The following standards and design features are provided to ensure a level of quality that must be compiled with or satisfied in all commercial developments. Standards are mandatory requirements for all commercial developments. Design features are provided to allow flexibility by providing options for implementing specific standards. In order to meet a certain standard, one or a combination of design features shall be incorporated in the project’s design. In some instances, there will be no design feature(s) identified for a particular standard.
A. Site Planning.
1. Site Character.
a. Standard. Natural amenities (e.g., views, mature trees, creeks, riparian corridors, and topographic features) unique to the site shall be preserved and incorporated into the project's design whenever possible.
b. Standard: Structures that are historic or are otherwise distinctive because of their ruralness, age, cultural significance, or unique architectural style as determined by the council shall be preserved and incorporated into development proposals.
c. Standard: Structures shall not face their back side or loading areas onto existing or planned amenties (e.g. parks, open space, and water features).
d. Standard: Frontage roads or drives shall be provided adjacent to open space areas unless the commercial project is designed to provide direct pedestrian access to the open space and the road or drive is not otherwise necessary.
e. Standard:
Development on sloped properties shall generally follow the natural contours of the land by use of at least one of the following design features:
1) Use terraced parking lots.
2) Provide stepped building foundations and retaining walls.
3) Incorporate larger setbacks to preserve natural landforms.
2. Land Use Buffering.
a. Standard: Noise, traffic, or odor-generating activities shall be located adjacent to similar activities on adjacent properties whenever possible. Buffering between different land uses shall be in compliance with 16.18.120 (Screening and Buffering).
b. Standard: Loading areas, access and circulation driveways, trash. storage areas, and mechanical related to commercial uses equipment related to commercial use shall be located as far as possible from adjacent residences.
c. Standard: When adjoining residential and commercial uses can mutually benefit from connection rather than separation, appropriate connective elements (e.g., walkways, common landscape areas, building orientation, and unfenced property lines) shall be provided between the uses.
d. Standard: Window orientation in nonresidential buildings shall preclude a direct line of sight into adjacent residential units and private open spaces within one hundred (100) feet of the property line.
e. Standard: When commercial buildings back up to open space areas of multi-family residential projects, the rear setback area shall be landscaped and combined with the residential open space where feasible.
f. Standard: Evergreen trees shall be planted a minimum of thirty (30) feet on center, and may be required to be planted closer, depending on species. to screen parking lots and large commercial building walls in order to provide a visual barrier between commercial and residential uses.
3. Building Placement.
a. Standard: On multi-tenant commercial sites, a minimum of fifteen (I 5) percent of the total building frontage shall be located at the front setback line. The Director may waive or reduce this standard for projects where implementation of this standard may not be feasible.
b. Standard: Corner buildings shall provide a strong tie to the setback lines of each street. The primary mass of the building shall not be placed at an angle to the corner. This does not preclude angled or sculpted building corners, or an open plaza at the corner.
c. Standard:
Multiple buildings in a single project shall provide a functional relationship with one another to achieve a `"village" scale by use of at least two of the following design features:
1) Cluster buildings around open plaza areas, not parking lots.
2) Provide courtyards with landscaping and other pedestrian amenities.
3) Provide convenient pedestrian circulation between buildings and between parking areas and buildings using enhanced paving materials.
4) Link building together visually using trellis structures, arcades, and enhanced paving.
5) Avoid dated L-shaped shopping centers with parking located adjacent to the street.
d. Standard: Whenever possible, buildings shall have their entrances oriented towards transit stops for convenient access.
4. Trash/Loading/Storage Areas.
a. Standard: All trash and garbage bins shall be stored in approved enclosures in compliance with Section 16.18.150 (Solid Waste and Recyclable Materials).
b. Standard: The location of trash enclosures shall allow convenient access for each tenant.
c. Standard: Trash enclosures shall be located as far away from adjacent residential uses as possible.
d. Standard: Loading facilities shall not be located at the front of buildings where it is difficult to adequately screen them from view. These facilities are more appropriate at the rear of the site.
e. Standard:
Loading facilities shall be fully screened from view from all adjacent public streets and freeways. Screening shall be accomplished with architectural elements or landscaping or a combination of both. Screening shall be provided to adequately screen or soften view of loading areas, trucks, trash enclosures, and similar service facilities from adjacent public roadways.
5. Utility and Mechanical Equipment.
a. Standard: All mechanical equipment (e.g.. compressors, air conditioners, heating and ventilating equipment, chillers. stand pipes, solar collectors. etc.) shall be concealed from view in compliance with Section 16.18.120(B) (Screening and Buffering). Screening devices shall be compatible with the architecture and color of the adjacent buildings.
b. Standard: Mechanical equipment shall not be located on the roof of a structure unless the equipment can be screened by building elements that are designed for that purpose and that are an integral part of the building design.
c. Standard: Utility equipment (e.g.. electric and gas meters. electrical panels, and junction boxes) shall be located in utility rooms within the structure or utility cabinets with exterior access.
