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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAvana Ridge - Urban Center Design Overlay District ReportAvana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 1 Urban Center Design Overlay District Report SITE DESIGN AND BUILDING LOCATION INTENT: To ensure that buildings are located in relation to streets and other buildings so that the Vision of the City of Renton can be realized for a high-density urban environment; so that businesses enjoy visibility from public rights-of- way; and to encourage pedestrian activity throughout the district. SITE DESIGN AND STREET PATTERN INTENT: To ensure that the City of Renton Vision can be realized within the Urban Center Districts; plan districts that are organized for efficiency while maintaining flexibility for future development at high urban densities and intensities of use; create and maintain a safe, convenient network of streets of varying dimensions for vehicle circulation; and provide service to businesses. Minimum Standard: Maintain existing grid street pattern. PROPOSAL: The existing street pattern will not be affected by the proposed Avana Ridge project. BUILDING LOCATION AND ORIENTATION INTENT: To ensure visibility of businesses; establish active, lively uses along sidewalks and pedestrian pathways; organize buildings in such a way that pedestrian use of the district is facilitated; encourage siting of structures so that natural light and solar access are available to other structures and open space; enhance the visual character and definition of streets within the district; provide an appropriate transition between buildings, parking areas, and other land uses and the street; and increase privacy for residential uses located near the street. Minimum Standard: Orient buildings to the street with clear connections to the sidewalk. PROPOSAL: The proposed buildings front upon SE 172nd Street, and run parallel to the proposed sidewalks. There are two clear “front” entries to each building – the northeast corner of the West Building, and the northwest corner of the East Building. Both entries are opposite each other to further reinforce the “point of entry” to the project as a whole. These building entries are highlighted through the use of canopies, plantings, and building signage visible from SE 172nd St. Minimum Standard: The front entry of a building shall not be oriented to a drive aisle, but instead a public or private street or landscaped pedestrian-only courtyard. PROPOSAL: The proposed buildings both have entries which face SE 172nd Street to demark the point of entry to both the buildings as well as the project. The buildings themselves are adjacent to an entry driveway, however the building entries by design are aligned towards the street itself. To minimize the impact of entries located near a drive aisle, the project proposes numerous types of plantings and landscaped areas to mitigate sound impacts and to provide a clear path to the entry from SE 172nd to improve wayfinding. BUILDING ENTRIES INTENT: To make building entrances convenient to locate and easy to access, and ensure that building entries further the pedestrian nature of the fronting sidewalk and the urban character of the district. PROPOSAL: Both buildings have direct entries and main entry lobbies off of SE 172nd Street. The circulation pattern proposed arrival at the primary building entries through the use of the proposed new sidewalk, running parallel to both buildings. Minimum Standard: A primary entrance of each building shall be located on the facade facing a street, shall be prominent, visible from the street, connected by a walkway to the public sidewalk, and include human-scale elements. Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 2 PROPOSAL: Both primary entries will be made visually prominent through the use of canopies and trellises. Ornamental lighting will also serve to highlight the prominence of primary building entries. Both buildings offer secondary entries from the surface parking lot along the south side of each structure. These entries are intended mainly for resident use. In the East Building, the southern entry will serve as the main access point for arrival by prospective tenants at the Leasing Office. Minimum Standard: Multiple buildings on the same site shall provide a continuous network of pedestrian paths and open spaces that incorporate landscaping to provide a directed view to building entries. PROPOSAL: The proposed project uses the proposed new sidewalk along SE 172nd Street as the primary access to main building entries. Internal pedestrian paths provide access to the secondary building entries as well as to the community open space located to the south area of the site. Due to the nature of a large, triangulated site made up of significant elevation change, direct views to the building entries from the community open space are not feasible without causing significant negative impact to the natural terrain, though there will be direct paths leading from the community open space to the residential development. Pedestrian pathway connections are also planned through the community open space, allowing a link between Benson Road and Benson Drive. Minimum Standard: Ground floor units shall be directly accessible from the street or an open space such as a courtyard or garden that is accessible from the street. PROPOSAL: Due to the unique site conditions and