20.25.070 Urban village design standards | Bellingham Municipal Code

20.25.070 Urban village design standards.

A. Departures from Design Requirements. The director may approve departures from the urban village design guidelines and standards. All requests for departures shall be identified in the application and reviewed by the design review board following the process in BMC 20.25.030 unless the request involves a building on the city, state or national register of historic places, in which case it shall be reviewed by the historic preservation commission following the process in Chapter 17.90 BMC. A departure may only be allowed if the director determines that the applicant has demonstrated that either:

1. In response to difficult physical circumstances relating to the size, shape, topography, location or surroundings of the subject property, an alternative solution is required that meets the intent of the requirement to the greatest extent practical; or

2. An alternative design will provide an equal or better solution that:

a. Meets the intent of the standard;

b. Enhances the character and livability of the urban village;

c. Enhances the character and environment for pedestrians;

d. Enhances or protects the character of the neighborhood or vicinity by protecting natural features, historic sites, open space, or other resources; and

e. Will not have any substantial detrimental effect on nearby properties and the city or the neighborhood.

i. Intent. Ensure parking lots are not a dominant element within urban villages and minimize the impact of surface parking on the pedestrian environment.

ii. Standard. Parking shall be located to the rear or side of a building and shall not be located at intersections. (See Figure 20.25.070(A).) Access should be from an alley or local street where feasible.

iii. Standards.

(A) A wall or evergreen hedge designed to be maintained at a height of at least two and one-half feet and not more than three and one-half feet is required along the street frontage of any street level open parking lot. Open trellis work or similar features that can be seen through may extend above the wall. Street trees with canopies above pedestrian height may be included. (See Figure 20.25.070(B).)

(B) Visually screen parking lots from abutting residential single zones and residential transition areas. Chain link fencing with slats is not an acceptable screen.

b. Drive-Through Facilities.

i. Intent. Diminish the impact of automobiles on the pedestrian environment.

ii. Standard. Access and stacking lanes for drive-through services shall not be located between the street and the building or between the building and a residential zone. (See Figure 20.25.070(C).)

i. Intent. Reduce the impact and view of trash and recycling storage areas.

ii. Repealed by Ord. 2023-01-001.

iii. Standard. Refuse containment areas shall be placed in a building or enclosed in a structure that is of similar architectural character of the major structures on the site.

i. Intent. Mechanical equipment should not detract from the appearance of the building.

ii. Standard. Screen mechanical equipment in way that is integrated with the architecture of the building and obstructs the visibility of the equipment from the public realm.

i. Intent. Create a network of safe, convenient and attractive off-street linkages for pedestrians.

ii. Repealed by Ord. 2023-01-001.

iii. Repealed by Ord. 2023-01-001.

iv. Standard. Pedestrian through-block connections shall not be less than five feet wide and be clearly defined by use of material, elevation (six inches raised) or landscaping borders. The space between two buildings adjoining a through-block walkway shall be a minimum of 20 feet unless a narrower width is approved through design review.

v. Standard. Pedestrian access that is separated from vehicle access shall be provided between the building main entry and the public sidewalk. If walkways cross parking lots or driveways, the walkway shall be separated from parking by landscaping or by raised pavement, or when crossing driving lanes, by a change in texture or material.

i. Intent. Provide architectural character, safety and encourage evening activity while minimizing impacts to neighboring properties and the darkness of the night sky.

ii. Repealed by Ord. 2023-01-001.

iii. Standard. Parking lot lights should generally be no more than 18 feet in height and lower for pedestrian walkways.

iv. Standard. Lighting shall be directed away from the sky, dwellings and neighboring development. The use of LED or low energy use fixtures is strongly encouraged.

g. Fencing. All fencing shall be designed to integrate into the site and/or architecture of the building and add visual interest in its detail, materials or color. Chain link fencing shall specifically not be allowed between commercial and residential areas.

