A mixed-use development is encouraged within some zoning districts within the city of Waterford as a means of reducing traffic and congestion and to promote over all community well being and economic vitality. These standards are intended to accommodate and foster pedestrian usage by combining commercial/retail uses and residential uses in the same buildings or in close vicinity of each other. The interaction of these different uses during day and evening hours provides a dynamic that can not usually be created with typical single use zones. This concept harkens back to a village where people lived and worked in close proximity. This concept also tries to reduce dependency upon the automobile, makes pedestrians a focal point, and encourages human interaction, smaller scale buildings, and a vibrant sidewalk environment.

For projects in those zoning districts where mixed-use developments are allowed, the following design review standards shall apply.

These standards shall be applied to both new development proposed on vacant land and the retrofitting of existing improvements and building to mixed uses.

Establishment of a new permitted or conditionally permitted use within a zoning district where mixed use development is allowed.

Establishment of a mixed-use development that proposes a new development or complex that will accommodate mixed uses. Typically these would be proposed in any commercial or industrial zone and be approved as planned community (PC) in accordance with Chapter 17.30 or a specific plan district (SP) in accordance with Chapter 17.32.

Schedule 42-1 below prescribes the land use regulations for districts within which mixed uses are allowed unless otherwise not allowed in the specific zoning district within which the mixed use development or use is proposed. The regulations for each use are established by letter designations as follows:

Use classifications are defined in Chapter 17.04. In cases where a proposed use is not included in a use classification, the planning director shall determine whether the proposed use is substantially similar in character to a permitted use classification and in that event shall assign the proposed use to a permitted use classification. Use classifications not listed in Schedule 42-1 below are prohibited.

Site plan design review will be used by the city to approve development (site plans and architectural designs) in mixed-use proposals. The architectural site plan review committee will make urban design decisions based on the following guidelines to promote visual quality in these areas of the city.

Site plan review will examine the location, intensity and type of uses proposed within a mixed use proposal and address the relationship of proposed uses to surrounding uses in the neighborhood and immediately adjacent to the project site or building.

Mixed-use proposal should create a new diverse and pedestrian-friendly neighborhood environment, with a mix of housing, shopping, workplace and entertainment uses and nodes for transportation access, all within a short walk of each other. A range of types, sizes, amenities, and uses will enhance a series of inviting functional public spaces, including shopping streets and pedestrian friendly streetscapes, open spaces, courtyards, trails, residential, office, and retail in mixed-use buildings. The design principles for buildings and streets are taken from traditional small towns that provided a close-in community life.

To foster pedestrian usage in the mixed-use proposal, the construction of new sidewalks must be a minimum of ten feet in width, whenever feasible.

Properties or development projects abutting major streets in the district should have zero to ten-foot setbacks from the right-of-way, pedestrian-friendly store fronts with display windows along fifty percent of their facade and the facades should not be plain or sterile but incorporate architectural features such as windows, entrances, variations in setback, so that no wall plane is wider or longer than two and one-half times the height of the wall plane.

Street frontage should accommodate and foster pedestrian usage. Properties or development projects abutting a frontage street shall:

Off-street parking in commercial areas should either be behind or to the side of development.

Separation of potentially incompatible uses should be accomplished through walls and screening as shown in Figures 42-1 and 42-2.

Pedestrian access ways shall be part of any wall or hedge separating residential, commercial and employment centers to encourage pedestrian access.

Under no circumstances shall walls or security fencing result in the need for a resident of a mixed-use development to travel, by motor vehicle, to a service or work within the mixed-use development.

Building design concepts should respond to the site plan by forming street edges and by encouraging active, safe street life offering a variety of activities. Buildings should recognize site patterns and help define entries to interior courtyards, building entrances, and public spaces to encourage family and community activities.

Use architectural styles that are associated with traditional neighborhood design and newer multifamily designs that delineate separation of the units. Commercial architectural styles should mimic the old Main Street concept.

The architectural designs should utilize a variety of roof forms to create diverse elevations. Residential units, office and commercial/retail spaces should overlook the streets and courtyards as part of a unified and defined sense of space.

Parapets, cornices, shed roofs, dormers and other secondary roof forms create variety in the units and break up the massing of the overall buildings. Varied roof heights and roof elements also serve to reinforce the diverse experience of the streetscape. Vertical elements such as bays and decks which sometimes carry to the ground and to upper levels help to create variation in the facade that modulate the building facade.

The materials used in design of the buildings should also reinforce the diverse experience of the elevations. Roof colors should be coordinated to complement the color schemes.

Plaza or courtyard materials can be used to create a community space, through the use of color and scoring as patterns in the hardscape. Landscape creates diversity, provides color and softens the building and hardscape environment, while benches or seating areas, play areas and public art help residents and visitors enjoy the space and environment, making it a place where people want to visit, shop, live and recreate.

