§ 9-558. Facade treatments.

(a)

The intent of this section is to provide visual interest to all facades by requiring a minimum level of detail features on facades. These detail features shall not consist solely of applied graphics or paint.

(b)

All facades of buildings with a gross floor area of twenty thousand (20,000) square feet or more shall be required to incorporate at least three (3) of the following facade treatments. At least one of these treatments shall repeat horizontally. All such design elements shall repeat at intervals of no more than thirty (30) feet, either horizontally or vertically. All facades of buildings with a gross floor area of less than twenty thousand (20,000) square feet shall be required to incorporate at least two (2) of the following facade treatments. At least one (1) of these treatments shall repeat horizontally. All such design elements shall repeat at intervals of no more than twenty-five (25) feet, either horizontally or vertically.

(1)

Expression of a vertical architectural treatment with a minimum width of twelve (12) inches.

(2)

Building stepbacks, offsets or projections, a minimum of three (3) feet in depth.

(3)

Color change.

(4)

Texture and/or material change.

(5)

Architectural banding.

(6)

Pattern change.

(7)

Any other treatment that, in the opinion of the building official, meets the intent of this section.

(c)

Blank wall areas on any facade shall not exceed ten (10) feet in vertical direction or twenty (20) feet in horizontal direction. Control and expansion joints constitute a detail feature only if incorporated as a decorative pattern and spaced apart at intervals of six (6) feet or less. Relief and reveal work depth must be a minimum of one-half (½) inch.

(d)

By encouraging the visual appearance of numerous smaller storefronts, in lieu of one (1) large big box storefront, this subsection is intended to reduce the large visual mass and monotonous exterior appearance typically associated with big box development (defined in section 38-1 of this Code).

The standards in this subsection call for individually-peaked, forward-projecting, and vertically-oriented exterior architectural forms and features on street-facing facades and rooflines. Such forms will assist owners in architecturally expressing, on the exterior of their stores, the individual components (e.g., garden, grocery, pharmacy) within their stores. As such, the vertically-oriented, forward-projecting, and peaked components shall incorporate vertical components which serve to interrupt the pronounced horizontal roofline of big box structures and to reinforce the appearance of smaller, individual storefronts.

Building entry finish materials. Owners shall maximize the amount of pedestrian-scaled windows (avoiding extensive opaque surfaces) along the street-facing facade which contains the primary customer entrance. Furthermore, owners shall utilize smaller-scaled, and darker colored, exterior finish materials (e.g., individual bricks or stone veneer in lieu of light-colored stucco on masonry or pre-cast concrete panels) on the lower portions (the "water table") of big box exterior walls which are adjacent to customer entrance(s), and which flank the exterior pedestrian sidewalk system on street-facing facades. Such darker, smaller-scaled finish materials shall be featured from the sidewalk grade, to no less than four (4) feet above sidewalk grade.

Required transparent windows. Such primary customer entrance facades shall incorporate a minimum of twenty-five (25) percent transparency (windows). The transparency calculation may include the glass surfaces of the customer entrance window system itself. The area of required transparency shall be calculated by multiplying the structure's linear frontage by a height (above adjacent finished pavement grade) of twelve (12) feet. In addition, street-facing primary customer entrance facades shall incorporate an overhead projecting portico, arcade, or colonnade, as described below. Such customer entrance overhead forms shall, at a minimum, extend over the same twenty-five (25) percent transparency area.

Transparency alternative; architectural projections. As an alternative to meeting the twenty-five (25) percent transparency and entranceway overhead form requirements, street-facing facades containing the primary customer entrance shall include covered porticos, arcades, colonnades, or a combination thereof, along a minimum of sixty (60) percent of the horizontal length of the subject facade.

The roof plane of such porticos, arcades, or colonnades shall not extend horizontally for more than fifty (50) linear feet without the substantially and proportionately-sized, interrupting vertical architectural forms referenced above. The face (fascia) of such vertical forms shall project upward a minimum of fifteen (15) feet above the horizontal fascia of the portico, arcade, or colonnade lying below. The highest point of the fascia, or gable, of such vertical projections shall extend upward to a point at least as high as the horizontal roof line (parapet edge) of the big box development's principal structure. Furthermore, such vertical forms shall be no less than twenty (20) feet wide, as measured at the face (fascia) or base of the gable.

The covered porticos, arcades, or colonnades shall incorporate the customer sidewalk below with a minimum pedestrian clearance (clear width), between the structure and the supporting columns, of twelve (12) feet. Such porticos, arcades, or colonnades, and twelve-foot wide sidewalks, shall not replace any required building foundation area landscape planter requirements for primary and secondary facades.

Facades which face an adjacent street, but which do not possess the primary customer entrance (i.e., a side street facade), shall provide the above-referenced porticos, arcades, or colonnades, and associated individual roofline vertical projections, along at least forty (40) percent of the street-facing (side) facade. Such forty (40) percent requirement shall only apply to any segment of a side facade which does not incorporate a garden center decorative perimeter wall system as described in this subsection.

Garden center walls. When a garden center is placed along a street-facing facade, a garden center decorative perimeter wall system may be substituted for the porticos, colonnades, arcades, and vertical form required above. Such garden center decorative wall systems shall be constructed of columns (posts) at least thirty-six (36) inches wide (or thirty-six (36) inches in diameter), and spaced no more than twenty-five (25) feet on-center along the perimeter of the garden center.

The columns shall be horizontally interconnected across each of their top portions with a substantial cross member. The columns or column cap component may extend above the horizontal cross members up to twenty-four (24) inches. Such upper horizontal cross member shall feature colors, finish, dimensions, proportions, and trim details which are architecturally consistent with the adjacent supporting columns and with the big box principal structure. The upper cross members shall be the highest visual component of the wall system, and no other fencing materials, or store merchandise, may protrude above the horizontal cross members. Disproportionate, undersized, or otherwise architecturally incompatible columns or horizontal cross member designs are prohibited. Alternative designs for garden center decorative perimeter wall systems may be approved by Orange County on a case by case basis.

Chain link fencing material, including vinyl-clad or other coated fencing, is prohibited on such garden center walls. Instead, garden center decorative walls systems may infill the gaps between the columns and the upper horizontal connecting cross members, with decorative metal fencing materials (e.g., wrought iron-styled aluminum fencing).

In addition, black fabric mesh, or similarly opaque and approved materials, shall be installed on the interior side of the decorative metal fencing in order to visually screen any materials which may be stacked or stored on the inside of the garden center decorative wall system.

Garden center wall exterior foundations shall adhere to primary and secondary building facade landscaping requirements.

(Ord. No. 98-29, § 1, 10-20-98; Ord. No. 2001-14, § 2, 6-19-01; Ord. No. 2001-26, § 1.V., 12-18-01; Ord. No. 2007-01 , § 4, 3-20-07)