17-7-10.12.11 Commercial developments.
For purposes of this section, commercial development shall include all uses with the exception of residential. In addition to the development requirements contained in this chapter, all new commercial development shall comply with following development standards:
A. General.
1. Lot Size. No minimum lot size is required, but the lot size must be sufficient to accomplish the development standards of this chapter and the building code.
2. Setbacks. All setbacks are measured from the property line. There are no minimum setbacks except as required by the building code and required landscape setbacks.
B. Landscaping Standards.
1. Required Landscaping and Gathering Areas. Commercial developments shall include a minimum of ten percent of the interior project site as landscaping, courtyards, plazas and walkways. The calculation for this area shall not include the required landscaped setbacks from the edge of rights-of-way. The applicant shall professionally landscape the project property, in accordance with an approved landscape plan. The landscape plan shall include details for the landscaped and gathering areas required in the approved large scale master plan for the development pod. Landscape plan approval is a condition precedent to issuance of a building permit for the project property. All landscaping shall be in place prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy for a structure, unless seasonal conditions make installation unfeasible, in which case the applicant shall provide cash security or its approved alternative for all landscaping, which landscaping shall be installed by the following June 30th.
2. Pedestrian Connections. Project sites shall have a system of pedestrian sidewalks and walkways that provide pedestrian connections between building entrances, neighboring building entrances, parking areas, and adjacent public trails.
C. Architectural Standards. All new commercial development must present an attractive, coordinated streetscape, incorporate architectural and site design elements appropriate to a pedestrian scale and provide for the safety and convenience of pedestrians. All new development shall comply with the following architectural standards:
1. Reserved.
2. Building Orientation and Scale. Commercial buildings shall be oriented and scaled as follows:
a. Buildings shall be serviced by a local street, an access road or drive, or an alley and shall not gain access from a collector or arterial street except as approved by the city engineer. Structures that front a courtyard, paseo, or common open space/recreation area are encouraged.
b. Buildings shall be arranged and situated to relate to surrounding properties, to improve the view from and of buildings.
c. Ground floor pedestrian entrances must be oriented toward adjacent streets, plazas, courtyards, sidewalks or walkways.
d. Buildings shall be designed to minimize pedestrian and automobile conflict while providing pedestrians direct access to a sidewalk or walkway.
e. Building planes shall incorporate textures, shapes or colors to mitigate the visual impact buildings have on the public realm.
f. Building design and orientation should consider exposure to sunlight to avoid energy inefficiencies.
g. Gathering areas in central areas and between buildings shall be required. These areas shall be designed, through landscaping, hardscape, outdoor furniture, and public art, among others, to create a conducive atmosphere for people to come together. These areas shall be calculated as part of the required interior landscaping requirement.
3. Building Design and Exterior Materials.
a. Exterior Materials. Exterior finishes shall be of traditional, time- and weather-tested techniques. High standards for exterior materials, exterior building systems, and their application are required. A minimum of seventy-five percent of each building face shall be windows, glass or clad in durable materials. Durable materials include brick, cultured brick, architectural pre-cast concrete, architecturally treated concrete masonry units, natural and cast stone, architectural metals, wood, synthetic wood products, cement siding, glazing or other material the community development director determines to be durable. Architectural site-cast concrete may be allowed if designed, articulated, and colored for a finished appearance.
b. Stucco/EIFS. The use of stucco, synthetic stucco and EIFS shall be limited and shall not exceed twenty-five percent of each building face. The design and application of EIFS or synthetic stucco is expected to be of a high enough quality to allow for crisp detailing and substantial relief. The wall area from finished grade to where the use of EIFS begins shall be clad by a hard, durable material such as brick, stone, architectural pre-cast concrete, or architecturally treated concrete masonry units. The community development director may determine, on a case-by-case basis, that the architectural detail and excellence of a structure is such that the use of stucco in excess of this standard is warranted.
c. Prohibited Materials. Vinyl and aluminum siding products are prohibited as wall materials.
d. Color Scheme. Buildings shall use a cohesive palette of colors which tie to the antecedence of the development pod. The use of a single-color scheme is not permitted.
e. Design Consistency. All exposed sides of a building shall be designed with the same level of care, quality and integrity. Buildings shall be attractive and visually engaging on all sides visible from a public vantage point.