excessive topography along SE 172nd Street, providing a direct link between the street and/or courtyard would require extensive site disruption and also create security concerns for residents at the ground level by forcing the pedestrian connection to individual private spaces. Project instead proposes to allow individual private patios or residents off each ground-level unit and in addition also provide a large open space at the western end of the West building which includes a pedestrian stairway to Benson Drive South. Providing the pedestrian connection here is preferable since it encourages transition from the public ROW to public spaces on site to ultimately private dwelling units once inside the secure building itself. By limiting the multiple access points into the unit and/or buildings, resident safety is preserved and a more natural point of building / site entry is provided. Minimum Standard: Secondary access (not fronting on a street) shall have weather protection at least 4-1/2 feet wide over the entrance or other similar indicator of access. PROPOSAL: Secondary access points will be provided with weather protection via overhead canopies at least 4-1/2 feet wide. These canopies reflect the architectural style of the primary entries, and will include signage to improve site navigability. Minimum Standard: Pedestrian access shall be provided to the building from property edges, adjacent lots, abutting street intersections, crosswalks, and transit stops. PROPOSAL: Outside of the primary network of paths to building entries, there are multiple pedestrian connections present on site. There is a proposed stairway connection leading from Benson Drive to the main project site. This stairway connection is intended to provide access primarily to building residents. Throughout the community open space area of the site, there are a series of proposed network pedestrian paths leading visitors and residents from Benson Drive over to Benson Road, and up into the main residential development across a proposed pedestrian bridge. These networks of paths and stairways will be accented through the use of landscaping elements such as trees, ornamental planting backdrops, sculptures, community open space-related structures (pavilion). Minimum Standard: Features such as entries, lobbies, and display windows should be oriented to a street or pedestrian-oriented space; otherwise, screening or decorative features such as trellises, artwork, murals, landscaping, or combinations thereof should be incorporated into the street-oriented facade. PROPOSAL: Primary building entries occur along the north side of both buildings opposite of one another. This entry placement emphasizes the relationship between buildings, reinforcing the inside corners of both buildings along SE 172nd Street as clearly oriented to the public realm and sidewalk. These elements will be visually Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 3 prominent with covered canopies to denote their hierarchy as principal organizing elements and to highlight their relationship to human scale. Where main entries are exposed to the new access drive, significant landscaping and feature elements such as planted trellises are proposed to soften the edge between the vehicular access point and the pedestrian-oriented building entries. Guideline: Front yards should provide transition space between the public street and the private residence such as a porch, landscaped area, terrace, or similar feature. PROPOSAL: Units that front SE 172nd Street are closest of all proposed units to a public right-of-way. These units are set back 20’-6” from the public sidewalk, and are screened through the use of landscaping and minimally-visible retaining walls to serve as light wells for the lower level units on the northern facade of both buildings. Several of these units incorporate on-grade decks to allow private open space and private patios, landscaped to provide a softened edge between units and the public realm. TRANSITION TO SURROUNDING DEVELOPMENT INTENT: To shape redevelopment projects so that the character and value of Renton’s long-established, existing neighborhoods are preserved. STANDARD: Careful siting and design treatment are necessary to achieve a compatible transition where new buildings differ from surrounding development in terms of building height, bulk, and scale. At least one of the following design elements shall be considered to promote a transition to surrounding uses: i. Setbacks at the side or rear of a building may be increased in order to reduce the bulk and scale of larger buildings and so that sunlight reaches adjacent yards; or ii. Building articulation provided to divide a larger architectural element into smaller pieces; or iii. Roof lines, roof pitches, and roof shapes designed to reduce apparent bulk and transition with existing development. PROPOSAL: Efforts to achieve the desired transition to surrounding uses began with building placement. The East Building has been pulled back from the setback line by an additional 20’-0” than what is required by code. This design decision was made to provide a buffer between the adjacent daycare and to avoid adversely impacting the natural topography in areas where slopes are steep. Additionally, the proposed multifamily buildings are broken up in modulation and variations in rooflines (both height and slopes / designs) to reduce the apparent scale and bulk of the building. SERVICE