Section 10.60.020 Design Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to all development occurring within the C districts and are intended to facilitate high quality development that complements the character of Tulare.

Design and placement of new buildings must consider the existing built environment of the surrounding area, in particular existing setbacks, building size and massing, and color and materials. Towards this end, the following objectives should be considered:

a. Structures should be sited in a manner that complements adjacent structures. Sites should be developed in a coordinated manner to provide order and diversity and avoid a jumbled, confused development.

b. Where applicable, single and multi-structure sites should be clustered to create plazas or pedestrian malls. New development should designed to avoid situations where individual buildings sit in the middle of large parking areas. Where clustering is not possible, a visual link between separate structures should be established, by various means, including stamped concrete walkways, arcade systems, trellises or other open structures.

c. Structures should be sited to minimize conflicts between pedestrians and vehicle traffic. Structures can be linked to adjoining street sidewalks with textured paving, landscaping and trellises.

d. Outdoor spaces between buildings should be recognized as outdoor “rooms”that have clear recognizable shapes, as opposed to being considered as “left over” areas. These spaces can be used to provide important pedestrian amenities such as benches, trellises, fountains, artwork, etc.

e. Freestanding commercial structures should be oriented with the main entry towards the street and should have the main facade parallel to the street.

f. Loading facilities shall be located to the side or rear of commercial buildings and shall be screened from view to the extent possible.

Design considerations for parking and circulation shall include the location of ingress and egress points, pedestrian and vehicle conflicts, on-site circulation patterns, and service vehicle functions.

a. Safe pedestrian circulation systems shall be provided in the design of parking facilities. Pedestrian linkages between buildings in commercial developments should be strongly emphasized.

b. Provide on-site vehicle circulation, which utilizes main entrances and avoids awkward turning movements.

c. Common driveways are encouraged to provide access to adjacent sites and improve on-site circulation.

d. Parking areas shall be generously landscaped to provide interior and perimeter treatments.

e. Parking lots shall be separated from buildings by raised sidewalks or curbing, in conjunction with landscaping where appropriate.

f. Parking driveways (access points) should be located as far as possible from street intersections to avoid traffic problems. The number of access points should be limited to the minimum amount necessary to provide adequate circulation.

g. Parking lots for uses that require a large number of spaces should be divided into a series of connected smaller lots, to the extent possible. Landscaping and offsetting portions of the lot are effective in reducing the visual impact of large parking areas.

h. Parking lots should be screened from adjoining streets by the use of low earth berms, walls, landscaping, or a combination of these methods.

Landscaping for commercial uses should be used to define specific areas by helping to focus on entrances to buildings and parking lots, define the edges of various land uses, provide transition between neighboring properties, and provide screening for loading and equipment areas.

Landscaping around the entire base of structures is recommended to soften the edge between the parking lot and the building.

Landscaping must be protected from vehicle encroachment by means of raised planting areas, walls, and curbs.

Vines and climbing plants integrated on buildings, trellises and perimeter garden walls are recommended, in order to soften the hard appearance of permanent structures.

To the extent possible, walls should be designed to blend with the overall architectural character of the site, including material, color and texture. Where possible, landscaping should be used to soften the appearance of walls.

Walls should not be blank, long surfaces, but rather should be articulated with intervening pillars, alternating heights, offsetting sections and materials that provide variety, including material texturing (as with plaster treatments).

Screening fences should be compatible with the overall site design. Chain link fencing with slats is acceptable for areas not visible from the street. Exterior storage should be limited to portions of the site least visible to public view.

Consideration should be given to height and scale of buildings so that they are compatible with that of surrounding development. The height of new buildings should transition from adjoining buildings to the maximum building height of the new structure.

Large buildings shall be designed to avoid the appearance of a box-like structure. Methods to achieve this objective include:

a. Vary the planes of the exterior walls. Walls should not run in one direction for more than 50 feet without an offset.

b. Vary the height of buildings so that they appear to be divided into distinct massing elements.

c. Articulate the different parts of a buildings exterior by use of color and material changes, trim accents, window placement and other facade elements.

d. Use of landscaping, including climbing vines, can work to reduce the bulky appearance of buildings.

e. All building faces shall receive architectural treatment, not just the street face of the building. Walls and roof lines should have varied planes.

Rooflines should not run in a continuous plane for more than 50 feet without offsetting or jogging the roof plane.

a. All roof-mounted equipment shall be screened from public view by materials similar to those used in the overall structure. Mechanical equipment should be located below the highest vertical element of the building.

Where appropriate, the use of awnings are encouraged. Awning color and form should be consistent. Plexiglas, metal and glossy vinyl awning are discouraged, while canvas, fabric, and matte finish vinyl awnings are encouraged.

The use of standardized corporate architectural styles associated with chain restaurants and stores is discouraged. Effort should be made to integrate the building design into the established architectural context of the surrounding neighborhood and the city as a whole.

Building color is an important part of the overall appearance of a project. Much of the existing color in the city is derived from the primary building’s finish materials such as brick, wood, stucco and terra cotta tile. Also dominant are earth tones that match these natural materials. Recognizing the importance of colors, the following standards for building color should be observed:

a. Where possible, the number of colors appearing on exterior walls should be minimized. Most structures should use no more than three colors.

b. Large areas of white should be avoided. The use of a subdued dominating color is encouraged, however a bright trim color may be appropriate.

c. Colors used on new buildings should be complementary to colors used on surrounding existing development, unless surrounding buildings use colors that strongly conflict with these standards.

New development should be designed with a precise concept for signage, including provisions for sign placement, sign scale (in relationship to the building) and sign readability.

The design of individual signs should be integrated with building architecture, in terms of materials, colors and texture.

Monument-style signs are the preferred sign type for new development, where possible. Monument scale signs are more in-scale with motorist’s view.

The use individually-cut letter signs, either internally or externally lit is strongly encouraged.

Exterior lighting is encouraged to provide illumination for the security and safety of on-site areas such as parking, loading, shipping and receiving, pathways and other work areas.

The design of light fixtures should be architecturally compatible with on-site buildings.

All light fixtures must be shielded to confine the spread of light within the boundaries of the site, particularly where incompatible uses are located in close proximity.

Entrance driveways for major shopping centers shall be setback 200 feet from major intersections.

Entrance driveways for service stations, small commercial properties or neighborhood shopping centers shall be setback 50 feet from intersections.

Service driveways, or private alleys, provided at the rear of commercial buildings for delivery of goods shall have a minimum width of 30 feet. The City Engineer shall approve all service driveways or private alleys located within fifty (50) feet of a street intersection or other commercial driveway.

All entrance driveways for major shopping centers which provide for left and right turning movements on arterial street shall have a driveway throat of 100 feet.