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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-10-27 - AGENDA REPORTS - LMD IMPROV (2)AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval: Item to be presented by: Vince Berton NEW BUSINESS DATE: October 27, 1998 SUBJECT: PRESENTATION ON THE CITY S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LANDSCAPE AND BUILDING DESIGN THROUGHOUT THE CITY DEPARTMENT: Planning and Building Services RECOMMENDED ACTION Receive and file. Over the past year, both the Planning Commission and City Council have expressed concern regarding the quality of the design of landscaping and buildings throughout the City. Staff met this past July to discuss potential areas where the City's development standards could be improved. The list of issues that were discussed at this meeting is attached for the Council's review. The City has implemented, or is considering implementing, various programs to address these concerns:. Design Guidelines: The City Council adopted design guidelines earlier this year that address site planning, landscaping, and building architecture on private property. These guidelines include guidance on how buildings should be situated on properties, the type and location of landscaping, and the type of roofs and details of buildings. Citywide Beautification: This program would address all improvements within the public rights-of-way including street trees, signs, street furniture, and entry monuments. The City Council funded this effort in the 1998-99 Budget. Staff has received proposals from qualified consultants and anticipates presenting a contract for the Council's approval the end of this year. Urban Designer: This is anticipated as a part-time, contract position that would advise the in-house planning staff on how to implement the City's design guidelines and improve the design of specific development projects. These services will also be available to review proposed projects located within the Newhall Redevelopment Project Area. The goal with this position is to find a design firm that has expertise in urban design, architecture, and APPROWED Age landscape architecture. The funding for this position will be proposed in the mid -year budget and we anticipate having a contract in place soon after the budget is adopted. i Planning and Building Services Director Policy Determinations: Over the past year, the Planning and Building Services Director has implemented policy determinations related to urban design including increased landscaping in parking lots. i FISCAL IMPACT I This item is informational only and there are no fiscal impacts on the City. There will be impacts on the general fund if the City Council chooses to hire an urban designer, however, that will be decided at the midyear budget cycle. ATTACHMENT Development Standards Meeting Summary (July 16, 1998) JJL:VPB:Iep s:\pbs\council\devstds.doc Development Standards Meeting Summary July 16, 1998 2:30 p.m. Issues Discussed: Parkiniz *Landscaping and shading in commercial parking lots should be increased. Director's Policy Determination *There should be more parkways between parking lots and roads. Design Guidelines *Longer throats in parking lots should be provided to allow for greater stacking distances. Design Guidelines *Protected pedestrian zones in parking lots should be provided. Design Guidelines City Council and community members have been saying that parking stalls for commercial businesses are too small. The maximum number of compact parking spaces allowed should be lowered from 20% to 10% of the entire required parking. Compact spaces should be dispersed throughout the parking lot. Bicycle capabilities should be tied in with parking. Large expanses of parking in the front of commercial buildings should be minimized. Alternative modes of transportation should be encouraged through our parking requirements - i.e. allowing discounts for mixed-use projects and requiring fewer parking spaces for commercial projects to encourage mass transit use. Roads/Streetscane *There should be more street trees that provide a greater amount of shading. Citywide Beautification *Bus benches and shelters should relate to the building architecture. Citywide Beautification *Public access/visibility for LMD's should be considered. Citywide Beautification *In the Canyon Country survey that the City conducted, most respondents indicated that they would be willing to pay for streetscape improvements. Citywide Beautification *Parkway standards should be upgraded. Citywide Beautification *Landscaped parkways between the streets and sidewalks should be brought back. Citywide Beautification I *Major arterials would be much more pleasant with parkways. Citywide Beautification *Streets should be pedestrian friendly. Design Guidelines/CitywideBeautification *Utility vaults, backflow devices, etc. should be kept out of the right-of-way and should be underground or screened. Citywide Beautification *Traffic signal lights should match the design of the adjacent development. Citywide Beautification Regular sidewalk replacement program should be implemented and street trees should be maintained. The rights-of-way (not the improved portion of the roads) are too narrow— we need more room for sidewalks and parkways. The roadway system should be designed with more access points and fewer cul-de-sacs to decrease the overall traffic volumes on the roads. Sidewalks should not have to cross driveway aprons. Sidewalks should be wider. Roads should have more grade separations. We should decide whether or.not we want bus turnouts (transit does not prefer them, traffic engineers do). Bus turnouts are a matter of right-of-way width. All overhead utilities should be undergrounded. An in -lieu fee should be established for undergrounding overhead utilities. I Transitions from 2 to 4 lane roads should be improved. On -street parking in residential neighborhoods should be limited — it is a subsidy for property owners and encourages parking on the street. Residential *Garages should be setback to the rear or sides of residences. Design Guidelines 2 *Front yard setbacks in residential neighborhoods should vary. Design Guidelines Back yards are too small. *Mechanical equipment (air conditioners, pool equipment, etc.) in residential areas should be screened. Design Guidelines *The location/screening of trash containers should be considered when designing subdivisions. Citywide Beautification Lot sizes should be larger (5,000 square feet is too small). A residential floor area ratio requirement should be implemented. On -street parking should be prohibited in residential neighborhoods. There should be a density mix in residential developments with a transition between multiple family to single family. i A greater number of smaller, multiple family developments may be preferable to fewer, larger, multiple family developments. Single family residents should not front on collector streets as they do in the San Fernando Valley. Condominium maps should be utilized for single family developments more often to increase publicly maintained spaces. Residential fire sprinklers should be required. Buildine Architecture *Architectural treatment/features should be provided in the rear and sides of buildings (360 degree architecture). Design Guidelines *Loading docks, roof -mounted equipment, trash areas, etc. should be screened. Design Guidelines *Corporate architecture should be avoided. Design Guidelines Backs of buildings should be screened along the Santa Clara River Corridor. i The use of natural materials should be encouraged - Uses should ncouraged.Uses.should be evaluated in how they impact the urban fabric (i.e. utilize retail on.the first floor of buildings, office above, etc.). Development standards should relate to the type of street.that the development fronts. 3 The commercial center on Cinema Drive with "Q-zar" and "Fatburger" is an example of good architecture. Commercial design standards should consider the short-term nature and should allow for reuse. General Paseo maintenance should be addressed. Technology infrastructure requirements should be included as An art in public places program should be implemented. Garden walls should be more decorative, utilizing decorative caps, businesses of approval. , and horizontal relief. Tanks and pumps installed by public agencies should be reviewed by the City to ensure that they blend in with the landscape. Innovative design should be encouraged. The City should follow its own rules as they relate to development standards (i.e. parking lot trees). We should make better use of the Pre -DRC process to get rid of bad proposals. We should decide what constitutes an upgrade above the minimum st I dards for innovative design. Inspections of commercial and residential buildings should be required owners sale their properties. s:\pbs\advance\devstds.doc 4 property