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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - DRB - 10-06-2009Deerfield Professional Centre 13000 Deerfield Parkway Building 100, Suite 107 E Milton, GA 30004 ACTION REPORT DESIGN REVIEW BOARD OCTOBER 6, 2009 6:00PM 1) Call to order and Pledge 2) Introduction of Board Members, Board members present:  Darryl Jan Porter, Vic Jones, Kathi “Cook, Terry Herr, Vince Pisano, Eddie Moore 3) Approval of September action minutes  Motion to approve: Terry Herr  2nd: Kathi Cook  Motion approved: 6-0 4) Demo review, Pool house  295 Crooked Stick Drive, Jim Grosch  Motion to approve: Kathi Cook  2nd: Eddie Moore  Motion approved: 6-0 5) Demo review, House  13600 Providence Road, Carol Cookerly  Protect specimen tree with tree save fencing  Install silt fencing to prevent encroachment into the buffer  Motion to approve: Kathi Cook  2nd: Darryl Jan Porter  Motion approved: 6-0 6) Courtesy review, Highway 9 Design Guidelines/Cultured stone  Discussion of allowing cultured stone as a 75% main feature and/or 25% accent. Members concerned with quality of product, installation and weathering.  From Board member, Darryl Jan Porter--I personally feel that only the better quality of cultured stone should be allowed in the City of Milton. Also, I only want it to be 25 per cent of a structure for decorative accent only. We could decide on a case by case basis. o Public comment:  From Heidi Sowder, Highway 9 Resident—History of the Highway 9 Overlay development; trying to produce a uniform look, favors brick over stone and other materials. o Board’s recommendation: Allow “stone” as a 75% main feature, as well as 25% accent  Discussion of allowing clapboard materials/Craftsman style architecture. This is the material typically found in this type of rural community. Some members welcomed the variety, some concerned that these types of buildings would not fit it.  Overlay needs to be amended to better fit the needs of the Hwy 9/Deerfield District—i.e. multi story buildings, precast exteriors, glass, metal panels.  See Attachment A—Comments from Kathi Cook  See Attachment B—Comments from Terry Herr 7) Courtesy review, Deerfield Green Modification  Applicant proposes changing units in rear from rear entry to front entry o Public comment:  From Heidi Sowder, Highway 9 Resident—Would like to see driveways lengthened, to prevent cars from hanging over into the sidewalk/street, and to prevent street from looking cluttered. Any part of the retaining wall visible from the road should be heavily screened. Possibly add 5’ landscaped area in front of wall, and around unit 136 for evergreen mix. Possibly add area to the garages for storage of trash cans, etc., to keep them out of site. Highway 9 Overlay should be amended to required brick/stone on retaining walls. 8) Other business--None 9) Adjournment—Meeting adjourned 7:30pm ATTACHMENT A Highway 9 Guidelines Recommendations: Under Introduction, consider the following:  To promote traffic safety and the general welfare of the public through the protection of the community property values, character and vistas of various City entrance corridors and the prevention of unnecessary clutter, congestion and poor definition of properties and development edges along routes of primary access leading into areas and site of significant historical, cultural, educational, social and/or aesthetic value, and to ensure that any development or redevelopment is consistent with the goals of the comprehensive plan;  To improve the environment of the City and quality of life for the general welfare of all citizens of the City;  To protect and enhance the attractiveness of the City to home buyer, tourists, visitors and shoppers, and thereby support and promote business, commerce, industry and provide economic benefit to the City.  To foster and encourage preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of structures, areas, and neighborhoods and thereb y prevent urban blight.  To encourage the concept of sustainability, use of energy efficient design and promote conservation of natural resources. Consider putting more teeth and requiring items instead of recommending such as: The following minimum requirements must be met: i) Provide decorative landscaping near building entrances or patios (planting beds, large pots, etc.) ii) Screen dumpster and recycling bins with masonry wall to match the building and opaque metal gates and evergreen plantings. (The current section does not stipulate metal gates, we have seen problems with wooden gates, metal is usually painted of course) iii) Monument signs shall not displace required landscaping. Base plantings around sign shall include evergreens and seasonal plantings. iv) Parking areas should be demarcated from pedestrian connections with pavers, stamped concrete or other material that differentiates the