2. Building Design. Commercial ground floor space shall have a minimum floor to floor height of 12 feet.

i. Intent. Enhance key intersections identified in the urban village design guidelines Appendix A – Urban Village Specific Design Character, Guidelines and Maps.

ii. Standard. Stylistically distinguish building corners at key intersections in a manner that highlights entryways and contributes to the identity of the urban village district. See Figure 20.25.070(D).

i. Intent. Reduce the visual impacts of structured parking on public streets, public open spaces and residential zones.

ii. Standard. Structured parking levels that are adjacent to a public street or open space or a residential zone shall be screened or treated architecturally by window openings, landscaping designed to screen the facade, decorative meter grills, and/or other approved devices that meet the intent.

i. Intent. Provide a visual link between nonresidential space and the public sidewalk to create visual interest at the pedestrian level.

ii. Standard. A minimum of 60 percent of the building wall between two feet and seven feet above the sidewalk and facing a street shall be transparent or lightly tinted glazing. Windows into parking garage space shall not qualify. If windows are not appropriate, glass display cases, decorative art (for example, murals or relief sculpture), significant architectural detailing or wall-covering landscaping may be used. (See Figure 20.25.070(H).)

i. Intent. Provide pedestrians rain protection, integrate individual buildings into the streetscape, and define the pedestrian zone.

ii. Standard. Weather protection shall be located between eight and 12 feet above the walkway but a higher placement may be considered if the width of the protection is increased.

iii. Standard. Where commercial uses are located at ground floor, buildings shall provide pedestrian weather protection covering at least a four-foot width of sidewalk along at least 75 percent of the street level frontage. Minimum adjustments needed to accommodate trees or other overhead objects may be allowed.

iv. Standard. Materials shall be limited to metal, glass, Plexiglas or equivalent “hard” durable materials.

i. Intent. Provide visual interest and avoid the negative impacts of blank walls.

ii. Standard. Blank walls shall be treated to create visual interest. A blank wall is a wall or a portion of wall that is either (A) at least 400 square feet in area with a length and width of at least 10 feet that does not include a window, door, building modulation or other architectural feature or (B) at the ground floor and over six feet in height with a horizontal length greater than 15 feet that does not include a window, pedestrian entry door, building modulation or other architectural feature.

Any blank wall within 50 feet of, and visible from, a public street, public park or trail, residential zone shall be treated with at least one of the following:

(A) Artwork, such as bas relief sculpture, mural or similar feature.

(B) A landscaping bed containing trees, shrubs and/or vines on a trellis that will cover at least 60 percent of the wall within three years. Irrigation shall be provided unless the bed is at least five feet in width, open to the sky and drought resistant plants are used.

(C) Architectural detailing incorporating trims, textures, reveals, contrasting materials, or other special detailing that provides visual interest.

(D) An alternative method of providing visual interest at the pedestrian level approved through design review.

i. Intent. Provide adequate separation between private residential spaces, such as balconies, and the public walkway in order to make both the private and public spaces comfortable. Projections should not interfere with street amenities such as street trees, lighting or important public views. Projections shall be integrated into the architecture of the building. (User note: Street encroachments are also regulated by the building code and BMC Title 13.)

ii. Standards. No portion of a building may extend into the street right-of-way except:

(A) Decks and balconies shall not project more than four feet into the right-of-way.

(B) Bay windows and similar architecture features with a horizontal width of not greater than 12 feet may project no more than four feet into the right-of-way from the face of the exterior wall, provided they are separated from like features by at least an equal width.

(C) Columns, cornices, trellises, eaves and similar minor and/or decorative features; provided, that arcades shall not be located in the street right-of-way.

(D) Steps, stoops and similar ground level features, provided there is a minimum 12 feet of horizontal clearance to the street curb edge.

(E) Awnings, marquees and signs, subject to compliance with other codes, provided no ground-mounted support structures for these features shall be located in the right-of-way.

iii. Standards. Private improvements within the public right-of-way, such as landscaping, seating, artwork and other public amenities, may be permitted within urban village areas upon review and approval by the public works director and establishment of a maintenance agreement.

i. Intent. Residential projects should have an active and direct link to the street pedestrian system while maintaining an appropriate transition from public to private space.

ii. Standards.

(A) Buildings containing residential uses shall have at least one covered front residential entryway facing a public right-of-way and accessed directly from the adjoining sidewalk.

(B) Open exterior entry/exit balconies that face a right-of-way are prohibited.

(C) Ground floor residential uses shall create privacy and separation between the public and private realm, either through a change in finished floor elevation, landscaping, architectural walls or other screening, or a combination of the above to define public and private space. [Ord. 2023-01-001 § 1 (Att. 1); Ord. 2017-05-014 § 2; Ord. 2009-11-070].