Policy 9

Use urban design to guide development, promote community health, protect our natural, historic, and cultural resources and quality of life, and enhance mobility.  

  • HD9.1 - Rewrite the Zoning Ordinance to include a set of modern, user-friendly urban design standards and guidelines that promote sustainability, allow for creativity and individuality, and respect context instead of creating unique development and transit district overlay zones through the master plan process.

  • HD9.2 - Locate and promote opportunity sites for future public buildings, civic spaces, and urban parks during the master plan process.

  • HD9.3 - Require new developments at all scales to be designed around an interconnected street network rather than limited access culs-de-sac.
     
  • HD9.4 - Enhance the public realm by installing public amenities and art in central places and ensuring public buildings model high-quality urban design and architecture and multimodal access.

  • HD9.5 - Evaluate the phasing strategies for large-scale developments to ensure that each phase of the project can meet established urban design goals and requirements for the project area, even if subsequent phases are delayed or not completed.

  • HD9.6 - Orient and relate building frontages, rather than parking, to the street.

  • HD9.7 - Identify and prioritize areas for street tree installation.  

  • HD9.8 - Implement tree planting initiatives at County entry points and key gateways and along all major transportation corridors.

  • HD9.9 - Implement urban design solutions to ensure appropriate transitions between higher intensity and density development and surrounding lower-density residential neighborhoods. Urban techniques include decreasing (stepping down) building heights, reducing development densities, and otherwise modifying architectural massing and form.

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