B. Parking and Circulation.
1. General.
a. Standard: Parking lot spaces shall be designed with a clear hierarchy of circulation: major access drives with no parking; major circulation drives with little or no parking; and parking aisles for direct access to parking spaces.
b. Standard: Parking lots shall be separated from buildings by either a raised walkway, landscape strip, or combination at least six feet wide, with a minimum three-foot-wide walkway. Mow strips are not required in this situation. Situations where parking aisles or spaces directly abut the building are prohibited.
c. Standard: No more than five percent of the required parking shall be located in the rear services area of a project site.
2. Project Entry.
a. Standard:
Parking lots with over one hundred (100) parking stalls shall provide a main entry drive from the public street for a minimum distance of forty (40) feet and shall include a minimum four foot-wide sidewalk from the street to the first cross aisle on at least one side, and at least one of the following design features:
1) A minimum seven-foot-wide landscaped center median from the public street to the first cross aisle.
2) Two seven-foot-wide landscaped parkways flanking the main entry drive. The parkway that abuts the sidewalk may be reduced in width to four feet.
b. Standard: The first aisle juncture that intersects the main entry drive shall be placed at least forty (40) feet back from the public street right-of-way to provide adequate queuing distance off the street.
c. Standard: Entry drives shall be located a minimum of one-hundred and fifty (150) feet apart, as measured from centerline of driveways, and at least one hundred and fifty (150) feet from any street intersection, as measured from the centerline of the nearest travel lane of the intersecting street to the edge of driveway, or as approved by the city engineer. Also, access drives shall be located a minimum of twenty (20) feet from side property lines unless a shared drive is provided.
3. Site Access.
a. Standard: Developments with more than one hundred (100) parking stalls that are located on an arterial or larger road shall coordinate access points with median openings and existing driveways on the opposite side of the roadway. Final locations shall be subject to review and approval by the city
b. Standard: Developments with more than two hundred (200) parking stalls, that are located on an arterial or a larger street shall provide deceleration lanes adjacent to their major entry per city standards.
c. Standard: Whenever possible, locate access drives on side streets to maintain efficient traffic flow on major roadways.
d. Standard: All driveway radii shall be per city standards.
4. Pedestrian Access.
a. Standard: Drop-off points (i.e., wider aisles) shall be located near major building entries and plaza areas for projects over fifty thousand (50.000) square feet of building area.
b. Standard: Parking areas shall be designed so that pedestrians walk parallel to moving cars in parking aisles. Minimize the need for the pedestrian to cross parking aisles and landscape islands to reach building entries.
c. Standard: Clearly defined pedestrian access shall be provided from transit/bus stops to primary building entrances. In projects with more than one hundred (I00) parking stalls, pedestrian walk-ways shall be provided through parking areas from transit/bus stops.
d. Standard: All projects shall provide a connection of the on-site pedestrian circulation system to the off-site public sidewalk.
e. Standard: Meandering sidewalks shall be provided in all commercial zoning districts when required by the Director.
f. Standard: Parking lots with over one hundred (100) stalls shall provide a separate pedestrian walkway from the public sidewalk to the on-site walkways. At a minimum, this main entry sidewalk shall:
1) Be located on one side of the main entry drive aisle.
2) Be a minimum of four feet wide.
3) Be raised and protected from the drive aisle by' a six-inch-high curb.
4) Be constructed of concrete or an interlocking paving system. Asphalt sidewalks are not al-lowed.
g. Standard: Emphasis at pedestrian crossings of driveways and major circulation aisles shall be accentuated at building entries by extending the sidewalk to the back edge of the parking spaces.
5. Bus Turnouts.
a. Standard: Bus turnouts may be required wherever the potential for auto/bus conflicts warrants separation of transit and passenger vehicles. Bus turnouts shall be considered by the City Engineer when at least two of the following conditions apply:
1) Bus parking in the curb lane is prohibited;
2) Traffic in the curb lane exceeds two hundred fifty (250) vehicles during the peak hour:
3) Passenger volumes exceed twenty (20) boardings an hour;
4) Traffic speed is greater than forty-five (45) miles per hour; and
5) Accident patterns are recurrent.
b. Standard: Bus turnouts shall be designed in compliance with city standards.
C. Architectural Design.
1. Architectural Style.
a. Standard: No specific architectural style or design theme shall be required. A variety of architectural characteristics shall be considered to add to the city's overall image. However, while variety in design is generally encouraged, compatibility of new projects with their surroundings shall also be a priority.