ELEMENT LOCATION AND DESIGN INTENT: To reduce the potential negative impacts of service elements (i.e., waste receptacles, loading docks) by locating service and loading areas away from pedestrian areas, and screening them from view in high visibility areas. Minimum Standard: Service elements shall be located and designed to minimize the impacts on the pedestrian environment and adjacent uses. Service elements shall be concentrated and located where they are accessible to service vehicles and convenient for tenant use (see illustration, RMC 4-3-100E7e). PROPOSAL: The combined refuse/recycle storage location is centrally located between both buildings at the center of the site, away from public view. To reduce architectural bulk and scale associated with the City’s construction requirements for the storage enclosures, the two separately-required storage locations have been provided in one enclosure to provide ease of access to residents of both buildings in addition to allowing for one, easily-accessible pickup point for waste management services. It is located off-center from the main access drive to allow it to be screened from views from the primary access off of SE 172nd Street. The slope of the site from SE 172nd Street is such that the primary views of the site would not be affected by the enclosure. Minimum Standard: Garbage, recycling collection, and utility areas shall be enclosed, consistent with RMC 4-4-090, Refuse and Recyclables Standards, and RMC 4-4-095, Screening and Storage Height/Location Limitations. Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 4 PROPOSAL: The refuse/recycle area is enclosed and is accessed via out-swinging doors matching the design fabric of the residential buildings. The enclosure is not adjacent to a street, pathway, or pedestrian-oriented space, but will have additional screening elements through the use of a trellis and adjacent landscaping. To reduce architectural bulk and scale associated with the City’s construction requirements for the storage enclosures, the two separately-required storage locations have been provided in one enclosure to provide ease of access to residents of both buildings. Minimum Standard: In addition to standard enclosure requirements, garbage, recycling collection, and utility areas shall be enclosed on all sides, including the roof and screened around their perimeter by a wall or fence and have self-closing doors (see illustration, RMC 4-3-100E7f). PROPOSAL: The refuse/recycle area is enclosed and is accessed via out-swinging doors matching the design fabric of the residential buildings. The enclosure is not adjacent to a street, pathway, or pedestrian-oriented space, but will have additional screening elements through the use of a trellis and adjacent landscaping, and will have self-closing doors. Minimum Standard: The use of chain link, plastic, or wire fencing is prohibited. PROPOSAL: No use of chain link, plastic, or wire fencing is proposed. Minimum Standard: If the service area is adjacent to a street, pathway, or pedestrian-oriented space, a landscaped planting strip, minimum 3 feet wide, shall be located on 3 sides of such facility. PROPOSAL: Does not apply. Guideline: Service enclosure fences should be made of masonry, ornamental metal or wood, or some combination of the three. PROPOSAL: The refuse/recycle enclosure will be constructed primarily of masonry, with ornamental materials used to tie the design of the enclosure to the main design concept of the residential buildings. GATEWAYS INTENT: To distinguish gateways as primary entrances to districts or to the City, special design features and architectural elements at gateways should be provided. While gateways should be distinctive within the context of the district, they should also be compatible with the district in form and scale. Minimum Standard: Developments located at district gateways shall be marked with visually prominent features (see illustration, subsection RMC 4-3-100.E7g). PROPOSAL: Does not apply. Minimum Standard: Gateway elements shall be oriented toward and scaled for both pedestrians and vehicles (see illustration, subsection RMC 4-3-100.E7h). PROPOSAL: Does not apply. Minimum Standard: Visual prominence shall be distinguished by two or more of the following: a. Public art; b. Monuments; c. Special landscape treatment; d. Open space/plaza; e. Identifying building form; f. Special paving, unique pedestrian scale lighting, or bollards; g. Prominent architectural features (trellis, arbor, pergola, or gazebo); h. Signage, displaying neighborhood or district entry identification (commercial signs are not allowed). PROPOSAL: Does not apply. Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 5 PARKING AND VEHICULAR ACCESS INTENT: To provide safe, convenient access; incorporate various modes of transportation, including public transit, in order to reduce traffic volumes and other impacts from vehicles; ensure sufficient parking is provided, while encouraging creativity in reducing the impacts of parking areas; allow an active pedestrian environment by maintaining contiguous street frontages, without parking lot siting along sidewalks and building facades; minimize the visual impact of parking lots; and use access streets and parking to maintain an urban edge to the district. LOCATION OF PARKING INTENT: To maintain active pedestrian environments along streets by placing parking lots primarily in back of buildings. Minimum Standard: No surface parking shall be located between a building and the front property line or the building and side property line on the street side of a corner lot. Guideline: In areas of mixed use development, shared parking is recommended. PROPOSAL: All surface parking is located on the back side of both buildings. There is no surface parking proposed between the property lines and the buildings. Every effort has been made to screen the surface parking from pedestrian areas through the use of landscaping and setbacks. Due to slope conditions, there will be some parking visible from Benson Dr (SR-515), though the parking still adheres to minimum setback requirements 10’ from the property line. Ample landscaping and terracing in this area will also serve to detract attention from what vehicles may be visible from this point of view. DESIGN OF SURFACE PARKING Intent: To ensure safety of users of parking areas, convenience to businesses, and reduce the impact of parking lots wherever possible. STRUCTURED PARKING GARAGES Intent: To more efficiently use land needed for vehicle parking; encourage the use of structured parking throughout the Urban Center and the Center Village; physically and visually integrate parking garages with other uses; and reduce the overall impact of parking garages when they are located in proximity to the designated pedestrian environment. Guideline: Attached personal parking garages at-grade should be individualized and not enclose more than two cars per enclosed space. Such garages should be architecturally integrated into the whole development. Guideline: Multiple-user parking garages at-grade should be enclosed or screened from view through any combination of walls, decorative grilles, or trellis work with landscaping. Guideline: Personal parking garages should be individualized whenever possible with separate entries and architectural detailing in character with the lower density district. Guideline: Large multi-user parking garages are discouraged in this lower density district and, if provided, should be located below grade whenever possible. PROPOSAL: Does not apply. No structured parking garages are proposed. VEHICULAR ACCESS Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 6 Intent: To maintain a contiguous, uninterrupted sidewalk by minimizing, consolidating and/or eliminating vehicular access off streets within pedestrian environments and/or designated pedestrian-oriented streets. Minimum Standard: Parking lots and garages shall be accessed from alleys when available. PROPOSAL: Surface parking is access directly through the main drive aisle bisecting the buildings, connecting SE 172nd Street to Benson Road. Because there are no adjacent alleys, the surface parking will be access off of SE 172nd Street and Benson Road, which are primarily residential streets. Guideline: Garage entryways and/or driveways accessible only from a street should not impede pedestrian circulation along the sidewalk. PROPOSAL: The two primary access points to the surface parking will minimize interruption to pedestrian circulation by proposing depressed curbs in lieu of typical curb cuts to signal incoming vehicles to reduce their speed. Guideline: Curb cuts should be minimized whenever possible through the use of shared driveways. PROPOSAL: Only one curb cut is proposed per street frontage to minimize street access points. Due to service vehicle and emergency vehicle access requirements, two site entries and corresponding curb cuts are proposed to meet these requirements. PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT INTENT: To enhance the urban character of development by creating pedestrian networks and by providing strong links from streets and drives to building entrances; make the pedestrian environment safe, convenient, comfortable, and pleasant to walk between businesses, on sidewalks, to and from access points, and through parking lots; and promote the use of multi-modal and public transportation systems in order to reduce other vehicular traffic. PATHWAYS THROUGH PARKING LOTS Intent: To enhance the urban character of development in the Urban Center and the Center Village by creating pedestrian networks and by providing strong links from streets and drives to building entrances; make the pedestrian environment safer and more convenient, comfortable, and pleasant to walk between businesses, on sidewalks, to and from access points, and through parking lots; and promote the use of multi-modal and public transportation systems in order to reduce other vehicular traffic. PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION Intent: To create a network of linkages for pedestrians to improve safety and convenience and enhance the pedestrian environment. Guideline: Delineation of pathways may be through the use of architectural features, such as trellises, railings, low seat walls, or similar treatment. Guideline: Mid-block connections are desirable where a strong linkage between uses can be established. Guideline: Decorative fences, with the exception of chain link fences, may be allowed when appropriate to the situation PROPOSAL: The proposed residential development provides a variety of different pedestrian pathways across the site. The pathways adjacent to the buildings will be highlighted through a variety of different landscape treatments. The community open space area will be highlighted through a number of different materials, focal points, and