Download Chapter 6 - Community Design

6-22 | Community Design
Street Walls and Street-front Setbacks
The siting of buildings will play a critical role in establishing the
character and sense of place for the District. Siting buildings at
the street’s edge gives spatial definition to the public realm that is
critical to supporting pedestrian activity. It also establishes a visual
connection between businesses on opposite sides of the street that
is an important ingredient of a successful shopping street.
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Buildings should be sited at property lines or designated
frontage lines adjacent to public street frontages in order to
establish consistent and continuous building street walls that
give scale and definition to adjacent streets and civic spaces.
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Portions of the building street wall may be setback from the
public right-of-way to accommodate key features such as a recessed storefront entrance, an entry forecourt, or a plaza, as
long as such features do not substantially interrupt the continuity of the street wall.
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Gaps in the street wall (i.e., street frontage with no building)
should be limited to those areas needed to accommodate pedestrian and, in limited instances, vehicular access (see guidelines for “Parking and Vehicular Access”).
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On corner parcels, the corner of the building may be recessed
from front and side property lines on a diagonal. The recessed
corner may include just the ground level, or ground floor and
upper levels.
Buildings may be set back to create small plazas provided that these
setbacks do not substantially disrupt the street wall’s continuity.
At street corners, the street wall may be set back diagonally to
emphasize the intersection and to extend the public realm.
Buildings at street corners should be oriented to
both intersecting streets with a building entrance
fronting directly onto the corner.
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On-site Open Space
The provision of on-site open space such as plazas, courtyards,
and paseos is an integral component of the pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use district that complements the parks, plazas, and
streetscapes of the public realm. These semi-public spaces provide
a finer-grained, more intimate setting that encourages pedestrians to gather and linger, and can be designed specifically to complement and enhance the commercial function of adjoining private-sector uses.
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The creation of semi-public outdoor spaces such as on-site
plazas, patios, courtyards, paseos, terraces and gardens that
support pedestrian activity and community interaction is
strongly encouraged, particularly in larger projects.
On-site open space areas should be designed to complement
and enhance the function and character of adjacent commercial uses by providing a transition from the public streetscape
to the private business, and providing outdoor areas that can
accommodate commercial activity (e.g., outdoor dining, display areas, etc.).
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Building frontages adjacent to semi-public outdoor spaces
should include building entrances and storefront windows
that face onto the open space and architectural and landscape
features that activate the façades.
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Plazas and open space areas intended for public use should
have clearly defined visual and physical connections that promote a comfortable transition from the public to the private
realm.
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Paseos are an important element of the District’s urban open
space system and are strongly encouraged as connective elements and open space features. They promote pedestrian activity by creating spaces scaled to pedestrian use, reducing
conflicts with automobile traffic, and providing more direct
routes between off-street parking areas and primary street
frontages. They also provide the benefit of increasing the
amount of potential retail frontage.
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To promote user comfort, plazas and courtyards should be
well-defined by buildings and landscaping, comfortably
scaled, landscaped for shade and ornament, furnished with
areas for sitting, and lighted for evening use.
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Water is intended as a defining feature of the District, so water features such as fountains, pools, and runnels should be
incorporated into the design of urban open spaces where possible, to enhance their character and to symbolically link private open space to the design of the broader District.
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Landscaping should be used to activate building façades, soften building contours, highlight important architectural features, screen less attractive elements, provide shade, and add
color, texture, and visual interest. Landscape materials should
be of high quality and suitable for the Southern California
Mediterranean climate. Given the general lack of precipitation, naturalized and low-water-use plant species are preferred.
On-site open space is encouraged to have a semipublic character that transitions from the public to
the private realm; windows, doors, and commercial
activities (e.g. café seating or display areas) should
be used to activate these spaces.
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Parking and Vehicular Access
Parking should be accomodated in above- or below-grade structures; parking structures should be wrapped with active ground-level uses and
articulated to screen vehicles parked in upper stories .
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Parking will be a critical factor in the successful redevelopment and revitalization of the Creekside District. In order to
be successful, the District needs to not only ensure that adequate parking is provided to support proposed development,
but that the location and design of that parking also supports the creation of an attractive, pedestrian-friendly mixed
use district. The current prevalence of sites with front-loaded
surface parking lots and driveways crossing public sidewalks
is functionally and aesthetically antithetical to the vision for
the District. The Plan promotes a fundamental re-thinking
of on-site parking that reduces its visual prominence and the
potential for pedestrian/vehicle conflicts by placing it on the
interior of blocks, in structures, or below ground. The Plan’s
parking management strategy (see Chapter 5, Circulation
and Transportation for a more detailed discussion) also promotes a “park once” environment that encourages individuals to walk to all their District destinations after they have
parked their car.
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In order to accommodate proposed development intensities and create an attractive pedestrian environment, surface
parking is discouraged and should be kept to a minimum.
Where it occurs, surface parking should be located behind
buildings and on the interior of blocks where it is screened
from public view.
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Generally, off-street parking should be located in above- and
below-grade parking structures. New development is encouraged to take advantage of the fill that will be required over
much of the area to provide parking below grade (either fully or partially).
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Parking structures should be located on the interior of the
block where feasible.
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Parking garages adjacent to public streets should be wrapped
with liner space for retail and commercial uses that activate
the street frontage and screen parking. At the very least, retail
and other pedestrian-oriented uses should line the street-level
façade of parking structures fronting on public streets.
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Upper floors of parking structures that are visible from the
street should be designed to screen views of cars and parking
structure lighting, and to reflect a level of articulation and design character consistent with the rest of the building façade.
Access to off-street parking should be provided primarily from mid-block alleys or from the District’s north-south
streets. Driveways and curb cuts should not occur on Main
Street, and should be limited to no more than one or two per
block on Creekside Drive to serve areas not accessible from
north-south streets. Where feasible, driveways on north-south
streets should be limited to a single mid-block curb cut.
