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Ventura City Council to discuss neighborhood design guidelines
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More from Other NewsNew sidewalks in Ventura would have to be 6 feet wide; 15 feet wide in shopping areas. Street trees should be deciduous and drought tolerant. Street lamps would require "shields" to reduce light pollution.
These rules are among dozens proposed in new citywide design guidelines aimed at giving developers and property owners clear, uniform standards — complete with picture examples.
Preferences also were crafted for the look of front porches, alleys, balconies, parkways, fences and trash enclosures, among other topics.
Members of the Ventura City Council, Planning Commission and Design Review Committee will consider the guidelines and offer feedback at a special 6 p.m. joint session Tuesday at City Hall, 501 Poli St.
City leaders called for the guidelines to ensure the city's architectural expectations are more predictable, and help repair a reputation of having a lengthy, cumbersome and costly approval process.
"The City Council has made it clear Ventura's planning process should be clear, efficient and maintain a degree of certainty," Community Development Directory Nelson Hernandez said in a city report.
The rules were written by city staff in consultation with the city's town architect, Torti Gallas and Partners. Gallas is a nationwide firm with offices in Silver Spring, Maryland and Los Angeles that specializes in urban design and town planning, residential, mixed-use, neighborhood revitalization and military housing projects, according to its Web site.
The guidelines emphasize pedestrian-friendly spaces, and are aimed at new commercial projects and larger residential subdivisions, though they can be applied to smaller projects, Hernandez said. Copies of the guidelines would be given to interested developers early in the process to encourage the kinds of features the city wants — front porches, wide sidewalks and trash enclosures — and help avoid costly redesigns.
The rules are intended to be flexible to allow revisions and additional topics, Hernandez said, and would serve as interim development guidelines until more detailed, neighborhood-by-neighborhood plans are adopted.
Posted by lawson_wayne on February 18, 2008 at 5:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Nanny State continues. This council should be concerned with having a police car patrol The Avenue on occasion. You can't drive it without having a reckless (probably drunk or drugged) driver pull out in front of you.
Posted by Resolute_Yet_Ambivalent on February 20, 2008 at 8:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I work just off the Avenue and drive it everyday without incident!
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