11B - ORDINANCE NS-2649 & 2656 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Midtown Specific Plan . Building Envelopes General The permitted building envelopes in the Civic/Professional District are defined by height and front yard setback requirements established for each block. Their primary purpose is to establish the relationship between public and private pedestrian space and the building wall, which forms its edge. Setbacks define pedestrian space at the ground level and show where higher buildings (greater than 35 feet) can be sited. Exhibit 10, Civic/Professional District Height and Setbacks, provides the setback dimensions from property lines and other benchmarks throughout the district, and height limits and setbacks for buildings higher than 35 feet. Reference information on the exhibit shows existing buildings that are likely to remain, thereby indicating relationships between existing buildings and potential new development or realization. Also shown for reference are major features of the comprehensive plan, including major open spaces, planned parking facilities, pedestrian access ways and recommended ground floor arcades. Building Height .'9ht is specified by number of stories and feet as measured from b height. Generally, the maximum height for all low-rise buildings is 35 feet. Buildings above 35 feet in the Civic/Professional District include existing office towers on Main street and Broadway and potential office towers clustered at the intersection of Main street and Ninth Street, where heights may be up to 120 feet. The towers are set back 15 feet from the Main Street and Ninth Street property lines or edge of the Ninth Street private pedestrian way. A maximum diagonal dimension is also specified to encourage slender towers. An optional tower configuration is shown for a business hotel on the Buffum's block, whereby two hotel towers would be permitted with appropriate spacing between and a maximum 140 foot diagonal dimension. Setbacks Setbacks at ground level are established to enhance pedestrian space throughout the district, create compatible relationships between existing and future building street walls and recognize opportunities to create new open space resources, such as plazas, pedestrian ways and landscaped areas. . major setback conditions are discussed below by street: Main Street. A variety of conditions exist, but most buildings have no setback, thereby resulting in a tight, urban sidewalk character of minimal width. Major exceptions are the church plaza at Tenth and Main and the existing tower between Eighth and Ninth, which is setback 12 feet and has a 13 foot wide ground level arcade. The potential future tower sites at Ninth and Main would maintain the 15 foot setback condition and provide a 15 foot wide ground level arcade in the setback. The towers would be setback 15 feet from all property lines, thus reflecting the siting of all existing towers on Main street. Open space and plaza amenities to be maintained and provided include the existing church plaza at Tenth Street, a wide sidewalk area across the street mirroring the wide sidewalk area north of Tenth, a corner plaza at Ninth and Main to provide an entry court for the potential tower, and a pedestrian plaza in a portion of the abandoned Seventh Street right-of-way. Ninth Street Pedestrian Way. This planned private access way is 40 feet wide and lined with 15 foot deep ground level arcades along most of its length. It terminates in a 70 foot wide plaza, also lined with arcades, on the west side of Broadway. Civic Center Drive. The existing building walls will create a variegated landscaped area with varied and generous setbacks along the street, providing an aesthetic foreground for the cluster of older buildings of character likely to remain, and contributing to the parkway character which exists along much of Civic Center Drive. Broadway. Twenty foot setbacks are established for all new developments. This will permit the landscaped character of Broadway north of Washington to be continued to south of Tenth Street. The exceptions are existing buildings that remain, which have less the 20 foot setbacks. Sycamore Street. Sycamore functions primarily as a local service street and provides access to existing and planned parking. Three variations to the standard condition of zero setback occur: the church plaza at Tenth Street and a wide (35 foot) setback across the street to extend the landscaped character; comer setbacks and arcades at the Ninth Street pedestrian way intersection with Sycamore; and landscaped parkway areas at Civic Center Drive. Vine pockets are encouraged along parking structures and a 10 foot landscaped setback is required at surface parking lots. Church Plaza. An expanded landscaped open space is planned to enhance the setting for the church. The south edge would be defined by a ground level arcade. 30 Midtown Specific Plan 11 B-17