Findings Continued

The Design Regulations for the Harborside area require weather protection along building frontages; and all awning and/or canopies must be designed to compliment the aesthetic and architectural characteristics of the neighborhood.

However in terms of awnings, the Strorefront Doc states,

“keep it light and airy using translucent materials to allow sunlight to filter through and provide views of overhead signage”.

We currently do not have this refinement of direction in our regulations resulting in some existing awning designs impacting the effectiveness of transom windows, and the overall architectural interest of the building façades.

Staff intent to add language to the regulations to promote the types of solutions such as the one pictured here.

Findings Continued

The existing design regulations define some elements that are not permited such as prohibiting “blank walls” and back-lit awnings.

However, the majority of the Design Regulations document states specific requirements. The 1st section (Site Plan, Buildings) incorporates a number of key elements that are identified in the 2006 Storefront Document, making only a few additions necessary.

Given the general strength of the existing Design Regulations, staff have identified three aspects of the 2006 work that we would like to incorporate. Regulations dealing with: AWNINGS, FACADE MATERIALS, and ARCHITECTURAL SIGNAGE

Findings Continued

The character or context of an area is defined by such factors as its architectural style, and quality of public facilities.

The design regulations help ensure that new development will be compatible and complimentary to the existing character and community's vision of the city.

The Design Regulations use the accronym SAFE to define the parameters for all new development.
Safe stands for

S—safe

A—attractive

F—fits the neighborhood

E—efficient and useable

There are also additional regulations that are specific to three areas of the city because of their unique nature. These are the SR-20 and Midway Avenue corridors, and Harborside

Analysis Phase Complete - Findings

This update is focusing on specific design provisions for the historic downtown district.

The rules defined in the Design Regulations & Guidelines document help direct the look and function of new development in our city.

The rules require design that is human scaled, people oriented, neighborhood appropriate, builds on our community's history and addresses the street and public areas.

Staff's presentation to the Planning Commission on July 22, 2008 was intended to gain direction from the Planning Commission. The next step will be to draft appropriate Code language, conduct additional public outreach, and return to the Planning Commission shortly.

The Planning Commission will then be forwarding a recommendation on to City Council.

The adaptation and adoption process involved looking at two specific documents developed in 2006 as part of the Windjammer Program to see how they could best be incorporated into our Design Regulations for the Harborside District (Downtown Streetscape and Storefront Design Guidelines).

The Downtown Streetscape document defines details, often called “street furniture”, that will become components of the Pioneer Way street improvement program.

These describe the elements that are within the public realm, and would largely only relate to new developments, such as street lights, landscaping, public art, benches, bike racks, etcetera.

The Storefront document states that its objective includes restoring the character, integrity, and visual appeal of existing downtown buildings.

However, much of the suggested design solutions are site and building specific, and do not provide direction for new development within the district. This project is intended to take the main principles of that work and incorporate it in the existing Design Regulations so that it is fair and useable for all sites within the Harborside area.

Planning Commission Meeting July 22

On July 22, staff presented the findings of the analysis phase of this project to the Planning Commission.

I will be describing the results of this analysis in a series of posts.

Public Participation

Early public participation in this project was part the development of the Storefront Design Guidelines.

This document was completed in 2006 as part of the Windjammer program in cooperation with Harborside stakeholders, including: City staff; consultant; and, the Harborside Shops Association Streetscape Committee (see list of participants on inside cover of Storefront Design Guidelines document).

Public Participation

The rules that govern new development have a significant impact on our city's livability. Therefore, I sent out letters to all the business owners, and property owners in the project area seeking input from those that have a more immediate connectionto the Harborside District.

Expect for two or three telephone calls and a couple of in person chats about the scope of the project, there have been no formal comments on this project forwarded to date.

Project Area

The Harborside district and Lower Pioneer area are identified in the image above. These neighboring commercial areas are both centered on Pioneer Way. The historic context of their develop can be seen in the urban design characteristics of these two areas, specifically: architectural style; streetscape; building orientation to sidewalks and street; and, site layout.

The harborside area is the traditional downtown and was developed with a more street oriented form (such as buildings located at the sidewalk edge, limited off street parking, limited landscaping along street). The Lower Pioneer area has the buildings set back significantly from the street.

Both areas have many of the same elements including building facades dominated by ground floor commercial storefronts facing the street. However, the way the buildings and parking have been aranged on the sites, as well as the archtictural styles of buildings, make these two areas signifcantly different from each other. The result is that the Lower Pioneer area is more auto oriented than the Harborside area.

Subscribe - Automatic Updates

I have added a new feature! Now you can automatically receive updates from the blog.

In the left hand sidebar you see this icon under the heading Subscribe. By clicking on it you can have updates automatically sent to you – this is called an RSS feed.

Click here to see a short 3 min video explaining how it works, and how to sign up for this free service.