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1 2/26/04 GUIDELINES FOR SMALL-LOT DEVELOPMENT CONTENTS: A. PURPOSE. B. APPLICABILITY C. RELATIONSHIP WITH ADJACENT USES. D. INTERNAL CIRCULATION. E. ALLEYS. F. MASSING AND ARTICULATIONS. G. SOUND WALLS AND ENTRY FEATURES. H. ENTRIES, PORCHES, AND TRELLISES. I. FENCING. J. LANDSCAPING. K. TOT LOTS, PARKS AND OPEN SPACE. A. PURPOSE. The purpose of the Design Guidelines for Small-Lot Development is to provide guidelines for reviewing development in the “RS-4” Single-Family Residential Zone. B. APPLICABILITY. These guidelines shall be used for all development requiring a conditional use permit approval in the “RS-4” Zone. The guidelines, as tailored to a specific project, may be imposed as conditions of approval and/or may be the basis for more specific conditions of approval. C. RELATIONSHIP WITH ADJACENT USES. .01 Project designs should connect into the adjacent neighborhoods and provide for future connections to currently undeveloped properties via streets or pedestrian and bike paths. .02 Projects adjacent to existing or future retail properties should provide auto, pedestrian and bicycle access to adjacent developments, coordinating with walkways and plaza locations. .03 Projects should be designed with residences facing existing streets, eliminating street-facing rear yard fences or sound walls where appropriate, unless the traffic or acoustic impacts are significant and cannot be feasibly addressed by the ---PAGE BREAK--- Small-Lot Guidelines building design. Frontage roads are encouraged where appropriate and along arterial highways to discourage multiple driveways. .04 Pedestrian, bike and visual connections should be made wherever auto connections are infeasible due to traffic, physical constraints or other considerations. .05 Measures should be taken, such as the arrangement of second-story windows, use of opaque glass, additional landscape screening, and/or increased second-story setbacks, to ensure privacy when adjacent to existing single-family homes. D. INTERNAL CIRCULATION. .01 Public streets are strongly encouraged for all but the most minor streets, such as those serving fewer than six residences. .02 At a minimum, one public street should be constructed within any small-lot development of over 11 dwelling units or one acre. This street should connect to adjacent roads or parcels at a minimum of two locations creating a through-street condition wherever feasible without creating shortcuts. .03 Dead-end streets without cul-de-sacs are strongly discouraged. .04 Internal street layout should provide loop circulation wherever possible. .05 Where loop street connections are not feasible, pedestrian and bike paths may be used as shortcuts to make walking and biking more convenient. .06 Internal street and path layouts should connect to landmarks or amenity features such as parks or community buildings, tot lots, or stands of major tree(s). .07 Streets and paths should focus on important vistas such as community buildings, mountains, trees, or open spaces. .08 Where private streets are used, they should generally meet public street standards, such as landscaping, sidewalks and on-street parking. .09 Traffic calming measures, such as neckdown curbs and use of medians, should be used to increase pedestrian safety, especially at primary intersections, parks and common spaces, and tot lots. .10 Residentially scaled streetlights, separated sidewalks with street trees within planting strips or in tree wells and accent paving at neighborhood entries and crosswalks are strongly encouraged. .11 Streets serving more than six homes should have on-street parking and sidewalks on each side of the street. .12 Where on-street parking is limited to a single side of the street, a sidewalk should be provided on that side. .13 Separated sidewalks with street trees or decorative tree grates are strongly encouraged for primary circulation and collector streets. ---PAGE BREAK--- Small-Lot Guidelines .14 Locations and access for refuse pick-up should be provided such that the pick- up location is in close proximity to the unit. E. ALLEYS. .01 Alleys are appropriate where developments face major streets to which driveway access is not allowed but homes oriented to the street are desirable, where the greatest amount of on-street parking is needed because visitor parking is in high demand, and where it is desirable to allow homes to front tot lots, parks or open space without a road separating the homes from such features. .02 Alley design principles: • Alleys should be straight so that people can see from one end to the other; • Dead-end alleys should be less than 100 feet long; • Alleys should have special accent paving; • Landscaping should be consistent with the rest of the development project, with a 4-foot landscape strip adjacent to and on both sides of the alley and a minimum of one tree at the rear of each lot; and • Each lot should provide alley lighting from either building or pedestal lighting. F. MASSING