[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
The design guidelines and standards of this Part are established
to, through the review and regulation of design characteristics, preserve
and promote the unique urban character of West Homestead, protect
investments by West Homestead's property owners and enhance the sustainability
of West Homestead for future generations. The guidelines and standards
are intended to encourage lively, pedestrian-friendly and attractive
streetscapes and open spaces where West Homestead residents and visitors
will enjoy walking, biking, driving and shopping.
2.
Focusing on the immediate neighborhood of any development project,
the guidelines and standards maximize visibility for pedestrians,
ensure appropriate building design including entrances, doors and
windows, promote sensitive and contextual design of buildings in residential
neighborhoods, require attractive signage and ensure its compatibility
with the surrounding neighborhood.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
The Council of the Borough of West Homestead has directed the West
Homestead Planning Commission to study building quality conditions
in the Borough and to make recommendations for the maintenance and
improvement of the quality of buildings throughout the Borough. On
the basis of the Planning Commission's study and recommendations as
well a public hearing held thereon, finds the following:
A.
The buildings in the West Homestead's residential and commercial
areas represent valuable meets, both in terms on monies invested as
well as providing a basis for a sustainable community.
B.
The design and appearance of buildings convey both immediate and
long-lasting impressions of the quality of West Homestead.
C.
Numerous examples of building changes exist in West Homestead's older
neighborhoods that have operated to degrade the character of those
areas.
D.
The areas of Calhoun Manor, Estates and Village currently represent
viable and sustainable neighborhoods in West Homestead.
E.
Inappropriate changes to the exterior portions of buildings and grounds
can negatively impact the monetary values of neighboring properties
and create a negative impression of West Homestead.
F.
Inappropriate building changes can occur in any area of West Homestead.
G.
Borough-wide design guidelines and standards are needed to prevent
degrading building changes that can teed to decreased property values
and a poor impression of West Homestead.
H.
The adoption of these design guidelines and standards are a reasonable
means to preserve and promote the unique urban character of West Homestead,
protect investments by West Homestead's property owners and enhance
the sustainability of West Homestead for future generations.
I.
The adoption of these design guidelines and standards can also be
a means to correct past, degrading changes.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
Minor Building Changes. For the purposes of this Part, any change
that does not involve closure of any door or window, alteration of
the size of any door or window, alteration to any roof lines, decks
and porches not fronting on a public or private street, and coloration.
2.
Significant Building Changes. Any new structure, any building expansion,
either horizontal or vertical, changes involve elements which are
prohibited or which would be incompatible with the neighborhood in
which the subject structure is located and any change not a minor
building change.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
Buildings, structures, sites, signs and public spaces should be designed
to:
A.
Retain, reflect and enhance the dominant aesthetic or visual qualities
of the neighborhood as much as possible.
B.
Encourage and promote a sense of design continuity that appropriately
relates the historic past of the neighborhood to ongoing revitalization
and redevelopment efforts.
C.
Appropriately relate proposed development to existing designs, styles,
building forms and land uses.
D.
Encourage and promote the sensitive and contextual design of buildings,
signs, sites and public spaces through the use of design elements,
details, styles and architectural features as well as other amenities,
materials or treatments that may be appropriate to further the design
standards. Blank end walls should incorporate building components
or design features. Blank rear walls should be screened with landscaping.
E.
Encourage a pedestrian-oriented and human-scaled right-of-way, public
realm and streetscape and promote safe pedestrian movement, access
end circulation.
F.
Define access from streets, sidewalks and public right-of-way and,
where a service alley is viable, garages and loading areas should
be accessed only from the alley.
G.
Encourage and promote the incorporation of design features and other
amenities in the private and public realms that reinforce the importance
of terminating streets, public ways and vistas with focal points.
H.
Encourage and promote the use of predominant existing building materials
within the neighborhood and the predominant existing building materials,
architectural features and fenestration on specific structures as
a guide in determining appropriate replacement and new construction
materials. Where possible, all replacement windows in elevations visible
from any public right-of-way should match the original windows in
size and configuration.
I.
Protect, respect and expand the design of green space, landscaping
and open space within the neighborhood and encourage public and private
development that enhances this character with landscape design details
such as trees, lawns, plantings, fountains and mails.
J.
Encourage and promote direct visual access to views and vistas within
West Homestead.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
Building Elevations.
A.
Any facade facing a sidewalk, public right-of-way, public street
or open space district shall have an active building elevation. Active
building elevations shall include windows, building entrances and
other architectural features that enhance the pedestrian scale and
experience of the building facade.