pedestrian walkway. v) Provide paved pedestrian connection from public sidewalk(s) to site interior. (may not be located within a required tree island) vi) Sites should include a minimum of one bicycle rack and one bench. vii) All landscaped areas should be maintained by the use of automatic irrigation systems or as approved by the Community Development Department. Automatic irrigation systems shall comply with the Water Conservation Ordinance (does Milton have one?). Fences. Fences along the front shall not be privacy type. You don’t want them solid. Amenities. Do you want to also include water features at the corners or statuary? Mini pocket parks at major intersections should be adopted now similar to Alpharetta’s corner at Main and Old Milton. Each development was made to adhere to a plan which incorporates a water feature at the office building, a clock tower at Walgreens and a small arbor at the Rite Aid, when the 4th corner redevelops they are also required a feature. There is a master plan for the corners of Haynes Bridge at Old Milton intersections. We currently have one corner under development and the applicant is required to construct a mini pocket park because the Council had previously approved the corner master plan. Just for your information, here is Alpharetta’s required streetscape on Main. The Arborist is requiring Elms which may be better. North Main Street Hybrid Red Maples spaced 50 feet on center. Alternate with two (2) Seminole or Tuscarora Crape Myrtles centered in the middle of each. Granville lights to be located 50 feet on center – color to be green. Benches to be placed at the rate of one unit every 150 linear feet. Medians: Seminole or Tuscarora Crape Myrtles staggered at 10 feet on center in blocks of 10 under planted with Knockout Roses. Alternate with blocks of Nellie Stevens Holly staggered at eight (8) feet on center and ends of bed to be planted with low ornamental shrubs. Plantings shall allow for a minimum visual clearance of 24 feet at the end of each median which shall be planted with dwarf daylilies or other ground cover. Median widths of less than 2 feet shall consist of brick pavers (no plants). Lighting. Possibly add “There shall be no spillover of lighting onto adjacent residential properties.” Also consider under Landscape: Where existing topographic patterns contribute to beauty and utility of a development, they shall be preserved and developed. Landscape treatment shall be provided to enhance and compliment architectural features, strengthen vistas and lines of site and provide shade. In motor traffic, they shall be protected by appropriate curbs, tree guards, or other devices wherever possible. Where building sites limit planting, the placement of trees or shrubs in the parkways or paved areas is encouraged. Screening of service yards, exterior utilities (includes generators, water chillers, etc.), refuge collection areas and other places which tend to be unsightly shall be accomplished by the use of walls, fencing, landscaping or any approved combination of these. Screening shall be effective in winter and summer seasons. Respect and preserve existing landforms, trees and other landscape elements. Shield vehicular parking areas, service areas and driveways from adjacent properties and public rights-of-ways through the use of effective screening mechanisms such as: Landscaped earthen berms; lowering the parking level grade below sight lines from public right-of- ways and by the use of landscaping. Plant materials are encouraged to be indigenous to this area and climate. Care should be taken in selection of plant materials that do not require excessive irrigation or maintenance. Scale and proportion of the surrounding area should be considered in the selection of landscaping materials. Landscaping should be utilized to complement and soften the architecture of buildings, structures and monument signs and soften or eliminate the appearance of parking areas from public rights-of-ways. Equal attention is to be considered for landscaping along the front of the building as well as the sides and rear of buildings in addition to surrounding buildings. Signage Consider adding language: Signs shall be compatible with the buildings and places to which it is visually related. Signs shall reflect the scale and character of its surroundings in size, type, face, graphics, lighting, square footage, style, material, color and related qualities to the building. Ground mounted signage is to be monument style with materials and a color(s) to match the parent building’s materials. Brick or stone is encourage to be used as the base of monument signs along with seasonal and evergreen plants installed in planting beds surrounding the monument sign. Efforts should be taken to provide a frame around ground mounted signs to enclose the sign face. Page 18 – I think the number should