AND ARTICULATIONS. .01 The building facades should be varied through articulation of elements such as bays and dormers. Changing materials on these elements provides further articulation and add variety. .02 The building facades should be varied through the use of more than one type of building material and color palette within the project. .03 The roofs should be varied through the use of more than one type of primary roof material and more than one type of roof design within the project. .04 The floor plans of the individual units should be varied within the project. .05 The front of the garage should not extend beyond the front of the remainder of the house and, if possible, should be set back from the front of the house. .06 A variety of garage locations should be considered in order to avoid monotony in the overall design. .07 Each home should have a vertical element to its massing, such as a bay, corner turret or dormer, based on the architectural character. .08 The project should include a minimum of one single-story house on each side of each block. ---PAGE BREAK--- Small-Lot Guidelines G. SOUND WALLS AND ENTRY FEATURES. .01 Perimeter residences which are part of new developments should be oriented to existing streets, minimizing the extent of sound walls or rear yard walls, except where necessary due to acoustical requirements. Frontage roads are preferred in lieu of soundwalls wherever possible. .02 Understated entry features are desirable, to integrate the projects into the neighborhood rather than differentiate developments. Accent landscaping and trellises to set off development entries are more desirable than walls or structures. .03 Berming along soundwalls should create the appearance of walls no taller than six feet. Additional landscape setbacks, street trees and accent trees at entries are strongly encouraged to improve the appearance of the soundwalls. H. ENTRIES, PORCHES, AND TRELLISES. .01 Entries and porches are strongly encouraged to be the primary element of each home on the street facade. .02 Entries and porches should be oriented to the street corners. At corner lots, side yard facades should maintain the architectural design consistent with the front facade. Wrap-around porches are encouraged on corner lots. .03 Porch and entry features should primarily be single-story elements, or incorporated into two-story vertical elements to break up the building mass along the street. .04 Entries and porches should be sized for a small seating area for chairs or a bench outside of the main entry circulation path. .05 Railings, short walls, trellises and roofs all add architectural detail and character to the residences, providing visual interest to the homes. .06 Trellises should be used to provide privacy, especially when used as a framework for landscape vines, and to provide shade from the hot summer sun. I. FENCING. .01 Fencing at corner lots should begin at or near the back end of the building. .02 Fences that are visible from the street should have additional detailing to provide visual interest. .03 Front-yard fences should correspond to the style of architecture of the dwelling unit. .04 Partially transparent fencing adds interest while maintaining privacy. .05 Accents at gates, such as arched gates or arbors, add visual interest and demarcation to entrances. ---PAGE BREAK--- Small-Lot Guidelines .06 Extended trellises and grills at small rear patios are encouraged to provide privacy to and from neighbors. .07 Low walls or fences (3-feet high) are encouraged at front or side yard patios, where desired, in lieu of porch railings, etc. J. LANDSCAPING. .01 There should be an equal number of individual front yard landscape palettes, varying in style, color and general appearance, as home models or unit types for each development. .02 Front yard landscaping which reinforces other design elements of the home, such as vines on trellises, hedges or low fences and walls, is strongly encouraged. .03 Where consistent planting is used, such as in parking courts, areas for landscaping by each resident should be provided to add individual variety. K. TOT LOTS, PARKS AND OPEN SPACE. .01 Common open space, such as tot lots, parks with or without recreation buildings, and swimming pools, should be provided for developments of 15 units or greater. .02 Common open space should be centrally located to be shared by the neighborhood and be easily viewed from the street and homes for informal surveillance and security. .03 Setbacks should be increased to provide for additional private open space if common open space is not provided. .04 Tot lots and parks are encouraged as common open space. They should be designed to facilitate use by a number of different ages or activity groups concurrently, such as for small gatherings, and may include small barbeques and ample seating and tables. Play equipment is desirable, as is a lawn area with seating and tables in the larger play areas. A low transparent fence should enclose tot lot areas.