The physical details of the Town, which include building and
landscaping elements, intimate views, walkability, and expansive vistas,
are essential to the definition of the Town's character. These details
influence how residents and visitors feel about the Town and need
to be preserved and protected.
A. This article intends to implement the recommendations of the St.
Michaels Comprehensive Plan to encourage design qualities that reinforce
the Town's unique character and identity; and
B. Create design guidelines for development that are sensitive to existing
housing and neighborhoods.
C. To ensure
that new development, redevelopment and infill development along the
main commercial corridor and particularly in the GC Gateway Commercial
Zoning District are consistent with the design quality of surrounding
development and compatible with the character of the Town.
[Added 5-10-2023 by Ord. No. 542]
[Amended 5-10-2023 by Ord. No. 542]
The collective visual images and sensory experiences offered residents, visitors, pedestrians, and motorists stem from the visual identity and character of the town. Context, sensitive design of new and renovated buildings, presents opportunities to enhance the visual identity and character and contribute to a definite sense of place in the Town. Conversely, a design that ignores the characteristics created by existing defining features of its surroundings can introduce discordant visual and functional elements to the neighborhoods that detract from place experience and sense of community. The following design criteria are not intended to restrict creative solutions or to dictate all design details. They are intended to inform the applicant of items that should be the underlying design objectives for every project. They also form the basis for judging whether the Planning Commission will exercise its authority to grant relief from specific development standards required in this chapter, as provided in §
340-184C. These standards are to be applied strictly to review of development applications including site plans in the GC Gateway Commercial Zoning District. The Planning Commission will evaluate the design of all proposed development projects based on the following criteria:
A. General guidelines.
(1)
The proposed development should exhibit excellent site and architectural
design and include high-quality materials that are compatible with,
and do not negatively alter the character of the surrounding neighborhood.
(2)
Buildings should be similar in height and size or designed in
such a way that they appear similar in height and size, creating an
overall mass that is consistent with the common mass of other structures
in the area.
(3)
Primary façades and entries must face the adjacent street
and connect with a walkway that does not require pedestrians to walk
through parking lots or across driveways, and that maintains the integrity
of the existing streetscape. Building features such as windows and
doors and site features such as landscaping and screening should optimize
privacy and minimize infringement on the privacy of adjoining land
uses.
(4)
Building materials shall be like elements of the surrounding
neighborhood or use other characteristics such as scale, form, architectural
detailing, etc., to establish compatibility.
B. Setback. Buildings should respect the established setbacks of traditional
buildings in the Town. Typically, this means that commercial buildings
align with neighboring buildings with parking to the sides and rear.
Residential buildings should usually be freestanding, with their front
façades facing the street.
C. Orientation. Buildings should orient to the principal street with
their main entrance in full view.
D. Scale. The scale is the relative or apparent size of a building in
relation to its neighbors, typically perceived through the size of
building elements, such as windows, doors, storefronts, porches, cornices,
surface materials, and other exterior features.
(1)
The scale of residential and commercial buildings should reflect
the prevailing scale of the Town's traditional residential and commercial
buildings; that is, they should be human in scale, that is, appear
to be of a size appropriate for human occupancy and use.
E. Proportion. Proportion is the relation of components of buildings,
such as doors, windows, storefronts, porches, and cornices to each
other and their façades.
(1)
The façade proportions for commercial buildings should
be based on dimensions found on the façades of the Town's traditional
commercial buildings.
(2)
façade proportions for residential buildings should reflect
proportions found on the façades of surrounding residential
buildings.
F. Rhythm. The vertical and horizontal spacing and repetition of façade
elements, such as storefronts, windows, doors, belt courses, and the
like give a façade its rhythm.
(1)
The façades of buildings should be based on the façade
rhythms of the Town's traditional buildings of similar use.
(2)
The spacing between buildings should reflect the spacing between
buildings of similar use.
(3)
Façade rhythms within a contiguous commercial block should
be similar.
(4)
The façade rhythms within a residential development of
similar size houses should be compatible with each.
G. Massing. A building's massing derives from the articulation of its
façade using dormers, towers, bays, porches, steps, and other
projections. The massing of the façade of residential and commercial
buildings should be based on the massing found on traditional buildings
of similar use in the Town.
H. Height. The height of façades and their cornices, along with
roof ridgelines and projections such as chimneys, and towers, contributes
to the character of buildings and streetscapes.
(1)
Designing primary façades of the party wall or adjacent
buildings to be similar in height by:
(a)
Limiting height differences between free-standing buildings
by a maximum of 10% of the height of nearby buildings; and/or
(b)
Using towers and chimneys on residential buildings to match
surrounding heights like their use on the Town's traditional residential
buildings.
I. Materials. The type, size, texture, surface finish, and other defining
characteristics of exterior materials are essential to defining the
overall character of a building.
(1)
Materials used for walls, sloped roofs, and other surface features
of buildings should be based on the materials found on traditional
residential and commercial buildings in the Town.
(2)
The size, texture, surface finish, and other defining characteristics
of exterior materials should be like those found on the Town's traditional
residential and commercial buildings.
(3)
Nontraditional materials such as stucco, stucco-like material
(EFIS), vinyl and metal siding, textured plywood, oversized brick,
concrete block, textured concrete masonry units (CMU) and the like
should not be used for primary façades of buildings.
J. Roof shape. The shape and slope of roofs are also crucial in defining
their character.
(1)
Roof shapes of buildings should be based on those found on traditional
buildings in the Town and compatible with those on adjacent buildings.
(2)
Roofs on new buildings should be primarily gable or hipped.
Flat or mansard roofs may be permitted if find to be appropriate to
the surrounding context.
K. Details and ornamentation. Details such as the shape and texture
of siding used or types of brick courses used for a wall, and ornamentations
such as porch brackets, dentils, scrolls, corbels, and the like, significantly
add to the character of a façade.
(1)
Buildings should use well scaled and proportioned details and
ornamentation on their principal façades.
(2)
Details and ornamentation found on existing buildings in the
Town is the basis for these features on buildings, but not copied
exactly.
L. Color. A building's color derived from its exterior materials such
as unpainted brick, stone, terra-cotta, slate, asphalt shingle, copper,
lead, and other naturally colored materials, or paint, stains, or
other applied colors.
(1)
The colors of buildings and structures should be compatible
with its overall design and that of neighboring buildings.
(2)
Brick and stone should typically be left unpainted.
(3)
Traditional color schemes are used.
(4)
No more than three painted colors are used on buildings.
M. Parking lots. Provide adequate landscaping, walls, or fences to screen
automobiles from immediate view, but still allow visual access into
the lots.
N. Street furniture. Street furniture is the general term used to describe
benches, trash receptacles, parking meters, streetlights, and other
elements found in residential and commercial districts.
(1)
Design and locate street furniture in commercial areas that
encourage pedestrians to linger, window shop, as well as provide places
to sit, and in residential areas provide street furniture that promotes
neighborliness.
(2)
Locate street furniture so that it does not impede pedestrian
or vehicular traffic.
(3)
The design of street furniture should be compatible with the
design of the buildings.
O. Landscape design. Using native and environmentally sound trees and
other plant material.
P. Accessory buildings and structures. Accessory buildings and structures,
carriage houses, sheds, etc., are character-defining features when
visible from the public way.
(1)
Base the design of accessory buildings and structures on the
principal dwelling.
(2)
Locate accessory buildings and structures, so they are not visible
from principal streets.
Q. Fence and walls. Like accessory buildings and structures, fences
and walls are character-defining elements in residential and commercial
landscapes.
(1)
Using low profile wood and metal fences in residential front
and side yards, and brick walls in commercial areas.
(2)
Taller privacy fences only used at the rear of buildings.
(3)
Locating and designing fences, so they are compatible with the
design of the buildings with which they are associated.
The Planning Commission shall approve a proposed project upon
finding that:
A. The plan accomplishes the purposes, objectives and minimum standards
and requirements of this article;
B. The plan is in accordance with the St. Michaels Comprehensive Plan;
C. The plan is internally and externally compatible and harmonious with
existing and planned land uses in the area; and
D. Existing or planned public facilities are adequate to service the
proposed development.
Appeals from the decision of the Planning Commission concerning any application for development under the terms of this article are made as provided in Article
XII of this chapter.