Firebaugh City Zoning Code
§ 25-27.2
Design Guidelines.
The following guidelines apply to all development occurring within the C (commercial) districts and are intended to facilitate high-quality development that complements the character of Firebaugh.
Large project site design.
Large sites (such as shopping centers) should be designed to be pedestrian-friendly, reduce the visual dominance of parking lots, and highlight the appearance of the building facade. The following general principles should be followed:
Avoid large expanses of parking lot. Parking areas should be screened with smaller buildings set forward toward the street (see diagram below).
Pedestrian plazas and walkways should be provided in the site design.
Effort should be made to establish pedestrian connections with adjacent commercial areas and surrounding residential neighborhoods.
Parking lot strategies. Where screening of the parking lot as previously illustrated is not possible, as many pedestrian amenities should be included in the parking lot and building exterior as possible. The graphic below illustrates various elements that should be considered, including:
Corner lot design. Corner lots present special opportunities for good project design. The diagrams below and to the right illustrate a preferred design strategy for a commercial corner-lot location. Desirable design strategies include:
Situate buildings against the street corner with parking to the rear.
To the extent practical, buildings should feature large display windows and entrances along the street sidewalk.
Provide a pedestrian plaza at the corner.
Establish pedestrian connections from the parking lot to the street.
Pedestrian walkways through parking lots should be maximized.
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"Big Box" facade design strategies. Large stand-alone commercial stores should be designed to avoid the appearance of a large box-like structure. Architectural detailing on exterior walls, such as insets, varied wall planes, alternating colors and the use of "liner shops" is recommended. Other site and parking design guidelines from this chapter should also be utilized.
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Mixed use. Firebaugh encourages developers to consider projects that combine commercial and residential uses on one site. Mixed-use projects can either be horizontal (with commercial and residential on separate portions of a site, as illustrated to the right), or vertical (typically with commercial/office on the ground floor and residential on upper floors, illustrated below).
Vertical Mixed Use  Vertical mixed use project has retail commercial and offices on the ground floor, with dwelling units above. |
Horizontal Mixed Use  Example of a horizontal mixed use project - a shopping center with a multifamily project tucked into one corner. A pedestrian paseo allows residents to walk directly into the shopping center. |
Small commercial sites. Small commercial sites (generally smaller than one acre) present special design opportunities. A streetscape should not dominated by parking lots. Toward this end, sites should be designed with parking to the rear or to the side of the building. If parking must be placed between the building and the street, additional amenities (as listed above under "Parking lot strategies") should be included.
Small Sites Design Strategies  With small development sites, care should be taken that parking does not dominate the site. Sites should be designed with parking to the rear or the side of buildings. |
Architectural strategies. Commercial buildings should be pedestrian in scale, utilizing the following design techniques and mechanisms:
Architectural styles that reflect the traditions and history of Firebaugh and the San Joaquin Valley are preferred over modern, contemporary and franchise design styles that are repeated in every other community. Preferred commercial styles include Spanish, neoclassical, Mediterranean and Western false front. The City maintains a photo library of good examples of these styles.
Buildings should be articulated in a fashion similar to the pedestrian-oriented buildings found in downtowns. Use of insets, overhangs or arcades (roofed passageways), cupolas or clock towers, arbors and other design elements are encouraged. Building facades should avoid blank walls greater than 30 feet in length at street level.
Use three-dimensional cornice treatments, parapet wall details, overhanging eaves, etc. to enhance the architectural character of the roof, and conceal roof equipment. For large buildings, roof lines should be varied to reduce mass and building scale.
Buildings should feature large show-windows along sidewalks and along street frontages.
Roof-mounted equipment should be screened from view with parapet walls or similar screening devices.
As noted above, walls should be avoided along parking lots, public streets and other areas visible to the public. The use of show-windows is preferred, but where this is not practical, other methods should be used such as trellises for climbing vines or architectural detail like columns and tile insets, for example.
Preferred Variety in facade and roofline  |
 Discouraged |
 No blank walls! This building has generous windows (shaded with awnings) along the street. It could have just as easily been a blank wall. |
 Walls that would otherwise be "blank" should receive some type of architectural treatment, such as trellises, as illustrated above. |
Signs. Sign regulations found in the sign ordinance must be observed; however, the following general design guidelines should be utilized.
Signs should be compatible with the design of the building and its architectural style.
Stark color contrasts in signs should be avoided. Sign colors should be muted - use of significant quantities of primary colors should be avoided.
Freestanding signs shall be monument-style signs as opposed to pole signs.
