. The following materials shall not be used as exterior building materials and shall be prohibited on all exterior walls:
(1) Concrete finishes or precast concrete panels (tilt wall) that are not exposed aggregate, hammered, sandblasted, or covered with a cement-based acrylic coating shall be prohibited;
(2) Metal panels with a depth of less than one inch or a thickness less than U.S. standard 26 gauge shall be prohibited; and
(3) Mirrored glass with a reflectance greater than 40% shall be prohibited from covering more than 40% of the exterior walls of any building.
(D) Building orientation. To the maximum extent feasible, primary facades and entries shall face an adjacent street. Except in industrial districts, a main entrance shall face the adjacent street or a connecting walkway with a direct pedestrian connection to the street without requiring pedestrians to walk through parking lots or cross driveways.
(E) Massing. Single, large building masses shall be avoided. Structures with walls of more than 1,500 square feet must incorporate fascias, canopies, arcades, building setbacks of three feet or more, or other multidimensional design features to break up large wall surfaces on their street facing elevations. Wall surfaces must visually be divided by the features into areas of 750 square feet or less.
(Ord., § 9.7, passed 10-13-2009)