HomeMy WebLinkAboutLIGHT & POWER UTILITY SERVICE CENTER COMMUNICATION TOWER PUD, PRELIMINARY & FINAL - 11-87B - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - BUILDING EXTERIOR(
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�p�c�al Review of
�io �ng vvith Height Over 40Bfeet
Section 118-82(C) of the City of Fort Collins Ordinance precludes buildings
of, a height greater than 40-feet unless they are located in a planned unit
development as defined, processed and approved according to Section 118-83
of the Zoning Ordinance (Land Development Guidance System). The purpose of
the cri teri a i s to estabTi s�i a�ramewor or t e- i screti onary revi ew of
building heights in exce5s of 40-feet in a PUD proposal. The intent is to
encourage creativity and diversity of architectural and site design within
a context of harmonious neighborhood planning and coherent environmental
design. These objectives and review criteria are themselves discretionary.
Depending upon the proposal being reviewed, the criteria may have different
importance. In other words, some of the criteria may be weighted heavier
over the other criteria. For instance, the review of a high-rise proposal
in the Central Business District may regard certain of the review crite.ria
as more important than those criteria used in the review of a high-rise
proposal in an activity center. Each situation is different, so discretion
is applied to which of the criteria is more important. However, one must
keep in mind that the various criteria and Point Charts of the Land De-
velopment Guidance System must also be observed. The primary object�ves o
the City o� Fort.£ollins in regulating building heights are the following:
1. To preserve the character and stability of existing residential
neighborhoods by precluding the development of buildings which by
their height are intrusive to the established ch:aracter of the
�neighborhood. Some of the external costs imposed by intrusive
height include visual imcompatibility due to differences in build-
ing scale, loss of views, loss of sunlight on adjacent property,
and loss of privacy in adjacent yards;
2. To define and reinforce the downtown area as the high intensity
focal poi nt i n the corr�nuni ty whi 1 e preservi ng the hi stori c char-
acter of the�Old Town area; _
3. To allow for maximum utilization of activity centers planned for
high density residential, commercial and industrial use, but
without substantially altering 'the urban form of the City through
building heights which conflict with the general scale of develop-
ment in the district or comnunity as a whole;
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the 1 evel of i nterest, what �� the vi ew re�ieal s about the Ci ty or the
surrounding landscape,.is an important fac'tor to be considered. Thus,
emphasis may be given to the preservation of views from residential
neighborhoods and places where people �oncentrate such as shoppin,g
centers, etc. Another consideration of view blockage is the reduction
of the City's self-image. Fort Collins prides itself as a.city being
particularly attuned t� its natural foothill setting. The intent of
the Height Criteria is to prevent the erosion of this image from
occurring. Beneficial effects may derive from screening existing
objectionable vistas and creation of new views, particularly from
public spaces. Views may be preserved (and other criteria may be
enhanced) by increasing building height while reducing building mass,
ehanging the orientation of long tall buildings, and increasing open
space setbacks.
C. Light and Shadow
Any building of greater than 40-feet should not haVe a substantial
negative impact on the distribution of natural and artificial light on
adjacent public and private property. Negative impacts include easting
shadows on adjacent property sufficient to preclude the functional use.
of solar energy technology, or creating glare such as reflecting
sunlight or lighting at night. Shadows also contribute to the accumu-
lation of snow and ice during the winter on adjacent property, par-
ticularly on public rights-of-way. Beneficial effects include the
provision of desirable shade with landscaping or arcades and artificial
lighting which improves the nightscape, i.e., along public streets.
The shadow aaused by a building can be reduced by the re-positioning of
a structure on the lot, increase in the setbacks, reduction in buil.ding
mass, or redesign of a structure's shape.
D. Privacy� ,
A building of greater than 40-feet should be designed so as not to
intrude on the privacy of adjacent public and private property.
Particular emphasis will be given to preservation of the privacy of
adjacent residential and public parks. Primarily negative impacts
occur when windows and balconies directly overlook adjacent residential
outdoor living spaces --backyards, patios, and balconies. Secondarily,
impact oecurs when windows and balconies indirectly overlook adjacent
outdoor living spaces giving an intrusive -feeling to these areas.
Level of privacy in the neighborhood can be improved by providing
landscaping, fencing and open spaee, and changing building orientation
away from adjacent residential neighborhoods. -
E. Neighborhood Scale
A building of greater than 40-feet should be compatible with the scale
of its neighborhood. Scale implies various relationships such as
relative height, height to mass, length to mass, building scale to
human scale. Neighborhood scale relates new buildings with scale of
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to visually and functionally integrate a b ilding with its surrounding
natural and built environment. Such building provide variety and diver-
sity of design to an area in a manner which is sympathetic to or reinforces
established neighborhood patterns.
Submittal_ Requirements
Section G(3) [m] of the Land_Deyelopment Guidance System requires a PUD
preliminary plan submittal to inc u e Impact studies an other studies as
the Planning and Zoning Board may require for the full and complete con-
sideration of the planned unit development." PUD proposals which include
building heights in excess of 40-feet will include the following:
1. A shadow analysis which indicates on the preliminary site plan the
location of all shadows cast by the building (with associated dates
of the year);
2. A visual analysis which identifies existing views to be blocked,
from where, of what, and to whom; and which depicts in graphic form
views before and after the project utilizing photographs of the
area of neutral drawings derived from them with proposed buildings
drawn in. Depictions should be made from at least two points
from which the proposal will be commonly viewed, one of which
shoufid be a vista towards the foothills. These points of obser-
vation should be indicated on an inset map or plan of the area;
and
3. The PUD statement
shadow and visual
criteria above.
and planning objectives should evaluate the
analysis, and specifically address the review
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