features. The primary access to the community open space from the residential development will be via a pedestrian footbridge and complementing wood chip path. Secondary access to the community open space will be provided through a stairway connection up from Benson Drive. The community open space proposes an open space lawn to allow for active recreation, more intimate locations featuring picnic tables and benches, an ornamental pavilion intended to provide views from the site and for public gathering opportunities, ornamental plantings and Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 7 sculptural focus points throughout the community open space. The community open space will mitigate site drainage through the use of drainage swales for retention of water onsite. PEDESTRIAN AMENITIES INTENT: To create attractive spaces that unify the building and street environments and are inviting and comfortable for pedestrians; and provide publicly accessible areas that function for a variety of year-round activities, under typical seasonal weather conditions. PROPOSAL: By providing multiple access points to the private community open space located at the southern region of the site, it becomes accessible via vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The community open space incorporates a weather-protected pavilion, accessible to residents and members of the community as a public gathering space appropriate for parties, meetings, and casual relaxation. Access between the proposed buildings and adjacent streets is provided via a network of paths weaving the different areas of the site and the public realm together. LANDSCAPING/RECREATION AREAS/COMMON OPEN SPACE Intent: To provide visual relief in areas of expansive paving or structures; define logical areas of pedestrian and vehicular circulation; and add to the aesthetic enjoyment of the area by the community. To have areas suitable for both passive and active recreation by residents, workers, and visitors; provide these areas in sufficient amounts and in safe and convenient locations; and provide the opportunity for community gathering in places centrally located and designed to encourage such activity. LANDSCAPING Intent: Landscaping is intended to reinforce the architecture or concept of the area; provide visual and climatic relief in areas of expansive paving or structures; channelize and define logical areas of pedestrian and vehicular circulation; and add to the aesthetic enjoyment of the area by the community. Minimum Standard: All pervious areas shall be landscaped (see RMC 4-4-070, Landscaping). PROPOSAL: All pervious areas will be landscaped. Minimum Standard: Street trees are required and shall be located between the curb edge and building, as determined by the City of Renton. PROPOSAL: New street trees are proposed along SE 172nd Street, Benson Road, and Benson Drive. Minimum Standard: On designated pedestrian-oriented streets, street trees shall be installed with tree grates. For all other streets, street tree treatment shall be as determined by the City of Renton (see illustration, subsection RMC 4- 3-100.H3a). PROPOSAL: All pedestrian-oriented street trees will be installed with tree grates in accordance with RMC 4-3-100.H3a. Minimum Standard: The proposed landscaping shall be consistent with the design intent and program of the building, the site, and use. PROPOSAL: The landscape residential development and the proposed landscaped elements will be consistent Minimum Standard: The landscape plan shall demonstrate how the proposed landscaping, through the use of plant material and non-vegetative elements, reinforces the architecture or concept of the development. PROPOSAL: The landscape design for the site has been integrated with the intent of the architectural aesthetic. The primary purpose of the landscaping directly adjacent to building areas is to provide a softened buffer Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 8 between the building edges and public rights-of-way. This is achieved through the use of landscaped terraced retaining walls to enhance the quality of the outdoor spaces for residents. Landscaping will consist of new trees, shrubs, vegetative ground cover and seating areas across the site to provide a variety of outdoor spaces. The landscaping design intended to complement the residential buildings also serves to develop a design language for the proposed community open space. Similar plantings and shrubs are proposed within the community open space to create design cohesion between the two areas of the site. Minimum Standard: Surface parking areas shall be screened by landscaping in order to reduce views of parked cars from streets (see RMC 4-4-080F7, Landscape Requirements). Such landscaping shall be at least 10 feet in width as measured from the sidewalk (see illustration, subsection RMC 4-3-100.H3b). PROPOSAL: Surface parking areas are set back from property lines a minimum of 10’ across the entire site. Landscaped areas within this 10’ setback will serve to reduce the views of parked cars from passersby. All surface parking areas meet and exceed the minimum code-required distance from sidewalks and are located a minimum of 20’ from all sidewalk edges. Minimum Standard: Trees at an average minimum rate of one tree per 30 lineal feet of street frontage. Permitted tree species are those that reach a mature height of at least 35 feet. Minimum height or caliper at planting shall be eight