Residential units in mixed-use buildings along the street frontage are allowed at a rate of one and one-half units per one thousand gross square feet of commercial/retail space and shall be located above, behind, or below (where terrain permits) the commercial space. The top floor of the building must be designed for residential units.

Residential units detached from the mixed-use building(s) may be located behind the commercial space at a density of nine units per acre.

Units behind the commercial development may be designed as any of the following or combination thereof: townhouses, cottages, or attached or detached single-family residential units in a manner consistent with the city's residential development and site standards for R-2 and R-3 residential zones.

Corner lots may have residential units abutting on the secondary street.

Either residential or commercial space, or any combination thereof, may be located behind the mixed-use building(s) facing the street.

At least twenty percent of the gross land area with the project limits shall be set aside as open space and recreation. Ten percent of the required open space and recreation area must include an active recreational element such as play structures, ball courts (basketball, tennis, etc.), gazebos, or plazas with gathering areas and barbecue facilities.

Live-work type units are encouraged within mixed-use type developments.

Buildings should be built to the property line or right-of-way easement to enclose a pedestrian-oriented landscape. Pedestrian-oriented amenities are important. When development accommodates specific pedestrian activities, the setback may vary up to twenty feet with city approval, if the space is planned for outdoor dining associated with an eating establishment, recessed plaza or specific district design standards or landscape needs. The setback can not be used for parking.

Buildings should utilize elements such as massing, materials, windows, canopies and articulated roof forms to create a visually distinct "base" as well as a "cap."

Within larger projects, variations in facades, floor levels, architectural features and exterior finishes are encouraged to create this appearance of several smaller buildings. Upper stories should be articulated with features such as bays and balconies.

Special attention should be given to designing a primary building entrance, one that is clearly visible from the street and incorporates changes in mass, surface, or finish to give emphasis.

Corner and public buildings because of location, purpose or size should be given special attention in the form of building features, such as towers, cupolas, and pediments.

The development of ground level view points and corridors as well as public balconies, and roof spaces which take advantage of solar access and views are encouraged.

Minor pedestrian passages shall be provided between buildings where access is needed to allow pedestrians to move through the district to another area. Under no circumstances shall building mass exceed three hundred feet without some form of "through" pedestrian access.

Building design should reflect historic downtown materials and building designs which were of a smaller scale, two-story designs with cornice lines or similar to downtown commercial uses. Corporate, private development and agency architecture will need to accommodate these historic values and assist in maintaining a small community feeling of the early 1900s.

Sites or buildings abutting the new Waterford City Hall building and Government Center near Highway 132 should maintain a continuity in design elements of the building complex such as roof lines and materials, and connect existing or proposed pedestrian spaces and amenities and landscape treatments.

Building facades along the "downtown" portions of "E" Bentley Streets should be pedestrian-oriented with the majority of the street wall being made up of windows and other interesting design features and businesses that are interactive retail should be promoted (i.e., artist studio and gallery, hands-on displays or merchandise, etc.).

Public transportation and related facility designs should be compatible with local plans and regulations, and must be approved by the city. Bus stop design should address all transportation modes (bus, bicycle and vehicles), transfer needs and pedestrians.

Architectural Details. The following architectural elements are required to provide visual interest and create a sense of human scale:

Building Fenestration.

Proportions. The scale of all structures in relationship to other structures and spaces is important. Buildings and the spaces between should relate easily and openly to the external public areas. To balance horizontal features on longer façades, vertical building elements, such as building entries should be emphasized.

Modulation. Building façades visible from public rights-of-way, pedestrian corridors or public open space, except for ground floor commercial, shall be modulated approximately every forty feet. The modulation shall have a minimum depth of four feet.

Articulation. Façades should be varied and articulated to provide visual interest to pedestrians. The roof line of buildings should be modulated and should include interesting architectural features, such as decorative eave, trim, or cornice. Window articulation through use of a decorative trim, such as window hoods and the use of smaller regularly spaced windows in upper stories with smaller divided lights. Store front designs and materials should be allowed to be unique while maintaining the character of the building façade of which they are a part. The base of buildings should be articulated through use of plinths, pilasters or other elements.

Materials and Colors. Exterior building materials and finishes should convey an impression of permanence and durability. Materials such as masonry, stone, stucco, wood, terra cotta, and tile are encouraged. Where masonry is used for exterior finish, decorative patterns should be considered. These patterns could include a change in color or material. Exterior colors should be given careful consideration in the context of the surrounding buildings and environment.

Screening.

Parks and Open Space. Mixed-use developments will provide twenty percent in parks and open space. Plazas, play areas, landscape buffers and open spaces (sensitive areas) can be included. Ten percent of the area will be in useable parks, plazas and play areas. Pedestrian and bicycle paths and connections are required within the development and shall be provided to the closest activity areas (i.e., schools, business area, park, major arterial, etc.).

