Borough of Columbia, PA Design Standards for Infill and Redevelopment Sites

Intent.

Building design for infill and redevelopment projects shall be compatible with adjacent development where appropriate. The layout of principal buildings, accessory structures, and parking areas along a street is an example of a repeated site pattern that creates a cohesive visual identity and attractive pedestrian street scene for an area. Creating a strongly defined street edge will improve the pattern of development. A sense of visual unity is created within a neighborhood when similar building features are repeated.

(2)

Building orientation strongly influences a development site's focus of activity. A building oriented at least in part to an adjoining public street can create a strong presence in the public realm, and can contribute significantly to a pedestrian-friendly built environment. Building design that creates or adds to the visual interest of a streetscape and a pedestrian scale is an essential element of infill and redevelopment projects. Building height, scale, and massing can be used to emphasize important corners, designate points of entry, and promote compatibility with surrounding uses. Planting shall be sited, massed, and scaled to maintain visibility of doors and first-floor windows from the street and from within the development.

General arrangement.

(1)

Buildings and open space shall be compatible with, or complement the established proportion and building mass of adjacent developments while maintaining a pedestrian scale and character.

(2)

In order to maintain or create a sense of place and "arrival," all developments at the intersection of two arterial and/or collector streets shall comply with the following site layout and building-orientation standards:

(a)

Parking areas and drive-through facilities shall not be located within a one-hundred-fifty-foot radius measured from the intersection of the center line of the two streets.

(b)

Development located within a one-hundred-fifty-foot radius from the intersection of the center line of the two streets shall include one or more of the following focal point features visible from the intersecting streets:

[1]

A distinctive architectural or building design that does not represent standard franchise architecture;

[2]

Fountains or other water feature;

[3]

Public plazas or other open space; or

[4]

Significant landscape feature.

(3)

Entry facades shall orient towards the primary street or active pedestrian zone within the site to create an inviting image, consistent front, and street edge definition.

(4)

To the maximum extent practicable, the orientation of new lots created shall repeat the predominant relationship of buildings to buildings and buildings to street along the same and facing block faces.

Lot access.

(1)

Connections to compatible adjacent land uses should be provided to the maximum extent feasible.

(a)

Common or shared service and delivery access to compatible land uses should be provided between adjacent parcels and/or buildings.

(b)

Projects should not become an isolated island in the surrounding community. Instead, to reduce vehicle congestion and offer greater connectivity between adjacent land uses, the following standards shall apply except where prohibited for overriding public safety or other traffic related considerations:

[1]

The internal street system shall connect to the perimeter public street system to provide multiple direct connections to, and between local destinations.

[2]

The internal street system shall connect to the perimeter public street system to provide community connections to knit separate development together rather than forming barriers between them.

(2)

In order to maximize the efficiency of the street network, major traffic generators should be located so that their primary access is from a thoroughfare or commercial access roads.

(a)

If a land use is proposed at a location or density that will have a significant effect on current traffic patterns, a traffic impact study shall be required to ensure that the street network can accommodate the anticipated traffic demands and to define required street improvements.

(b)

The number of entrances should be minimized to the extent possible in order to reduce conflicting points and facilitate traffic flow. The specific location of primary vehicle entrances is dependent on the following factors:

[1]

The location of existing or planned median breaks;

[2]

Separation distances between the entrance and major intersections, minor intersections, and adjacent entrances;

[3]

The need to provide shared access to adjacent parcels of land;

[4]

The need to align with previously approved or constructed access points on the opposite side of the street;

[5]

The minimum number of entrances needed to move traffic onto and off the site safely and efficiently; and

[6]

The need to provide multiple direct connections to, and between, local destinations such as parks, schools, and shopping.

(3)

Specific design or geometrics of development streets and access drives shall meet the intent of these design guidelines. (See § 190-39.)

(a)

Configuration and design shall be appropriate given the size of the development and the capacity of the street.

(b)

Geometrics shall be dependent on a variety of factors including traffic volume, speed, and distribution. The resulting design should provide an efficient ingress and egress to the development and the following design issues should be addressed in each case:

[1]

The number of inbound and outbound lanes;

[2]

Lane width;

[3]

Throat length (i.e., the distance between the street and the first point at which cross traffic or left turns are permitted);

[4]

Curb radii;

[5]

The need or desirability of a raised median;

[6]

The need for a deceleration lane; and

[7]

Accommodation for pedestrian and nonmotorized crossings.

(4)

A clear system of driveways/access drives/streets shall be established to carry the highest volumes of traffic within the site. (See § 190-39.)

(a)

Internal driveways/access drives/streets shall contain no perpendicular parking spaces that directly access them.

(b)

Truck loading and circulation facilities shall be appropriately designed and provided for. To the greatest extent possible, these areas should be separate from customer parking and pedestrian areas.

(c)

As the size of the development and the volume of the trucks increase, internal circulation patterns should reflect an increased separation between non-truck and truck traffic.

Lot frontage. All lots must front on a public street or a private street.

Provisions for future subdivision. Lots resulting from a proposed subdivision that will be large enough to be further subdivided should be configured to facilitate such future subdivision. Adequate street right-of-way shall be provided as necessary.

Flag lots. Flag lots represent a viable design alternative under the following standards. In such cases, evidence shall be submitted to the Planning Commission that documents the circumstances and demonstrates that the platting of flag lots shall not restrict the development potential and pattern of development of the tract and adjacent lands.

(1)

Adjacent flagpoles shall be encouraged to share a common access point.

(2)

Up to four adjacent lots are encouraged to be oriented to a shared driveway. More than four adjacent lots shall be oriented to a street right-of-way.

(3)

Flag lots are encouraged when infill situations exist to achieve maximum densities.

(4)

Flag lots proposed to create lots for home sites where there is no potential for the construction of a public or private street must demonstrate that there is no potential to construct a street due to:

(a)

Severe topographic or other environmental constraints that limit the design of a street; or

(b)

Other factors inherent in the site which make the construction of a public or private street impractical.

(5)

The width of a flagpole should be determined by the function of the driveway, number of lots served, setbacks, grading, and utility requirements, but shall be a minimum of 25 feet to accommodate emergency vehicles.

Double/reverse frontage lots.

(1)

Residential double frontage lots are only permitted when a reduction of driveway intersections along a street with a high volume of vehicular movements is desired or the maintenance of the integrity of a corridor is desired.

(2)

Reverse frontage lots may be permitted when rear alleys are proposed to provide vehicular access to lots.

(3)

All double and reverse frontage lots shall include an identification of the frontage for use as a street access.

(4)

All reverse frontage lots shall have within the yard(s) that is/are adjacent to any street right-of-way, other than the street of vehicular access, an easement running the entire width of the proposed lot, across which there shall be no vehicular access.