feet or two inch caliper (as measured four feet from the top of the root ball) respectively. PROPOSAL: Trees will be provided along the street frontage according to the minimum rate requirement. Tree species will be in accordance with the approved tree list. Minimum Standard: Shrubs at the minimum rate of one per 20 square feet of landscaped area. Shrubs shall be at least 12 inches tall at planting and have a mature height between three and four feet. PROPOSAL: Shrubs will be provided along the street frontage according to the minimum rate requirement. Shrub sizes will conform with code standards. Minimum Standard: Ground cover shall be planted in sufficient quantities to provide at least 90 percent coverage of the landscaped area within three years of installation. PROPOSAL: Ground cover plantings will be in accordance with code required coverage. Minimum Standard: The applicant shall provide a maintenance assurance device, prior to occupancy, for a period of not less than three years and in sufficient amount to ensure required landscape standards have been met by the third year following installation. PROPOSAL: A maintenance plan will be provided to ensure landscaped areas on site will be properly maintained. Minimum Standard: Surface parking with more than 14 stalls shall be landscaped as follows: (1) Required Amount: Total Number of Spaces Minimum Required Landscape Area* 15 to 50 15 square feet/parking space 51 to 99 25 square feet/parking space 100 or more 35 square feet/parking space * Landscape area calculations above and planting requirements below exclude perimeter parking lot landscaping areas. (2) Provide trees, shrubs, and ground cover in the required interior parking lot landscape areas. (3) Plant at least one tree for every six parking spaces. Permitted tree species are those that reach a mature height of at least 35 feet . Minimum height or caliper at planting shall be eight feet or two inch caliper (as measured four feet from the top of the root ball) respectively. Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 9 (4) Plant shrubs at a rate of five per 100 square feet of landscape area. Shrubs shall be at least 16 inches tall at planting and have a mature height between three and four feet. (5) Up to 50 percent of shrubs may be deciduous. (6) Select and plant ground cover so as to provide 90 percent coverage within three years of planting; provided, that mulch is applied until plant coverage is complete. (7) Do not locate a parking stall more than 50 feet from a landscape area. Minimum Standard: Regular maintenance shall be provided to ensure that plant materials are kept healthy and that dead or dying plant materials are replaced. Minimum Standard: Underground, automatic irrigation systems are required in all landscape areas. Guideline: Landscaping should be used to soften and integrate the bulk of buildings. Guideline: Landscaping should be provided that appropriately provides either screening of unwanted views or focuses attention to preferred views. Guideline: Use of low maintenance, drought-resistant landscape material is encouraged. Guideline: Choice of materials should reflect the level of maintenance that will be available. Guideline: Seasonal landscaping and container plantings are encouraged, particularly at building entries and in publicly accessible spaces. Guideline: Window boxes, containers for plantings, hanging baskets, or other planting feature elements should be made of weather-resistant materials that can be reasonably maintained. Guideline: Landscaping should be used to screen parking lots from adjacent or neighboring properties. Guideline: Front yards should be visible from the street and visually contribute to the streetscape. Guideline: Decorative walls and fencing are encouraged when architecturally integrated into the project. PROPOSAL: Surface parking landscaped areas will be in accordance with the code required landscape areas at 25 square feet/parking space. Trees, shrubs and ground cover shall be provided at interior landscaped areas as appropriate per species. Tree and shrub species proposed will be in conformance with the approved tree list. All parking stalls are within 50’ of a landscaped area. A maintenance plan will be developed by the Landscape Architect and the Owner to ensure ongoing care and development of all landscaped areas. RECREATION AREAS AND COMMON OPEN SPACE Intent: To ensure that districts have areas suitable for both passive and active recreation by residents, workers, and visitors and that these areas are of sufficient size for the intended activity and in convenient locations; create usable, accessible, and inviting open space that is accessible to the public; and promote pedestrian activity on pedestrian- oriented streets particularly at street corners. Minimum Standard: Attached housing developments shall provide a minimum area of private usable open space equal to 150 square feet per unit of which 100 square feet are contiguous. Such space may include porches, balconies, yards, and decks. PROPOSAL: The current proposal provides 4,156 SF of private, attached open space through the use of private balconies. Avana Ridge also proposes a large outdoor amenity on West Building Level 1 at 1,124 SF. In addition to these two types of spaces (private balcony space and outdoor amenity space at west Level 1), the applicant proposes a large, landscaped community open space provided at the southern portion of the site totaling 19,795 SF. Per RMC 4-4-100.E4, the minimum required attached private open space is 7,400 SF, and minimum private open space required is 11,100 SF, Avana Ridge provides 25,075 SF of total open space, which greatly exceeds literal code requirements as well as addressing the intent of the code through the provision of numerous types of outdoor areas. The community open space to the south provides an amenity both to the residents as well as the surrounding community, and provides for numerous types of active and passive recreation activities. Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 10 BUILDING ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Intent: To encourage building design that is unique and urban in character, comfortable on a human scale, and uses appropriate building materials that are suitable for the Pacific Northwest climate. To discourage franchise retail architecture. BUILDING CHARACTER AND MASSING Intent: To ensure that buildings are not bland and visually appear to be at a human scale; and ensure that all sides of a building, that can be seen by the public, are visually interesting. Minimum Standard: All building facades shall include modulation or articulation at intervals of no more than 20 feet). Guideline: Building facades should be modulated and/or articulated with architectural elements to reduce the apparent size of new buildings, break up long blank walls, add visual interest, and enhance the character of the neighborhood. Guideline: Articulation, modulation, and their intervals should create a sense of scale important to residential buildings. Guideline: A variety of modulations and articulations should be employed to add visual interest and to reduce the bulk and scale of large projects. Guideline: Building modulations should be a minimum of two feet in depth and four feet in width. PROPOSAL: All building facades are in accordance with minimum modulation intervals. Both buildings are over 160’ in length. Numerous design elements are used to reduce the apparent bulk of the residential buildings. These methods include horizontal modulation of numerous widths across the buildings, vertical roof projections, trellis elements, and overhead canopies at primary building entries and plazas to relate to human scale. Various materials including stone veneer, wood accents (parklex-style), fiber cement board in panel and vertical board configurations, and a variety of colors to add visual interest and further assist in modulating the facades. The interior of the unit designs have been designed to incorporate modulation depths across the project. The most common modulation depth across both buildings is 12’-6”. The longest modulation façade length is 20’-10” and occurs only at portions of the building where the shed-roof elements serve to differentiate it from the rest of the massing. GROUND-LEVEL DETAILS Intent: To ensure that buildings are visually interesting and reinforce the intended human-scale character of the pedestrian environment; and ensure that all sides of a building within near or distant public view have visual interest. Minimum Standard: Untreated blank walls visible from public streets, sidewalks, or interior pedestrian pathways are prohibited. A wall (including building facades and retaining walls) is considered a blank wall if: (a) It is a ground floor wall or portion of a ground floor wall over six feet in height, has a horizontal length greater than 15 feet, and does not include a window, door, building modulation or other architectural detailing; or (b) Any portion of a ground floor wall having a surface area of 400 square feet or greater and does not include a window, door, building modulation or other architectural detailing. Minimum Standard: Where blank walls are required or unavoidable, blank walls shall be treated with one or more of the following (see illustration, subsection RMC 4-3-100.I5d): Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 11 (a) A planting bed at least five feet in width containing trees, shrubs, evergreen ground cover, or vines adjacent to the blank wall; (b) Trellis or other vine supports with evergreen climbing vines; (c) Architectural detailing such as reveals, contrasting materials, or other special detailing that meets the intent of this standard; (d) Artwork, such as bas-relief sculpture, mural, or similar; or (e) Seating area with special paving and seasonal planting. Minimum Standard: Treatment of blank walls shall be proportional to the wall. Minimum Standard: Provide human-scaled elements such as a lighting fixture, trellis, or other landscape feature along the facade’s ground floor. Minimum Standard: Facades on designated pedestrian-oriented streets shall have at least 75 percent of the linear frontage of the ground floor facade (as measured on a true elevation facing the designated pedestrian- oriented street) comprised of transparent windows and/or doors. Minimum Standard: Other facade window requirements include the following: (a) Building facades must have clear windows with visibility into and out of the building. However, screening may be applied to provide shade and energy efficiency. The minimum amount of light transmittance for windows shall be 50 percent. (b) Display windows shall be designed for frequent change of merchandise, rather than permanent displays. (c) Where windows or storefronts occur, they must principally contain clear glazing. (d) Tinted and dark glass, highly