§ 16-18R.012. Relationship of building to street.

1.

For purposes of this chapter, sidewalk-level shall be defined as any floor of a building with a finished-floor elevation less than or equal to five feet above the adjacent sidewalk or less than or equal to five feet below the adjacent sidewalk.

2.

Active uses are required at sidewalk level along public and private streets, except at ingress and egress points into parking structures or loading areas. For the purposes of this chapter actives uses are limited to retail, office, residential, restaurant, museum, gallery, auditorium, library, hotel lobby, or cultural facility uses; all shall be serviced by plumbing, heating, and electricity. Minimum active use depths from the street facing building façade shall be provided as follows:

a.

Single-family, two-family or multi-family residential buildings with no residential units located above or below a unit: Minimum depth of ten feet.

b.

All other uses: Minimum depth of 20 feet.

c.

When two or more floors meeting the definition of sidewalk-level exist within the same building, this requirement shall only apply to the frontage of each floor located within five feet above or below the grade of the adjacent sidewalk.

3.

The primary pedestrian entrance to all sidewalk-level uses:

a.

Shall face, be visible from, and be directly accessible from the sidewalk.

b.

When located along a street that functions as an arterial or collector, shall face, be visible from, and be directly accessible from the sidewalk along such street, with the exception of single-family and two-family dwellings and multi-family buildings with no unit located above or below another residential unit.

c.

Shall remain unlocked during business hours for non-residential uses.

d.

Shall be at grade with the closest portion of the adjacent required sidewalk for non-residential uses.

e.

The use of fire-escape, entrance-only and exit-only doors as primary entrances is explicitly prohibited.

4.

Buildings containing residential uses shall:

a.

Provide individual unit pedestrian entrances that are directly accessible from the sidewalk and opening directly onto the adjacent sidewalk, park, plaza, terrace, stoop or porch when a building contains more than four sidewalk level residential units adjacent to the sidewalk, with the exception of assisted living facilities. All pedestrian walkways providing such access shall be primarily perpendicular to the street, unless topography prohibits, and shall be permitted to share said walkway with one adjacent unit.

b.

All residential uses not located at sidewalk level shall have pedestrian access to the sidewalk via a lobby fronting and accessible from said sidewalk.

c.

Provide a pedestrian walkway a minimum of four feet wide linking pedestrian entrances to the sidewalk.

d.

Provide front porches, stoops or wheelchair ramps on the principal structure pedestrian entrances, provided that:

i.

Except as required in SPI-18 Subareas 5 and 6, front porches shall be a minimum of six feet wide and a minimum of five feet deep. Front porches shall have roofs, balustrades and columns, and may be enclosed with screen wire, provided that the main characteristics of the porch such as balustrades, columns or porch railings, and front doors are visible. Front porch columns, excluding railings or pickets, shall have a minimum width of eight inches.

ii.

Stoops shall be a minimum of three feet wide and faced in brick or stone.

iii.

Steps serving porches or stoops facing the street shall have enclosed risers and ends.

e.

Residential fenestration treatment. All street-fronting façades, shall meet the following requirements:

i.

Windows shall be provided for a minimum of 30 percent and a maximum of 50 percent of the total façade, with each façade being calculated independently.

ii.

Equally sized vertical windows shall be arranged horizontally.

iii.

Windowpanes shall be recessed a minimum of three inches from the adjacent façade. In single-family and two-family structures windowpanes shall be recessed a minimum of two inches from the adjacent façade where wood or cementious siding are used.

iv.

Fenestration shall not utilize painted glass, reflective glass or other similarly treated or opaque windows.

5.

Storefront fenestration treatment (for parking deck requirements see section 16-18R.017(3)). All street-fronting non-residential uses, with the exception of churches and fire stations, shall meet the following sidewalk-level requirements:

a.

The length of façade without intervening fenestration or entryway shall not exceed 20 feet.

b.

Fenestration shall be provided for a minimum of 65 percent of the length of all street frontages:

i.

Beginning at a point not more than three feet above the sidewalk, to a height no less than ten feet above the sidewalk or;

ii.

Beginning at the finished floor elevation to a height no less than ten feet above the finished floor elevation when the finished floor elevation is two or more feet above the sidewalk; or

iii.

Beginning at a point not more than sidewalk level, to a height no less than ten feet above the finished floor elevation when the finished floor elevation is below the sidewalk.

c.

Fenestration shall not utilize painted glass, reflective glass or other similarly treated or opaque windows. Entrances may be counted towards fenestration requirements.

6.

Building floors shall be delineated to the third story above sidewalk level and lower and shall be executed through windows, belt courses, cornice lines or similar architectural detailing.

7.

A street address number shall be located directly above or beside the primary building and business establishment entrances along the required sidewalk, shall be clearly visible from the sidewalk and shall be a minimum of six inches in height.

8.

Chimneys:

a.

Shall begin at-grade.

b.

Shall be faced with brick, horizontal wood clapboard siding, horizontal hardiplank (cementious siding), stone, cast stone, or three-part hard coat stucco.

9.

Awnings and canopies:

a.

All awnings and canopies shall be cloth or canvas.

b.

Internally lit awnings and canopies are prohibited.

10.

Sidewalk arcades are not permitted.

11.

A fence, retaining wall, curb or hedge with a minimum height of six inches shall be provided at the back of the sidewalk adjacent to sidewalk-level residential units, with the exception of openings to access steps, drives or pedestrian walkways.

12.

Retaining walls shall be provided at the back of the sidewalk adjacent to sidewalk level residential units where similar retaining walls exists on adjacent lots, subject to subsection 15. below.

13.

Fences and walls shall meet the following regulations:

a.

For residential uses adjacent to the sidewalk, fences shall not exceed four feet in height when located between the primary building and the street or between any supplemental zone and the adjacent street. For non-residential uses adjacent to the sidewalk, fences are prohibited when located between the building and the sidewalk except where specifically authorized elsewhere in this chapter for outdoor dining.

b.

Retaining walls located adjacent to a sidewalk along a public street shall not exceed a height of two feet and the combined height of a fence where otherwise authorized and retaining wall shall not exceed a height of five feet, unless existing topography prohibits retaining walls of a lesser height. Retaining walls shall be faced with stone, brick or smooth stucco. See section 16-29.001(25)(b).

c.

No walls, except retaining walls, shall be located between the street and any building, with the exception of screening for authorized off-street loading areas.

d.

Fences and walls located between the primary building and the lot line and not exceeding six feet in height may be erected, but shall not be permitted between the primary building and the street.

e.

Fences adjacent to the street shall be of picket-wood, stone, composite materials or ornamental metal. The finished side or front side of one-sided fences shall face the public or private street.

f.

No barbed wire, razor wire, chain link fence or similar elements shall be visible from any public plaza, ground level or sidewalk level outdoor dining area or public right-of-way.

14.

Gasoline fuel dispenser structures, canopies, and associated service areas shall not be located between a building and the street, except for those service stations located in Subarea 1, where gasoline fuel dispenser structures, canopies, and associated service areas may be located between the building and the street. A landscaped buffer shall be provided between all driveways adjacent to the fuel pump area and the street-fronting sidewalk. All required landscaped areas shall be planted with evergreen groundcover or shrubs with a maximum height of 30 inches, and all landscaped buffer areas and strips along sidewalks, drives, private streets and public rights-of-way shall have a minimum of one single-stem tree planted per 30 feet of length with a minimum caliper of three and one-half inches.

(Ord. No. 2007-67(07-O-1792), § 1(Att. A), 11-13-07; Ord. No. 2015-44(15-O-1275), § 1, 9-17-15 )