The design of freestanding signs should feature architectural elements that relate the sign to the buildings they advertise (see example to the right).
For multi-tenant buildings or shopping centers, a coordinated sign design scheme is required.
 Freestanding monument-style signs should receive architectural treatment that relates to the overall site. |
Landscaping.
Landscaping should incorporate an appropriate combination of shrubs, turf, trees and flowers. Where increased maintenance allows, additional elements such as trellises, arbors, benches and fountains should be included. Landscaping should be designed to accentuate positive design elements and screen negative views as well as ensure safety and visibility.
For beauty as well as graffiti prevention, climbing vines should be used to screen masonry walls, including perimeter walls, trash enclosures and other appropriate locations.
Pedestrian-scaled ornamental lighting should be provided along with walkways for commercial projects. Lighting fixtures should be of a design that complements the style of architecture of the project. Standard cobra-head light fixtures should be avoided.
Service areas for refuse collection and deliveries should be located away from customer entries and should be screened from view.
 Decorative pedestrian-oriented light fixtures are encouraged. |
 Walls should be planted with climbing vines and buffered with shade trees and shrubs. |
Parking lot landscaping. Parking lots shall feature landscaping to promote an attractive visual environment and reduce summer heat buildup. The following techniques are recommended:
Landscaping or mounding shall be provided in the area between a parking lot and the street right of way. Alternately, a low screening hedge or wall with climbing vegetation shall be provided.
For each four spaces, one shade tree shall be provided within a planter not less than four feet by four feet wide, surrounded by protective curbing. In general, shade trees shall be provided to obtain shading of 50% of the parking lot within 15 years.
Parking Lot Landscaping Strategies  |
Landscaping should be situated so that it does not interfere with vehicle sight-lines, nor with the front end of parked vehicles.
Landscape planters should be provided along masonry walls and along building walls. Climbing vines should be established to screen masonry walls and prevent graffiti.
Special uses.
Service stations.
Service stations should utilize architectural styles that blend well with adjacent neighborhoods and other commercial development.
Where a service station is part of a shopping center, the architectural style should be consistent with that of the shopping center.
Pump shelters should be consistent with the architecture of the service station building/convenience store. A gabled pump canopy is preferred over a "flat top" canopy. Flat top canopies should utilize other elements such as molding or trim.
Service Station Fuel Island Canopies  |
Fast food/franchise businesses.
Fast food and other franchise businesses should utilize architectural styles that are appropriate to Firebaugh and the surrounding neighborhood, rather than standard franchise styles that are replicated in every community.
Franchise Architecture  |
Drive-throughs.
Drive-through lanes should be screened from view of the public right-of-way with the use of landscaping, berming, etc.
Additional methods, such as the use of an arbor (see below) should be considered to soften and improve the appearance of drive-through lanes.
Drive-Through Trellis  |
Drive-Through Screening  |
Metal buildings.
Metal buildings are discouraged in downtown and neighborhood commercial areas.
Where metal buildings are used, they should receive heightened architectural treatment - standard box forms are strongly discouraged. The use of insets, awnings, trellises and varying (but muted) color schemes should be considered.
 Where used, metal buildings should include heightened architectural detailing such as varied wall and roof planes, colors and awnings. |
Design details.
Trash enclosures.
Trash enclosures should be considered as an architectural element of the overall project.
Walls should receive architectural detailing; climbing vines and shrubbery can be used to screen.
Additional details such as a trellis can be used to improve the attractiveness of a trash enclosure.
Trash enclosures should be designed with a separate pedestrian entrance, to preclude front doors from being left open.
 Trash enclosures should be designed to complement the overall project with architectural detailing and landscaping. |
Roof-mounted equipment.
Roof-mounted equipment, such as air-conditioning units, should be screened from view.
Backflow devices and utilities.
Backflow devices and other utility equipment should be screened from view, through landscaping, finished in a subdued color or a combination of these techniques (see below).
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Lighting.
Lighting should be an integral part of the architectural style of a project. Cobra-head style lights or other basic utility styles should be avoided.
 Lighting should be architecturally appropriate to the overall project. Decorative lighting is preferred over standard utilitarian light fixtures. |
Fencing.
Fencing should be considered an integral part of the architectural character of a project. Additional details such as stucco finish, brick or stucco pilasters should be considered.
Screening through the use of climbing vines or shrubbery should be used. This can also help prevent graffiti.
Where chain link fencing is used, the fence should be finished in gloss vinyl black or green, as opposed to unfinished galvanized metal.
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