If you live in Belvedere and have thought about remodeling or doing improvements on your property there is no doubt that you are aware of the City’s Architectural & Environmental Design Review Ordinance. This Ordinance has been a fixture in Belvedere since the early 1970′s. Over the years, it has been tweaked, revised, overhauled, and hopefully improved. Of course, it’s all a matter of perspective.
Some changes shifted review and discretion solely to the Planning Commission and other changes shifted review and authority to staff. At the end of the day, the goal is to provide as smooth a process as possible. One of the recent areas of change was the adoption of an “Appropriate Colors and Materials” Policy. This Policy was developed to give limited authority to staff that could be applied to administrative design applications. Colors preferred by an applicant that are outside of this limit of authority are not discouraged; instead, they remain soley within the purview of the Planning Commission.
Colors...
If you live in Belvedere and have thought about remodeling or doing improvements on your property there is no doubt that you are aware of the City’s Architectural & Environmental Design Review Ordinance. This Ordinance has been a fixture in Belvedere since the early 1970′s. Over the years, it has been tweaked, revised, overhauled, and hopefully improved. Of course, it’s all a matter of perspective.
Over the years, some of the changes in the Ordinance elevated review and discretion to the Planning Commission and other changes granted review and authority to staff. At the end of the day, the goal remained to provide as smooth a process as possible for the applicant and the community.
Recently, the City Council and Planning Commission sought to make it possible for staff level approval of colors and materials. Exterior colors and materials can be extremely controversial and create neighborhood discord. As a result, staff level approvals needed to be conservative; particularly with respect to colors and materials. To facilitate this, the Commission and Council adopted an “Appropriate Colors and Materials” Policy – Administrative Policy. This Policy was developed to give limited authority to staff that could be applied to administrative design applications. Colors preferred by an applicant that are outside of this limit of authority are not discouraged; instead, they remain soley within the purview of the Planning Commission. Any decision made by staff could be appealed to the Planning Commission either by the applicant or another interested party.
With respect to colors and materials, some of the specified purposes of the Design Review Ordinance are:
- “…to discourage the development of individual buildings which will dominate the Cityscape or attract attention to themselves through color, mass, or inappropriate architectural expression…”
- “…to encourage the highest quality of architectural design, the use of natural materials…”
When evaluating colors and materials, findings required include:
- “…building design should incorporate materials and colors that minimize the structures’ visual impact, that blend with the existing land form and vegetative color, that relate to and fit in with the structures in the neighborhood, and that do not attract attention to the structures themselves…”
- “…materials which blend easily with the landscape, such as natural wood shingles and siding are preferred….”
- “…soft and muted colors in the earth tone and wood tone range are preferred and generally should predominate…”
- “…other colors and materials are acceptable only if the Planning Commission determines they are appropriate for the building setting, and are compatible with those of other buildings in the vicinity…”
The Policy provides guidelines for applicants seeking Administrative Review of their applications. For those applicants seeking colors and/or materials outside of the parameters of the Policy, the option for review remains at the Planning Commission. Such applications are not discouraged.
It is important to note however, that when presenting applications to the Planning Commission staff is required to assess the application’s consistency with the Design Review Ordinance. If the colors and materials requested do not conform to the findings within the Design Review Ordinance (some listed above), staff must advise the Commission in the form of a recommendation. It is solely within the Commission’s discretion to approve other colors and materials outside the acceptable range if the Commission determines they are “…appropriate for the building setting and are compatible with those of other buildings in the vicinity…”
For more information on the Policy and/or the City’s Design Review Ordinance, contact the City’s Planning Department at 435-3838.