Signage throughout the waterfront area should be consistent, while public transportation should have its own charter but which is complementary to signage for private development, other public transportation or facility design and to building character.

Windows along a frontage street can have painted or etched lettering above seven feet as signage for the business.

Where possible, signs should be an integral part of the building rather than an afterthought. Wall-mounted signs shall not project more than six inches from the building.

Sign creativity is encouraged. Signs may be fabricated of mixed media, including metal reverse-illuminated letters, suspended neon letters, illuminated individual letters, signs etched or cutout of solid material such as wood or brass and illuminated from behind.

Building mounted or wall signs for retail shops and commercial area will be located in the storefront area above the door height and below canopy (typically eight feet above floor).

Signs shall be centered between architectural elements and between columns to allow building architecture to be expressed. Signs shall not necessarily be centered on lease premises.

Signs shall be compatible in scale and proportion with building design and other signs.

Signage shall be placed facing primary pedestrian streets.

Overhanging, building mounted or blade signs which hang from the canopy, arcade or building front may be utilized to increase visibility. Overhanging signs shall not have an area of more than three square feet or exceed two inches in thickness. Overhanging signs area is not included in signage area allowed under the sign code. The bottom of the sign should not be lower than eight feet aboveground.

Letter height shall not exceed eighteen inches. Larger first letters up to twenty-four inches will be permitted.

Length of the signs shall not be more than two-thirds of the overall "leased" façade area or less than three feet from demising wall of lease premises. Each sign is calculated separately and shall conform to all applicable maximum area limitations. Calculated maximum areas are not transferable to other façades. Each tenant is allowed to place signage on no more than two façades.

Awnings with signs painted on them are allowed, but the awnings can not be internally illuminated.

Monument signs and wall signs can not be internally illuminated.

Off-street parking in commercial areas shall either be behind or to the side of development with ground-floor retail along the street frontage. As an alternative, off-street parking may be allowed in front of the building where the development incorporates a mini-street design that includes angled parking, street trees, pedestrian sidewalks with connecting walkways to the public street, and decorative lighting. (See Figure 42-3)

Shared or joint parking is encouraged so that parking needs generated by development can be accommodated efficiently.

A minimum of curb cuts should be allowed along frontage streets for parking access in accordance with the requirements of the city engineer.

Adjacent street frontage to a mixed use project can be counted on a one to one basis towards the parking requirement on streets that are improved and have designated parking.

Residential units in the downtown business and mixed-use developments shall provide one parking space per unit. All other mixed-use developments shall provide one and one-half parking spaces per unit and one guest space per every four units. Parking for the commercial/retail/office space shall be determined using the parking standards of the city. Shared parking proposals are encouraged.

Employee parking shall be provided on-site, or as part of a shared parking agreement.

Joint or shared access, and off-street parking, internal circulation or parking is encouraged with adjacent uses and developments.

A development can reduce the required off-street parking spaces up to fifty percent when it can be demonstrated, in a parking-traffic study, prepared by a traffic engineer, that use of public transit or demand management programs, special characteristics or customer, client, employee or resident population will reduce expected vehicle use and parking space demand for their development, as compared to standard Institute of Transportation Engineers vehicle trip generation rates and city parking requirements.

Parking lots shall have internal landscaping as well as be screened from streets and pedestrian ways.

Parking garages shall be screened to improve the pedestrian environment in mixed-use zones.

Parking Facilities—Lots—Structures.

Due to extreme summer heat, landscaping and shade of parking and community or public areas should be heavily landscaped with trees that will provide summer shade and cooling. Parking areas should have one tree per every four parking stalls or trees between every two to four ferry loading lanes.

Parking areas must be screened from all pedestrian-oriented areas through the use of trees, scrubs, walls and/or trellis structures with plants.

Parking lots should provide landscaping next to buildings and along walkways. Parking lots should provide enough trees so that fifty percent of the lot is shaded within a five-year period and landscape beds have a ninety percent ground coverage in five years.

Arbors or trellises supporting living landscape materials should be considered for ornamentation on exterior walls. Any such feature should cover an area of at least one hundred square feet and include sufficient plantings to achieve at least thirty percent coverage by plant materials within three years.

Where pedestrian activity is encouraged onto the site, the screening doesn't have to be site obscuring.

Utilities are required to be underground and aboveground equipment should be located away from major pedestrian streets and corners. Equipment boxes and vaults must be placed in back of the sidewalk and where landscaping can minimize or screen their impact.

Where practical and the project is located in close proximity to the Tuolumne River Parkway or any of the city's strip parks located on old canal alignments, interior mixed use walkways shall make a direct connection in accordance with city standards.

Sidewalks along frontage streets should be a minimum of ten feet. Interior sidewalks in the mixed use development area should be no less than five feet.