B.
New construction shall respect existing building widths by providing
a division of the facade into visible building increments no larger
than the average width of existing buildings on the block.
C.
Where the street frontage is defined by a continuous building facade,
the proposed new building or infill construction shall maintain such
continuous facade by building from side lot line to side lot line
unless access is required for rear yard parking.
D.
Structures where all building elements are less than 35 feet in height
and with wall surfaces of more than 1,500 square feet shall incorporate
fascias, canopies, arcades, building setbacks of three feet or more,
or other design features to break up large wall surfaces on the street-facing
elevations. Wall surfaces shall be visually divided by such features
into areas of 750 square feet or less.
2.
Mowed Materials. The following materials are authorized for inclusion
in any development or redevelopment in West Homestead. Materials used
other than these listed below shall be subject to review and approval
by the Planning Commission upon review and recommendation of the Planning
Board.
A.
Street Curbs, Street Right-of-Way. Concrete-deck, roll or straight
curb; stone; bituminous.
B.
Street Curbs, Private. Bituminous-full depth; bituminous surface
coarse aggregate base; concrete.
C.
Edging Curbs for Planting Strips. Concrete; brick; stone; wood; poly
vinyl chloride (PVC) or equal; metal.
D.
Stop Bar. Precast concrete; poly vinyl chloride (PVC) or equal; wood;
metal.
E.
Fences and Screens. Wood-picket, panel, post and rail; poly vinyl
chloride (PVC) or equal-picket, panel, post and rail; metal-chain
link (fabric of aluminum, steel or plastic coated, bent selvage on
tip), panel, post and aluminum or steel wire, picket; concrete-panel
(not including solid concrete or concrete block).
F.
Walls, Free-Standing. Stone-natural, block stone or rubblestone;
brick-plain or glazed; concrete-plain or textured; concrete block-patterned
or glaze; tile.
G.
Walls, Retaining. Stone masonry; brick: concrete; cribbing-concrete
or metal; sheet piling; treated lumber.
H.
Walkways, Private. Concrete-colored or uncolored, textured finish;
terrazzo; textured surface only; brick; precast blocks; flagstone;
rubblestone; blockstone.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
Building Entrances. The front facade and main entrance shall face
a public street and shall have a direct pedestrian connection to the
street.
2.
Building Context and Compatibility.
A.
New nonresidential development shall be constructed to be generally
compatible with buildings on the same block frontage within 200 feet.
This provision shall be satisfied by constructing the subject structure
so that at least three of the following features are similar to the,
majority of other structures within 200 feet on the block frontage
(both sides of the street):
3.
Building Materials.
A.
Along street frontage(s), all exterior building walls and structures
shall be constructed with durable materials such as masonry, stone,
brick, finishing wood, stucco (EIFS) or glass.
4.
Windows and Transparency.
A.
Renovations of the first floor of existing buildings shall not decrease
the area of transparency. Where feasible, renovations shall increase
the area of transparency to that required for new construction unless
the original historic character of the building requires less transparency
area.
B.
All glazing shall be clear or lightly tinted.
C.
In all C-1 Commercial Zoning District, all new construction along
the street shall provide areas of transparency equal to 70% of the
wall area between the height of two and eight feet from the ground.
5.
Prohibited Materials.
A.
Concrete finishes or pre-cast concrete panels (tilt wall) that are
not exposed aggregate, hammered, embossed, imprinted, sandblasted
or covered with a cement-based acrylic coating shall not be used as
exterior building materials and shall be prohibited on all exterior
walls.
B.
Metal panels with a depth of less than one inch or a thickness less
than U.S. standard twenty-six-gauge shall not be used as exterior
building materials and shall be prohibited on all exterior walls.
C.
In all Zoning Districts, no unpainted masonry or brick materials
may be painted if originally designed to be unpainted. This shall
not include cement block construction.
D.
In any district, mirrored glass with a reflectance greater than 40%
shall be prohibited from covering more than 40% of the exterior walls
of any building.
6.
Residential Use Standards. The applicant for conversion of a commercial
storefront to a residential use in an area that is predominantly residential
shall have the option to either:
7.
Commercial Conversions.
A.
When converting only one portion of a building, the entire commercial
character of the storefront must be retained.
B.
In cases where demolition of a commercial addition to a house is
proposed, the new facade shall approximate, as closely as possible,
the original design of the house.
C.
