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Started 8 months ago by News
Latest reply from Mercurius

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News
Columbus Underground
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Short North soon to have design guidelines for area developers
By Mark Ferenchik
The Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday September 13, 2011 5:34 AM

You might be surprised to know that the Short North, with its art galleries, specialty shops and trendy restaurants, doesn’t have a set of standards to guide High Street’s distinctive look.

That will change with the new Short North Design Guidelines, which the Columbus City Council will discuss on Monday.

The guidelines recommend that buildings be no more than five stories tall and that parking lots be located behind buildings.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/09/13/image-to-uphold.html

Posted 8 months ago #
Anne
King Lincoln
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I love the Jackson Building. I'm glad that got built. Is the Pizzuti hotel still happening?

I think a mixture of sizes through there is nice.

Posted 8 months ago #
Mod-dude

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I have mixed feelings about this. I don't know if I want uniformity in the Short North... I guess some are good, but it feels like it could become less organic (maybe it already really has) and more suburban-guided in nature. On the other hand, we all see things on occasion and say to ourselves, "there ought to be some guidelines here." I think the era of the true artist's haven is over for the Short North as things are becoming too rigid, rents have become too high and now guidelines to tell artists how they can create the art that spells their name. Where is the next artist's haven? South Parsons? East Franklinton? King Lincoln/Old Town? Linden? E. Livingston?

Posted 8 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Really disappointed to hear that the building height limit caps out at five stories.

I thought the Short North was an "Arts District" and not a "Historic Preservation" district? An arts district shouldn't necessarily have a unified design standard. It should be a little more creative, unique and modern.

I hope that exceptions to these rules can be made for specific projects in the future.

Posted 8 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Mod-dude said:
Where is the next artist's haven? East Franklinton?

Yes.

http://www.columbusunderground.com/public-input-sought-for-east-franklinton-creative-community-district-plan

Posted 8 months ago #
rory
NW Short North
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Walker said:
Really disappointed to hear that the building height limit caps out at five stories.

I thought the Short North was an "Arts District" and not a "Historic Preservation" district? An arts district shouldn't necessarily have a unified design standard. It should be a little more creative, unique and modern.

I hope that exceptions to these rules can be made for specific projects in the future.

While most of it is just common sense type things from Preservation Briefs other parts really strike me as short-sighted and bad for art and historic preservation. The reliance on brick for new buildings just guarantees it's going to look like Worthington. New brick and mortar doesn't look like old brick and just lends to a faux historicity. Nothing makes a building look more historic than being next to one with contemporary design and materials. I understand the rhythm of the street in mass and scale but to cap everything at 5 stories seems short-sighted too. Maybe exceptions will be made for nicely designed specific projects but it seems like mediocrity is the preferred avenue (again).

Is the Pizzuti project affected by this or are they through the process? A lot of the guidelines concerning material and such seemed to be a tailor-made stick in the eye for that project.

Posted 8 months ago #
surber17

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This is absolutely ridiculous! I love the idea of having guidelines to streamline the design process (ex. you could save a lot of time in getting buildings approved) but why 5 stories? Why limit the growth like that? Also, if I was a developer I'd grab that piece of land available on 5th and High right away since it will be one of the only places you can build above 5 stories.

Posted 8 months ago #
JonMyers
HCMC ✈
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Walker said:
Really disappointed to hear that the building height limit caps out at five stories.

+1

Posted 8 months ago #
anillo
Marzipan City
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So will developers along High in the SN have to pass these guidelines in addition to the architectural review board, or will this replace those? It seems a bit pointless to me, the guideliens mentioned in the article are either unnecessarily limiting (building height, materials) or just plain unnecessary (parking lots in rear, no one-story developments, can't really see any developments like that getting approved anyways).

Posted 8 months ago #
Likes Old Houses
Harrison West
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Who does this benefit? It just devalued non-historic parcels that could be redeveloped, because you no longer can build a larger, high dollar developments. Imagine the strip mall property at Price and High redeveloped at 10-12 stories and enclosed parking. Instead you will get 5 stories with a parking lot in the back, becasue the development won't support building a garage.

Posted 8 months ago #
Pablo
Crestview Addition
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I read through the guidelines and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Although brick and stone are encouraged it doesn't outlaw titanium or glass. Stucco and stucco-like material "should be avoided" which is probably a good thing.

Also, from the guidelines: New construction should be no less than two stories above grade. Currently, buildings from three to five stories are found in multiple locations and new construction in that height range will be considered in the context of its location. Buildings of six or more stories, thought not original to the district will be considered on a case-by-case basis

It seems to me that, if it's a "good" project, the developer can go taller than 4 stories. It depends on who sits on the design review board....