reflective (mirror-type) glass and film are prohibited. Guideline: Use of material variations such as colors, brick, shingles, stucco, and horizontal wood siding is encouraged. PROPOSAL: All building facades feature large windows and varied material patterns. Window patterns vary based on interior layout, but all facades feature a variety of window types. Wall areas visible from public streets and sidewalks are treated with trellis elements at the upper levels, canopies at pedestrian entries and amenity spaces, and with landscaped vinery walls and plantings. Landscaping and artwork are proposed to break up public-fronting facades where windows are impractical due to interior configurations. BUILDING ROOF LINES Intent: To ensure that roof forms provide distinctive profiles and interest consistent with an urban project and contribute to the visual continuity of the district. Guideline: Buildings containing predominantly residential uses should have pitched roofs with a minimum slope of one to four. Such roofs should have dormers or intersecting roof forms that break up the massiveness of a continuous, uninterrupted sloping roof. Guideline: Roof colors should be dark. PROPOSAL: Several roof modulation techniques are proposed throughout the buildings that offer distinctive profiles and interest for a project of this scale. The applicant is proposing a 2:12 pitch for shed roof elements in order to take advantage of natural daylighting opportunities in the upper-level dwelling units. A slope of 2:12 is proposed due to the aesthetic quality of a gently-rising slope. From the ground plane, pedestrians will perceive roof patterns that break up the mass of the building. The applicant is requesting a deviation from the 4:12 pitched roof, as the difference in a 2:12 pitched roof will not be perceived from the ground level, and will be less intrusive to the natural daylighting opportunities of the adjacent properties at SE 172nd Street. These pitched shed roofs feature additional window types and patterns. A 2:12 pitch meets the intent of the code through providing additional window opportunities and effectively breaking up the roof line, and will avoid adding additional wall area. BUILDING MATERIALS Intent: To ensure high standards of quality and effective maintenance over time; encourage the use of materials that reduce the visual bulk of large buildings; and encourage the use of materials that add visual interest to the neighborhood. Avana Ridge Planned Urban Development 10616 SE 172nd Street, Renton, WA 98055 12 Minimum Standard: All sides of buildings visible from a street, pathway, parking area, or open space shall be finished on all sides with the same building materials, detailing, and color scheme, or if different, with materials of the same quality. Minimum Standard: Materials, individually or in combination, shall have an attractive texture, pattern, and quality of detailing for all visible facades. Minimum Standard: Materials shall be durable, high quality, and reasonably maintained. Guideline: Building materials should be attractive, durable, and consistent with more traditional urban development. Appropriate examples would include brick, integrally colored concrete masonry, pre-finished metal, stone, steel, glass, and cast-in-place concrete. Guideline: Concrete walls should be enhanced by texturing, reveals, snap-tie patterns, coloring with a concrete coating or admixture, or by incorporating embossed or sculpted surfaces, mosaics, or artwork. Guideline: Concrete block walls should be enhanced with integral color, textured blocks and colored mortar, decorative bond pattern and/or incorporate other masonry materials. Guideline: Stucco and similar troweled finishes should be used in combination with other more highly textured finishes or accents. They should not be used at the base of buildings between the finished floor elevation and four feet (4') above. Guideline: Use of material variations such as colors, brick or metal banding or patterns, or textural changes is encouraged. PROPOSAL: All visible building materials will follow a cohesive color scheme. A palette of red, white and gray tones is proposed to bring both accent colors and materials to the building design as well as to assist in breaking up the apparent mass of the building. A variety of materials and colors are being proposed as part of the color palette for the building design aesthetic. Materials will have a variety of patterns and textures including panel configuration, horizontal board configuration and reveal patterns consistent with window placement and proportion control. Durable, high-quality materials are proposed that are easy to maintain and will maintain their aesthetic quality through an ongoing maintenance plan. The material palette includes concrete masonry, brick, metal canopy, cast-in- place concrete, fiber cement board, and wood elements. All concrete walls will be treated with texturing and/or reveals. Multiple details will be incorporated to ensure all material transitions occur at appropriate locations to ground the building and indicate special moments. Artwork is proposed throughout the community open space and at specific building façade locations. All facades of both buildings will be treated with the same aesthetic care as those with public frontages. The proposed building and site design will convey a cohesive, high-quality design that sets a standard for future developments in the area.