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when step -backs are required on upper levels. Moreover, an increase in the allowable maximum ratio would avoid a two - block development where one block looks arbitrarily carved down by a forced stepback and avoid an incompatible design that could cause an unbalanced composition of massing along Fourth Street, inconsistent with the architectural vernacular and intentions of the Transit Zoning Code. 3. That the granting of a variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to surrounding property. The granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public or surrounding properties. A shade and shadow analysis was conducted for the proposed project. The Site Shadow Study indicates that none of the sensitive uses surrounding the project sites would be shaded by either building for more than three hours between 9:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. during the Winter Solstice. Likewise, sensitive land uses would not be shaded by project structures for more than five hours between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. during the summer. As such, the proposed project would not result in a new significant impact or substantially increase the severity of a previously identified significant impact with respect to shade and shadow beyond those analyzed in the 2010 ElR. Moreover, the adjacent automotive repair and commercial space on Site B offers collective massing relief for the site. Although not part of the project, this parcel's size means that if redeveloped, it will always be to a lower building and massing scale than the proposed five -story structure on Site B. When viewed collectively, the amount of "stepback" or reduction in floor volume would exceed the required 85% of ground floor requirement and would be roughly comparable to the third floor stepback accomplished by the courtyard on Site A. Further, the Citywide Design Guidelines encourage new buildings to be compatible with surrounding character, including building style, form, size, materials, and roofline. Specifically, Chapter 8 (Downtown Development Guidelines), Section 8.6 encourages that the height and scale of new buildings complement existing structures and provide a sense of human scale and proportion. As the two blocks are being developed together they're designed with appropriate congruity and diversity in both style and articulation. Both buildings rise with balanced "U-shaped" courtyard design facing Fourth Street and vary significantly with a two-story height variation. A two -block development I1=11 MO, Orew-NO18bT 75C-367