4. Roofs. Roof lines and shapes shall be consistent with the design and structure of the building. Roof forms shall reflect the facade articulation and building massing. Rooftop mechanical equipment shall be hidden from public vantage points with parapet walls or penthouses. Penthouses shall utilize materials, colors and form similar to the building. Solar energy panels or other similar solar energy production facilities may be installed on all roofs including parking structures.
5. Openings. The following standards apply to all new commercial buildings:
a. Minimum Window and Opening Area. Not less than twenty-five percent of any street-facing building facade or building facade that can be seen from a public road or public park shall be made up of window or door areas. Not less than fifteen percent of any other building face on a third or higher story shall be made up of windows, balconies or other opening areas unless an adjacent building within twenty feet of that side face obscures the majority of that side face from public view. The community development director may allow for a reduction to the minimum opening requirement if the applicant can demonstrate the building floor plan(s) required by the use cannot effectively accommodate the requirement and other architectural elements are used to (i) create visually interesting facades, (ii) avoid large areas of blank facades, and (iii) provide a human scale and details. Uses that may qualify for this reduction may include warehouses and uses which lend themselves to a more residential character, i.e., residential care facilities and hotels. This provision may also be applied to portions of buildings with three street frontages to accommodate kitchens, restrooms and other utility areas.
b. Entry Feature. All commercial buildings shall have an exterior entry that is a prominent, architectural focal point directing people into the unit or building. This feature shall relate to the architecture of the structure and may include elements such as canopies, awnings, porticos, arcades, recesses/projections of wall surfaces, display windows, raised parapets over the door, entry plazas, integral planters or wing walls that incorporate landscaping.
c. Weather Protection. Weather protection features such as awnings, canopies, doors inset by at least three feet, or arcades shall be provided at all customer and employee entrances.
d. Garage/Loading Overhead Doors. Garage/loading overhead doors shall not face or directly access roadways.
6. Form Variations and Architectural Treatments. Buildings shall provide variation and architectural treatments in building facades that face roadways. Blank (or largely blank) building walls and screening walls are not permitted. These may include elements such as protruding bays or columns; recessed entries; upper level step-backs; arcades; off-sets, projections, and shifts in the general plane of the facade; changes in materials and exterior colors; balconies; exterior shading devices; ornamental architectural details; reveals; pilasters; architectural banding or belt courses. Special attention shall be given to corner buildings that are highly visible, that may serve as landmarks and provide a sense of enclosure at intersections. Special attention can be achieved by architecture, landscape, and public place.
7. Accessory Structures/Security Devices. Accessory structures shall be architecturally compatible with the primary development. Security devices shall have materials and colors that complement the building’s architecture and building materials. Satellite dishes shall not be placed in view from public vantage points.
8. Parking Structures. The community development director may waive one or more of the following requirements if an architect can demonstrate the requirement in question is not architecturally feasible and when the architect has utilized other architectural methods to blend the structure with neighboring structures and screen the visual impacts of the structure from public vantage points:
a. Parking structure elevations shall finish all exterior stairwells with glass and shall finish at least thirty percent of each exposed exterior facade that is within clear sight of a primary or secondary road, Bingham Junction Boulevard, Center Street, or a public park with a primary material being utilized by the associated building.
b. Parking structure elevations that are not located within clear sight of a primary road, secondary road, Bingham Junction Boulevard, Center Street, or a public park shall utilize plant material as screening to minimize the visual impact of the parking structure.
c. For the purposes of this subsection, each elevation of a parking garage shall be reviewed individually based on cardinal direction (N, E, S, or W) and shall be considered “within clear sight of” a primary road, secondary road, Bingham Junction Boulevard, or Center Street or a public park if it is oriented at an angle no greater than forty-five degrees from parallel from one or more of the listed improvements, within three hundred feet of the road right-of-way or property boundary of one of the listed improvements, and not otherwise obstructed from view from one of the listed improvements by a building or elevation change.
d. Parking structures in Pods E—K shall comply with the building frontage requirements in Section 17-7-10.12.5(L). (Ord. 2020-09 § 1 (Att. A (part)); Ord. 2019-03 § 1 (Att. A (part)))