2. Design Consistency.
a. Standard: Designs shall demonstrate a consistent use of colors, materials, and detailing throughout all elevations of a building and throughout all buildings of a multi-building project. A multi-building project may have multiple ownerships, but shall be integrated with a common circulation system.
b. Standard: Elevations that do not directly face a street shall not be ignored or receive only minimal architectural treatment.
c. Standard: Each facade shall be designed for public view and shall be appropriately landscaped in compliance with the landscaping standards in Chapter 16.28 (Landscaping Standards).
3. Form and Mass.
a. Standard:
Designs shall provide a sense of human scale and proportion. Structures shall be designed to avoid a "box-like," impersonal appearance by use of at least two of the following design features:
1) Provide horizontal and vertical wall articulation through the use of arcades, towers, wall recesses and projections, and setting back upper floors. Facades should incorporate wall plane projections and recesses having a depth of at least three percent of the length of the facade and extending at least twenty (20) percent of the length of the facade.
2) Provide architectural detail through the use of columns, three-dimensional decorative cornice bands, recessed entries and windows, and awnings and canopies.
3) Provide full roofs with substantial overhangs.
4) Incorporate decorative parapets where roof overhangs are not provided.
5) Use different, but compatible. building materials with varying textures and colors.
b. Standard:
Entries shall be protected from the elements and shall create a focus and sense of entry for the building by use of at least two of the following design features:
1) Provide wall recesses.
2) Use roof overhangs.
3) Incorporate canopies and awnings.
4) Include arcades.
5) Install pedestrian-oriented signs.
4. Roofs:
a. Standard:
Variations in roof lines shall be used to add interest to, and reduce the massive scale of large commercial buildings. Roofs shall incorporate at least two of the following features:
1) Parapets concealing flat roofs and rooftop equipment. The average height of a parapet shall not exceed fifteen (15) percent of the height of the supporting wall and parapets shall not at any point exceed one-third of the height of the supporting wall. Parapets shall incorporate a three-dimensional cornice.
2) Overhanging eaves, extending at least three feet past the supporting walls.
3) Sloping roofs that do not exceed the average height of the supporting walls, with an average slope greater than or equal to one foot for vertical rise for every three feet of horizontal run and less than or equal to one foot of vertical rise for every one foot of horizontal run.
4) Three or more roof slope planes.
b. Standard: Parapet walls shall be treated as an integral part of the structure design.
c. Standard: Parapet walls should receive architectural detailing consistent with the rest of the facade design and should not appear as unrelated elements intended only to screen the roof behind.
d. Standard: Where a mansard roof is incorporated into the parapet design, views from above the structure should also be considered relative to any visible structural support elements.
5. Building Materials.
a. Standard: False or decorative facade treatments, wherein one or more unrelated materials appear "stuck on" a building, shall be avoided.
b. Standard: Fake products that attempt to imitate real materials (e.g., wood, stone, brick, etc.) are not allowed.
c. Standard: The composition of materials shall avoid giving the impression of thinness and artificiality.
d. Standard: Veneers shall turn corners, avoiding exposed edges.
e. Standard: Stock, "off-the-shelf' metal buildings are prohibited as primary structures.
6. Colors.
a. Standard: Facade colors shall be low reflectance, subtle, neutral or earth tone colors. The use of high-intensity colors, metallic colors, black, or fluorescent colors is prohibited.
b. Standard: Building trim and accent areas may feature brighter colors, including primary colors, but neon tubing shall not be an acceptable feature for building trim or accent areas except for movie theaters.
c. Standard: The transition between base and accent colors shall relate to changes in building materials or the change of building surface planes. Colors should not meet or change without some physical change or definition to the surface plane.
7. Additions to Existing Structures.
a. Standard: The design of an addition to an existing structure shall follow the general scale, proportion, massing, and detailing of the original structure. The addition shall be harmonious with the original structure, not a stark contrast.
b. Standard:
Additions shall be an interpretation of the existing building wherein the main characteristics of the existing structure are incorporated into the design of the addition by use of at least two of the following design features:
Parameters:
1) Repeat window and door spacing;
2) Use harmonizing colors and materials; and
3) Include similar, yet distinct, architectural details (e.g., window/door trim, lighting fixtures, tile/brick decoration, etc.).
(Ord. 544 § 2, 2019; Ord. 538, Exhibit A (part), 2018; Ord. 492 Exhibit 5, 2014; Ord. 337 § 3, 2005; Ord. 232 § 2 (part), 2001; Ord. 232 § 2 (part), 1999; Ord. 182 § 2 (part), 1997)