More specific design standards may be developed by the City of Sylvania to augment planning polices expressed in the Land Use Plan and this Zoning Ordinance. At a minimum, both individual Site Plans and Development Plans shall advance the following development standards.
(a) Architectural Design:
(1) The architectural features and treatments on a building shall not be restricted to a single facade. All sides of a building open to view by the public, whether viewed from public or private property, shall display a similar level of quality and architectural interest. Architectural features such as windows, awnings, projections, reveals, changes in pattern, and trellises should be used on all sides for visual interest.
(2) The first floor of all buildings should provide for a pedestrian-friendly environment, with human-scale and natural building materials; extensive storefront windows for display and views into the business; and access directly from adjacent sidewalks. When transparency is in conflict with internal functions of the building, other means should be used to activate the street facing facades such as public art, architectural ornamentation or details, or color patterns.
(3) Architectural scaling elements, such as banding, belt coursing, sills, lintels, mullions, and changes in texture, material module and pattern, should be used to break down the appearance of large building forms. Building facades should include a combination of details to enhance the architectural interest.
(4) Exterior walls greater than 40 feet in length should break any flat, monolithic façade with discernible architectural elements. Building facades oriented to the street or public space should provide architectural variety and scale by incorporating elements such as bay windows, recessed entrances and windows, display windows, balconies, cornices, columns, vertical plane breaks, and other types of architectural detailing to provide visual interest
(5) Building designs should provide varied rooflines in order to create interesting skylines are encouraged. Roof shapes should be an integral part of the building architecture and create interesting and varied appearances. Sloped roof forms are encouraged to be a minimum of 6/12 pitch. Design elements for flat roof buildings should include parapets with variable height and/or changes in setback.
(6) Exterior building facades should exhibit high levels of design, detailing, and material quality. A mix of quality, compatible materials is strongly encouraged on all facades facing streets, or other public spaces or areas. Buildings should be constructed of combinations of durable, high-quality materials such as: brick, stone, architectural pre-cast concrete, architecturally cast concrete, cast stone, integrally colored split or ground face concrete masonry units, terra-cotta, stucco or EIFS (exterior insulated finishing system), architectural metal, or any combination of the materials listed.
(b) Parking.
(1) Shared parking is permitted and is encouraged, subject to approval of a shared parking study. Parking requirements may be met on-site, or at a distance of up to 300 feet from the subject use.
(2) At least 10 percent of the area of surface parking lots shall include trees and shrubs surface parking areas should also use landscaping and pedestrian walkways to divide the lot into smaller modules.
(3) On-site street and parking areas shall be lit with full cutoff type lighting fixtures no more than 25 feet tall. Parking lot lighting should be integrated into landscape islands wherever possible, should minimize light trespass and glare, and should be compatible with the overall design of the associated project.
(c) Lighting.
(1) Private sidewalks, internal pedestrian paths, and bicycle paths shall be lit with full cutoff lighting fixtures no more than 16 feet tall and providing consistent illumination. Pedestrian area lighting should be human-scaled and also reflect the overall character or design of the project to which it is associated.
(2) Building lighting should be full cutoff fixtures and should reflect the architectural characteristics of the overall building. Building lighting should complement the overall building architecture in design and nighttime illumination. Building lighting should primarily be used to light pedestrian ways adjacent to the building.