126 - Design Requirements for Large Developments - Lake Geneva

Ordinance #126

Zoning
Design Requirements for Large Developments - Lake Geneva

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR LARGE DEVELOPMENTS

The Common Council of the City of Lake Geneva, Walworth County, Wisconsin does hereby ordain that:

SECTION 1. Section 98-725 of the City of Lake Geneva Municipal Code .of Ordinances, titled, Design Requirements for Large Developments, is hereby created to read as follows:

Section 98-725 Design Requirements for Large Developments:

The following conditional use standards shall apply to all new indoor sales and service-oriented buildings in the General Business (GB) and Planned Business (PB) zoning districts within the City of Lake Geneva in excess of 60,000 gross square feet. These conditions shall also be applied to all building additions to existing buildings, which brings the total building size to over 60,000 gross square. feet. Such conditions shall apply to both new development and to portions of development prior to the adoption of this ordinance. This 60,000 square foot limit shall apply to individual free-standing buildings and to Group Developments in which the combined total of all structures within a development (regardless of diverse lotting, use or tenancy) combine to more than 60,000 gross square feet.

(1) Building exterior materials shall be of high aesthetic quality on all sides of the structure, such as, glass, brick, decorative concrete block, or stucco. Decorative architectural metal with concealed fasteners may be approved with special permission from the City.

(2) Building exterior design shall be unified in design and materials throughout the structure, and shall be complementary to other structures in the vicinity. However, the development shall employ varying building setbacks, height, roof, treatments, door and window openings, and other structural and decorative elements to reduce the apparent size and scale of the structure. A minimum of 20 percent of the combined facades of the structure shall employ actual facade protrusions or recesses. A minimum of 20 percent of all of the combined linear roof eave or parapet lines of the structure shall employ differences in height of eight feet or more as measured cave to cave or parapet to parapet. Roofs with particular slopes may be required by the City to complement existing buildings or otherwise establish a particular aesthetic objective.

(3) Mechanical equipment, refuse containers and any permitted outdoor storage shall be fully concealed from on-site and off-site ground level views, with materials identical to those used on the building exterior.

(4) Standard Corporate Trademark building designs, materials, architectural elements, and colors all shall be acceptable, as determined by the City, only as subtlety integrated into the more generic design of the building as a whole. Color schemes of all architectural elements shall be muted, neutral, non-reflective and non-use nor tenant specific.

(5) Public entryways shall be prominently indicated from the building's exterior design and shall be emphasized by on-5itC traffic flow patterns. All sides of the building that directly face or abut a public street or public parking area shall have, or appear to have, public entrances.

(6) Loading areas shall be completely screened from surrounding roads, residential, off ice, and commercial properties. Said screening may be through internal loading areas, screen wall which will match the building exterior in materials and design, fully opaque landscaping at time of planting, or combinations of the above. Gates and fencing may be used for security purposes, but not for screening, and shall be of high aesthetic quality.

(7) Vehicle access from public streets shall be designed to accommodate peak on-site traffic volumes without disrupting traffic on public streets from inadequate parking lot design or capacity, inadequate access drive entry throat length, improper access drive width or design, or inadequate driveway location. The impact of traffic generated by the proposed development shall be demonstrated by a traffic impact analysis performed by the applicant's traffic engineer to not adversely impact off site public roads, intersections, interchanges during the peak hour of on-site traffic as determined as coinciding with a full parking lot. Where the project shall adversely impact off-site traffic, the City may deny the application, may require a size reduction in the proposed development, or may require off-site improvements.

(8) Parking lot design shall employ interior landscaped islands with a minimum of 400 square feet at all parking isle ends, and in addition shall provide a minimum of one landscaped island of a minimum of 400 square feet in each parking isle for every 20 cars in that aisle. Aisle-end islands shall count toward meeting this requirement. Landscaped medians shall be used to break large parking areas into distinct pods, with a maximum of 100 spaces in any one pod.

(9) A minimum of one two hundred square foot cart return area shall be provided for every parking area pod. There shall be no exterior cart return nor cart storage areas located within twenty-five feet of the building in areas located between the building and a public street.

(10) The applicant shall demonstrate full compliance with City standards for stormwater management, sanitary sewerage, public water, erosion control and public safety.

On site landscaping shall be provided per the landscaping requirements of the Lake Geneva 2oning ordinance except that building foundation landscaping and paved area landscaping shall be provided at 1.5 times the required landscape points for development in the Planned Business Zoning District.

(12) A conceptual plan for exterior signage shall be provided at time of GDP that provides for coordinated and complimentary exterior sign location, configurations, and colors throughout the planned development. All freestanding signage within the development shall compliment the on-building signage. Free standing sign materials and design shall compliment building exterior, and may not exceed the maximum height requirement of the zoning ordinance.

(13) The entire development shall provide for full and safe pedestrian and bicycle access within the development, and shall provide appropriate connections to the existing and planned pedestrian and bicycle facilities in the community and in surrounding neighborhoods, including, sidewalk connections to all building entrances from all existing or planned public sidewalks or pedestrian/bike facilities. The development shall provide secure bicycle parking and pedestrian furniture in appropriate quantities and location.

(14) Where such developments are proposed to provide a new location for a business already located within the community, a required condition of approval for the new development shall be a prohibition on conditions of sale, lease, or use of the previously occupied building or site which provide limits beyond the range of applicable local, state or federal regulations. If such limits are required, the applicant may seek City approval to demolish the previously occupied structure and prepare the site for some future development.

(15) The applicant shall provide adequate evidence that the proposed development and uses shall not hinder or undermine the City's community character objectives as stated and elaborated in the City's Comprehensive Master Plan.

(16) The applicant shall provide adequate evidence that the proposed development shall not have the likely result of creating long-term vacancies for the tenants' current location, or long-term vacancies in specialized buildings related to the potential closure of competing local businesses.

(17) The applicant shall provide adequate evidence that the proposed development shall not have the likely result of hindering the preservation or attainment of the community's desired small city community character as exemplified by certain off-site impacts, including now lane additions, traffic signals, stormwater management problems, sudden declines in road levels of service or substantial impacts an city facilities or services.

(18) The granting of a conditional use for such a project shall require a three-quarters majority vote of all members of the Common Council.

SECTION II This Ordinance shall take effect upon passage and publication.