Existing curb cuts and driveways with access off San Marcos
Boulevard, McMahr Road, Via Vera Cruz, Bent Avenue and
Grand Avenue ultimately should be phased out as subject
properties are redeveloped and alternative access can be provided.
Service Areas, Loading, and Building Equipment
As a functioning commercial area, it is essential that retailers and
commercial tenants can efficiently obtain the supplies and services needed to operate. It is just as important, however, that these
functions and their related facilities are carefully integrated into
the design of new development so that they do not compromise
the quality or character of the District.
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Service, loading and storage areas should be located to the
rear of buildings and on the interior of blocks where they are
away from public view.
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Wherever possible, service access should be provided via alleys.
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Loading docks, storage areas, trash bins, and other service areas and facilities should be located away from public streets
and screened from public view in a manner that is consistent with the architectural style and character of the associated building.
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Trash bins and other service areas should be located
away from public streets and be screened from view.
On-site infrastructure, such as back-flow devices, irrigation
controls, electrical panels, etc., should be located in interior utility closets or on the interior of blocks, away for public
streets, where they are out of public view.
Building Design
Building Massing
Allowing for more compact development and larger buildings
makes it important that future buildings are designed so that their
scale and massing does not overwhelm the public realm and make
it unattractive or inhospitable. Large buildings can be attractive
and dramatic and yet still preserve a pedestrian scale at street level.
They do not have to be either monolithic or imposing. There are
many design techniques for adding visual interest and mitigating
a building’s apparent bulk and scale.
Building Façades
Building façades are the “walls” of the public realm, and will do
much to establish the character of the District. The doors, windows, and detailing that animate their surfaces both activate the
streetscape and establish a pleasing sense of order and proportion.
Buildings should be scaled and proportioned to
create a pedestrian-friendly development pattern.
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It is important that they be neither too dull nor too busy, and that
they present a perceptible unity without sacrificing variety.
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Building façades should incorporate a hierarchy of vertical
and horizontal features and articulation that establish a sense
of order and reflect changes in building form.
Commercial buildings should be simple in form and massing; this
building has a storefront base and a detailed parapet
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Façades that face public streets and open space areas generally
should be architecturally subdivided with some form of modulation or articulation every twenty-five (25) to fifty (50) feet
to promote visual interest and a comfortable pedestrian scale
that is reminiscent of traditional pedestrian-oriented shopping and residential districts.
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Façade increments should be defined at both the ground floor
and at upper stories.
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Buildings with longer frontages should be subdivided to accommodate multiple individual storefronts with a regular
pattern of storefront entrances along the street. Preferably, individual storefronts should not exceed fifty (50) feet in width.
With larger tenants, it is desirable to locate the majority of
their floor area behind a smaller frontage (e.g., wrap floor area
behind “liner” storefronts along the street frontage).
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Strategies for varying façades and defining distinct modules
may include: articulation of building volumes, changes in
rooflines and fenestration patterns, introduction of vertical
architectural features such as columns and pilasters, the use
of decorative detailing and architectural elements, and changes building materials and color.
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Changes in architectural character, façade materials or color
should be associated with a change in building plane or separated by a vertical feature (e.g., a column or pilaster).
Buildings may be stepped back above the third story to reduce
apparent bulk
Turrets and towers can be used to emphasize important locations, such as street intersections
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Building façades that face public streets, sidewalks, trails, and
open space should incorporate architectural features such as
building entrances, display windows, awnings, overhangs,
balconies, light fixtures, and other design features that add
human scale and visual interest to the façades.
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Buildings should maintain a consistent quality and character
in terms of the articulation, detailing, and finishes on all elevations visible from public streets and open spaces, not just
the primary façade.
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Avoid the creation of uninterrupted blank wall surfaces on all
building façades.
Building Entrances
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Primary building entrances and lobbies shall be clearly visible and directly accessible from the primary street. Buildings
that front onto multiple streets should provide an entrance
along each street.
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In mixed-use buildings, retail storefront entrances should be
clearly distinguishable in form and character from entrances to upper-floor office and residential uses or to a building’s
main lobby.
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The scale and module of building articulation should extend to the
upper floors; this building uses windows, brickwork, and awnings to
create a horizontaly and vertically consistent module.
Secondary building entrances from paseos, alleys, and parking structures are encouraged as long as they do not detract
from the primacy of the main building entrance and street
frontage (i.e., buildings should not have primary orientation
to parking lots). The design of secondary entrances should
be related to that of the primary entrance and the building
as a whole.
Facades of larger buildings should be divided into pedestrian-scaled
modules
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Building entrances should be easily identifiable
through façade articulation, architectural detail, and
use of materials; in this building, a recessed bay was
combined with architectural ornament to accentuate
the building entrance
Building entrances to upper-floor offices or
residences should be clearly distinguishable from
entrances to retail storefronts.
Building entrances should be well-defined and accentuated
through use of façade articulation, architectural detail, and
use of materials. Appropriate strategies for architecturally defining building entries include:
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creating a recessed entry bay;
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incorporating the entrance into a taller vertical mass
(e.g., a small tower) that is differentiated from the rest
of the building;
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sheltering the entrance with a canopy, awning, or overhang;
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employing architectural features such as columns, pilasters, clerestory windows and sidelights, decorative tiles
and light fixtures; and
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enhancing ground surface with decorative paving.
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To the degree feasible, service entrances, loading docks, and
storage areas should be located and screened so they are not
visible from public streets and open spaces or interfere with
public use of the District.
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Service entrances and loading docks should be located to the
rear or side of buildings, and preferably take access from alleys or driveways from the District’s north-south streets.