The applicant for conversion of a commercial storefront to a residential
use in an area that is predominantly commercial shall be required
to maintain the commercial character of the storefront.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
Building Context and Compatibility. New infill single-family and
two-family dwellings shalt be constructed to be generally compatible
with other existing dwelling units on the same block frontage within
200 feet. This provision shall be satisfied by constructing the subject
dwelling unit so that at least three of the following features are
similar to the majority of other dwelling units within 200 feet on
the block frontage (both sides of the street):
A.
Roof style/overhang (e.g., gable, mansard, hip, A-frame).
B.
Garage orientation and access (e.g., attached/front-loaded, attached
side-loaded, detached/alley-loaded).
C.
Building massing (e.g., ranch, two-story with attached garage, two-story
with detached garage; multi-level).
D.
Floor Area.
(1)
Single-Family Dwelling. The floor area of the proposed dwelling
units shall be no less than 80% and not more than 145% of the average
floor area of other single-family dwelling, as indicated in the tax
assessor's records, within 200 feet of the subject lot, including
single-family dwellings along both sides of the street of the same
block.
(2)
Two-Family Dwelling. The floor area of the proposed dwelling
unit shall be no less than 80% and not more than 145% of the average
floor area of other two-family dwelling, as indicated in the tax assessor's
records, within 200 feet of the subject lot, including two-family
dwelling along both sides of the street of the same block.
E.
Front porches (existence of).
F.
Exterior building material.
G.
Pattern of window and door openings (e.g., central door and four
windows; offset door end three windows).
2.
Yard Areas.
A.
Except for driveways, parking areas and walks, no portion of the
front yard shall be paved with asphalt or concrete.
B.
Decorative stone surfaces shall be used only when an integral part
of a landscape plan.
C.
To the maximum extent practical, the front yard, side yard and the
unpaved area between the sidewalk and the street paving shall be covered
with turf grass or vegetative ground cover.
D.
To the maximum extent practical, the rear yard shall be fine graded
to ensure proper grades and drainage.
3.
Commercial Buildings in Residential Districts. Design standards for
commercial and mixed-use buildings shall follow the design standards
for nonresidential uses.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
2.
Windows and doors shall not be dimensionally reduced in size.
3.
Glass blocks shall not be permitted as glazing replacement on any
building side fronting on a public or private street.
4.
Exterior handrails along any exterior walk or stairs shall be of
wrought iron or aluminum design and shall be painted.
5.
Coloration of any exterior building element shall be compatible with
the coloration of the subject building and neighboring properties.
6.
Security bars or screens protecting doors and windows shall be of
an architectural style compatible with the building.
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
Existing buildings which have been altered from their original constructed
architecture are not required to be modified to conform to the design
guidelines and standards of this part, except as follows:
[Ord. 560, 6/11/1996; as added by Ord. 637, 4/8/2008, § 1]
1.
New Construction.
A.
On and after the effective date of this amendment to this chapter, any person proposing a new building shall make application, on forms available at the Borough offices, to the Zoning Officer. The Zoning Officer shall forward the application to the West Homestead Planning Commission. In reviewing the application, the Planning Commission may request an advisory from the Steel Valley Historical Architectural Review Board (as established at Chapter 26 of this Code). The Planning Commission shall forward its recommendation to Council, which shall approve, approve subject to conditions, or deny said application.
2.
Changes to Existing Structures. On and after the effective date of
this amendment to this chapter, any person proposing an alteration
to the exterior portions of a building for which a permit or certificate
or approval is required under this or other ordinances of the Borough
shell make application, on forms available at the Borough offices,
to the Zoning Officer. The Zoning Officer shall review the submitted
materials and make a determination as to whether the changes are minor
or significant.
A.
Minor Building Changes. If the Zoning Officer determines that the
proposed changes are minor, and otherwise conform to the Part, the
Zoning Officer may issue a zoning certificate authorizing the proposed
changes, provided such changes conform to the standards in this Part.
B.
Significant Building Changes. In the event the Zoning Officer determines that the proposed changes are significant, the application will be referred to the West Homestead Planning Commission. In reviewing the application, the Planning Commission may request an advisory from the Steel Valley Historical Architectural Review Board (as established at Chapter 26 of this Code). The Planning Commission shall forward its recommendation to Council, which shall approve, approve subject to conditions, or deny said application.
C.
For any application, the applicant shall submit such information
as the Zoning Officer may require to properly evaluate the application.
This information may include, but is not limited to:
