[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The requirements of this section apply to all proposed development within the NB District. The review authority may approve minor variations to the standards in this section as deemed appropriate, provided that the Town Council also first finds that the minor variation will still produce a building that complies with the purpose of this zoning district and the Comprehensive Plan.
A. Architectural elements, entries and facades.
(1) All structures shall be designed to comply with the following requirements:
(a) The architectural features, materials, and the articulation of a facade of a building shall be continued on all sides visible from a public street or square.
(b) The front facade of the principal building on any lot in a Neighborhood Business District shall face onto a public street or square.
(c) The front facade of any residential structure shall not be oriented to face directly toward a parking lot.
(2) All commercial, office, civic and institutional structures shall be designed to comply with the following requirements:
(a) Elevation of first floor. At least 75% of the street fronting length of the first habitable floor of a nonresidential structure shall be located no more than two vertical feet above or below the sidewalk elevation at any point along the street property line.
(b) Facade articulation. To encourage visual continuity and pedestrian activity, at least 60% of the total street frontage ground floor length of any new or reconstructed building shall be differentiated architecturally by recessed windows and entries, display windows, offset surfaces, differentiated piers and columns, offset planes, textured materials, awnings, or other details or displays of interest to pedestrians.
(c) Railings and decorative grilles. Any decorative railing or grille work that is placed behind street level windows shall be at least 75% open to perpendicular view and no more than six feet in height above grade. No security gate or grille shall be installed on the exterior of any structure.
(d) Upper story design features. A minimum of 50% of the building frontage width above the first story shall be differentiated by recessed windows, balconies, offset planes, or other architectural details that provide dimensional relief.
(e) Parapets. A parapet extension of a storefront on a street-fronting facade shall be incorporated and integrated into the design of the building on all publicly visible facades and frontages and shall not be limited to street-fronting facades.
(f) Pedestrian access to buildings. The primary entrance of each ground-floor use shall be located within the primary building frontage and shall be recessed a minimum of three feet when accessed from the public right-of-way. Walk-up facilities and entries shall be recessed and provide adequate queuing space to avoid interruption of pedestrian flow.
(g) Windows and doors. A minimum of 50% of the front facade on the ground floor shall be transparent, consisting of window or door openings allowing views into and out of the interior. Mirrored, reflective glass or tinted glass shall not be used except as an architectural or decorative accent. After installation, clear glass windows shall not later be treated so as to become opaque or be blocked so as to prevent visibility of the ground-floor interior from the sidewalk.
(h) Height variations. To create a visually unified street, buildings should be no more than 30% taller or 30% shorter than the average building height on the block.
[1] Schematic elevation sketch of a average building height creating a defined streetscape:
(i) In order to reduce the impact of the large-scale structures from the street side, parent/anchor structures should be located behind and away from the street. Smaller structures should be closer to the street.
(3) All residential structures shall be designed to comply with the following requirements:
(b) Porches, pent roofs, roof overhangs, hooded front doors or other similar architectural elements shall define the front entrance to all residences.
(c) In addition to the requirements of §
105-15-2, at least two of the following architectural details shall be used to articulate a buildings facade:
[1] Transoms and unique window forms.
[2] Special window, such as mullioned, and door surrounds and top pieces.
[4] Columns with special capitals.
[5] Unique railings and balustrades.
[13] Architectural elements enhance visual quality and contribute to a human-scaled development.
EXAMPLES OF ELEMENTS  |
B. Guidelines for garages. To ensure garage doors do not dominate street-facing facades and overshadow pedestrian entryways, garages must meet the following requirements:
(1) All garages shall comply with §
105-7-3 and Table 8-5, Dimensional and Density Standards for Accessory Buildings and Structures.
(2) For single-family detached dwellings, garages may be placed on a residential lot within the principal building or an accessory building and comply with the following:
(a) Garages attached to the front of the main structure are prohibited.
(b) Alternative garage locations on a single-family housing lot include:
[1] Detached rear garage with rear access from an alley.
[2] Attached side garage with front access from the local street.
[3] Attached rear garage with front access from the local street.
[4] Detached rear garage, behind the house, accessed from the local street.
[5] See plan view below, which diagrams the four alternative garage locations on a single-family housing lot.
(3) All garages for other than single-family detached homes must meet the following requirements:
(a) Where vehicular rear access is required as set forth in §
105-10-1D(1), access to garages shall be from the alley.
(b) For front-loaded garages, the garage must be offset at least five feet from the front facade and designed to blend into the front facade and not detract from the front of the house.
(4) Garages accessed from the side or rear may be equal to the front facade of the principal structure if the garage facade facing the street appears as a livable space through use of windows and architectural treatment consistent with the principal building.
C. Guidelines for lighting.
(1) Streetlighting shall be provided along all streets. Generally, more, smaller lights, as opposed to fewer, high-intensity lights, should be used. Streetlights shall be installed on both sides of the street at intervals of no greater than 50 feet. Streetlighting design shall meet the minimum standards developed by the Illumination Engineering Society.
(2) Exterior lighting shall be directed downward in order to reduce glare onto adjacent properties.
(3) The maximum height of parking lot poles is 30 feet, measured from grade. The maximum height of poles within plaza and other pedestrian areas is 20 feet, also measured from grade.
(4) Cobra lights are prohibited.
(5) Parking lot poles should be located in medians or perimeter buffer areas wherever possible.
(6) Provide path lights to illuminate pedestrian walkways.
(7) Refer to §
105-11-5 for additional lighting standards.
D. Guidelines for loading and service areas.
(1) Outdoor storage, trash collection or compaction, loading, truck parking utility meters, HVAC equipment, electrical transformers and switchgear or other such service and utility areas shall be incorporated into the overall design of the building and the landscaping so that the visual and acoustic impacts of these functions are fully contained and out of view from adjacent properties and public streets, and no attention is attracted to the functions by the use of screening materials that are different from or inferior to the principal materials of the building and landscape.
(2) Locate service and utility areas away from any public street in areas of low visibility. Appropriate locations for such areas include areas between buildings, where more than one building is located on a site and such buildings are not more than 40 feet apart, or on those sides of buildings that do not have customer entrances.
(3) Combine service and utility areas between multiple sites, where feasible.
(4) Clearly identify service entrances with signs to discourage the use of main entrances for deliveries.
(5) Screen service and utility areas from public view with walls and/or landscaping. Screening materials and design should be attractive and compatible with the building and overall landscape designs.
(6) Utility equipment located on rooftops shall be screened from public view with parapet walls or sloped roof forms that are integral to the design of the building.
(7) All outdoor display areas, including garden centers and any seasonal sales, shall be enclosed and screened on all sides with walls and/or fences. Chain-link fences are discouraged.
(8) All outdoor display areas shall be designated on the site plan and must not extend into parking areas.
(9) Seasonal sales areas may be located in the parking areas; however, they shall not reduce the parking area by 2,000 square feet.
