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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-14-2002 ARC Minutes SAN LUIS OPBISPO ARCHICTECTUAL REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 14, 2002 ROLL CALL: Present: Commrs. Mark Rawson, Zeljka Howard, Hana Novak, Vice-Chair Jim Lopes, and Chairperson Charles Stevenson Absent: Commrs. Rob Schultz and Michael Boudreau Staff: Associate Planner Pam Ricci, and Recording Secretary Irene Pierce ACCEPTENCE OF THE MINUTES: The minutes of November 19 and December 3, 2001, were accepted as corrected. PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no public comments. PROJECTS: 1. Citywide. ARC 42-00. Review of the draft for the comprehensive update of the City’s design guidelines; City of San Luis Obispo, applicant. Associate Planner Pam Ricci presented staff report, requesting the Commission to review the draft for the comprehensive update of the City’s design guidelines. She stated they would like to have the ARC-endorsed version of the guidelines to the City Council by early summer. Chairperson Stevenson suggested that the City’s consultant, Paul Crawford, present a general overview to acquaint the Commission with the high points of the plan and the organization. He voiced his opinion about the importance of graphics in design plans in illustrating principles. Paul Crawford, City Consultant, stated they would like the style of the draft to be as consistent as possible. He provided an overview on organization and discussed his thoughts on appropriate writing style and layout. Nicholas Dietch, Main Street Architects, noted the previous design guidelines contain information that is still very appropriate and should be incorporated into the new guidelines. Commr. Rawson noted the graphics presented are great, but felt there is a lot of opportunity to use more photographs. Mr. Dietch agreed there is more flexibility with using photographs. He suggested that if staff and the commission have some ideas or examples of photographs, they could do the filtering and graphic integration. ARC Minutes January 14, 2002 Page 2 Chairperson Stevenson suggested as a general rule to have a guideline that has graphic representation of this concept. Mr. Crawford explained that the current version of the draft is only a way of packaging the text for review. Planner Ricci stated within the current budget, they might not be able to do everything they initially wanted to do. After much discussion on how to review the line draft of the guidelines at upcoming meetings, it was agreed that one hour at the beginning of each meeting would be dedicated for that purpose. Commr. Howard suggested having pictures of the various architectural styles as an appendix.. Vice-Chair Lopes asked for clarification on the overall approach to the update. Mr. Crawford explained the overall organization is intended to work from general discussion of what the City is planning to accomplish with respect to private design and its relationship to the public realm. Chairperson Stevenson suggested they indicate a placeholder in the table entitled Chapter 8, which would indicate, “special areas,” so anything that comes in later on would be added, i.e., 8.1. Vice-Chair Lopes asked for consideration on adding references to applicable City documents that apply to particular sections of the guidelines. Mr. Crawford explained there are some references to specific zoning ordinance provisions, but they could establish a more clear linkage between this and the General Plan policy in the introductory sections. Planner Ricci stated there is a detailed Land Use Element policy specifically for the downtown on design. Vice-Chair Lopes felt the existing zoning code policies that pertain to the (shalls) should have more focus on them. Mr. Crawford felt it would be convenient to have them at the beginning of each of each topical section, cross-referencing them to relevant zoning code material. Chairperson Stevenson felt a general rule should be to minimize the “shalls,” and make them “shoulds.” Commr. Howard suggested that “shoulds” are preferred in guidelines and that they should apply the same criteria to every project, but there may be reasons to deviate from criteria under certain circumstances. ARC Minutes January 14, 2002 Page 3 Commr. Rawson suggested the beginning of the Guideline state “the guidelines are intended as a design tool to help”. Mr. Dietch expressed that “shalls” belong in ordinances and “shoulds and mays” belong in guidelines. There was much discussion on the use of “should’s and shall’s.” Commr. Rawson suggested having a section that addresses residential areas, and that there be a guideline that exterior elevations of buildings have consistent treatment on all sides. He suggested requiring attractive facade treatments on zero lot line walls. He suggested rewording that the width of the garage should be subordinate to the width of the living space. PUBLIC COMMENT: Josephine Malone, SLO, submitted a letter that expressed her concerns with window displays. Commr. Rawson reiterated that Ms. Malone’s expressed concerns were with non- regulated displays that are in windows and not part of City signage. The public hearing was closed. Commr. Rawson noted that some sketches in the guidelines have names of particular tenants and felt they should be more generic. Mr. Dietch explained that they hoped that graphics would look like “real life” and not appear generic. Chairperson Stevenson encouraged the Commission to take photographs as examples for these guidelines. COMMISSION COMMENTS: Chairperson Stevenson suggested all members of the Commission be present before making a decision on a potential name change for the ARC. The special Architectural Review Commission meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Recording Secretary Irene Pierce