be lowered from 75,000 building area. Walgreens, Zaxby’s etc. in Alpharetta are much smaller (about 2,000 square feet) and complied with the master corner plans. Consider the following: The following elements are strongly discouraged: i) Visually obtrusive Storm Water Detention or Retention areas. Care should be taken to locate storm water detention or retention areas in the least conspicuous areas of the project site or design them into water features. Additional care should be taken to mitigate the visual intrusion of detention or retention through the use of heavy landscaping or concealing these areas underground. Utilization of the retention or detention pond as an attractive site feature is the prefered alternative. ii) Visible Roof mounted equipment on Buildings. Roof mounted heating and air cooling units, exhaust hoods and fans, vent piping, satellite dishes, antennae and other roof appurtenances on the roof of a building are prohibited from being viewed from the ground by the general public and must be permanently screened. Any exterior ventilated HVAC units shall be internally drained (i.e. condensate lines). iii) Visible Dumpsters and Recycling bins or Containers. Dumpsters, Refuge containers and recycling bins are required to be screened from public view with building materials that match the parent building and their location on the project site is to be as inconspicuous as possible. Enclosure doors are to be constructed of steel or other durable materials that can be easily maintained and their color coordinated with the parent building. iv) Excessive Site and Building Lighting. Site and building lighting should be minimal with lighting standards and levels being at the discretion of the Design Review Board. Site lighting should not distract motorists or pedestrians transversing on or near the project site. Building lighting should not distract from the overall architecture of the building but should complement the building. Site or building lighting should not “spill over” onto adjacent properties and should be directed specifically at the building In order to limit lighting of the night sky. However, site and building lighting is encouraged to provide a sense of security. v) Improper Landscape design and lack of creativity. Trendy, untested or non-indigenous species of plants are strongly discouraged. Plants should be of larger caliper and size to create a pleasant and immediate impact upon installation. Blooming plants with complimentary colors should be utilized. vi) Removal of existing trees important to the character of the site. Large and significant trees should be protected where possible through the use of creative design solutions and man-made protection devices, such as tree wells, aeration systems, etc. vii) Discouraged architectural elements. Mansard roofs; drive-through windows that become a primary visual focus; overly plastic elements; inappropriately ornate architectural elements (such as elements depicting animals); metal buildings; and mobile units are discouraged. vii) Use of neon, fiber optic, and non-traditional illumination techniques is strongly discouraged. Use of neon tubing or other non-traditional illumination techniques which are visible are prohibited, unless covered by translucent material. viii) Excessive use of building materials. In general, building materials should be limited to three types. Buildings incorporating too many different material types look busy and disjointed. Visual continuity should be considered by balancing building materials within the architectural elevations. ix) Thematic architecture. Building styles that are overly theatrical in character or are designed to represent specific objects are strongly discouraged. Materials used to create theatrical design such as driftwood, netting, corrugated metal and mirrors are strongly discouraged. x) Excessive use of retaining walls. Use of retaining walls is discouraged. However, where required due to site conditions and grading considerations, care should be taken to mitigate their visual obtrusiveness. Finished materials must match the parent building or structure. Modular block walls are only allowed in non-visible areas of the site. xi) Visually obtrusive parking structures or other accessory buildings. Parking structures must provide architectural details and materials to mitigate their visual obtrusiveness of on all exterior elevations. Materials and colors must match those of the parent building. Should no parent building be adjacent, then the parking structure should be visually compatible with other adjacent structures. All surface and storm water is to be internally drained. xii) Use of plastic materials and primary colored accessory structures. Accessory structures such as playgrounds must not be visible from public right-of-ways. Plastic materials and primary colors are to be avoided.