Posted 8 months ago #
lifeliberty
Here
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Censorshp in the "arts" district, fabulous!

Posted 8 months ago #
HeySquare
German Village
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anillo said:
So will developers along High in the SN have to pass these guidelines in addition to the architectural review board, or will this replace those? It seems a bit pointless to me, the guideliens mentioned in the article are either unnecessarily limiting (building height, materials) or just plain unnecessary (parking lots in rear, no one-story developments, can't really see any developments like that getting approved anyways).

Yeah, those UDF, Check Cashing, and Family Dollar type developments would never get approval. Those guidelines are completely unnecessary. ;)

Guidelines are a necessary legal tool for the Commissions. Without them, it is very difficult to make legally defensible decisions. They need to provide a defensible framework of expectations that property owners can easily understand. While they may seem prescriptive, it is necessary-- maybe there is a better alternative to brick, but trust me when I say there are plenty of worse alternatives too. And proposals for the worse alternatives are more typical.

While I don't know the specifics, I believe that each of the architectural review boards will use these Guidelines to guide their review of High Street projects, so that developers can have some expectation that a project will get a similar review whether it is located in Victorian Village or Italian Village. People think that the Commissions are unamious in their opinions, but they are comprised of smart professional people who volunteer their time, and there is frequently a diversity of opinion on how projects should be treated.

Personally I think that guidelines provide a creative framework that pushes architects and designers to think creatively.

Posted 8 months ago #
Jefe

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are they hard limitations, or just guidelines/desires? either way, hopefully the SN will probably survive height limits as long as downtown (and maybe Weinland Park?) encourage higher density. we're compact enough that it might work. otherwise, prices will go sky high and SN will be pure bourgie retirees and financial types instead of any artsie folks.

side effects of the well-meaning Jane Jacobs crowd.

Posted 8 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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surber17 said:
Also, if I was a developer I'd grab that piece of land available on 5th and High right away since it will be one of the only places you can build above 5 stories.

The asking price for that lot increased today to $1 Trillion. ;)

Posted 8 months ago #
rory
NW Short North
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HeySquare said:

Personally I think that guidelines provide a creative framework that pushes architects and designers to think creatively.

That's a healthy perspective on it and who doesn't to give that extra push every once in a while.

Posted 8 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Pablo said:
I read through the guidelines and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Although brick and stone are encouraged it doesn't outlaw titanium or glass. Stucco and stucco-like material "should be avoided" which is probably a good thing.

Also, from the guidelines: New construction should be no less than two stories above grade. Currently, buildings from three to five stories are found in multiple locations and new construction in that height range will be considered in the context of its location. Buildings of six or more stories, thought not original to the district will be considered on a case-by-case basis

It seems to me that, if it's a "good" project, the developer can go taller than 4 stories. It depends on who sits on the design review board....

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't get a chance to read through them yet and had a couple of meetings and errands this afternoon.

The allowance for exceptions is good news to hear. I'm in favor of having some design restrictions, minimum-allowable heights, and of course, concealed parking behind buildings rather than in front or beside.

Posted 8 months ago #
Pablo
Crestview Addition
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Walker said:
Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't get a chance to read through them yet and had a couple of meetings and errands this afternoon.

The allowance for exceptions is good news to hear. I'm in favor of having some design restrictions, minimum-allowable heights, and of course, concealed parking behind buildings rather than in front or beside.

Yeah, the good news is that a developer with a compelling project won't be automatically eliminated.

Posted 8 months ago #
njbuckeye05

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So apparently Columbus wants to remain in the dark ages as an urban sprawl toilet. The most beautiful city in the world, Chicago, gets it. Rather than concentrate and build up, let's just build boring communist bloc inspired buildings.

Posted 8 months ago #
anillo
Marzipan City
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njbuckeye05 said:
So apparently Columbus wants to remain in the dark ages as an urban sprawl toilet. The most beautiful city in the world, Chicago, gets it. Rather than concentrate and build up, let's just build boring communist bloc inspired buildings.

I love Chicago, but you've obviously never been to the south/west sides if you think it's the most beautiful city in the world.

Anyways, the guidelines don't sound bad overall. We'll have to see how they're enforced in practice, but it seems like it's just sort of putting into words what they've been trying to follow lately. Hopefully they won't be too strict on the recommended 5-story limit.

Posted 8 months ago #