Town of Paradise Valley
Action Report
TO: Chair and Planning Commission
FROM: Eva Cutro, Community Development Director
DATE: April 19, 2016
CONTACT:
Staff Contact
Eva Cutro, 480-348-3522
End
AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Discussion of Quality of Life Initiatives
Body
BACKGROUND:
Background
The Town Council recently discussed Quality of Life Initiatives to further their goal of maintaining and improving the Paradise Valley quality of life. At the January 28, 2016 Council meeting a list of initiatives was proposed and various groups were assigned responsibilities. Initiatives for the Planning Commission to address, include:
1. Lighting Code
2. Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
3. Design Criteria for Visually Significant Corridors
4. Wall Code
5. Sign Code for private property
6. Noise Ordinance - Construction noise and leaf blowers
7. Hillside Code
8. Blight
Planning staff will bring these topics to the Commission over the course of this year. Following is an update on the individual initiatives.
1. Lighting Code
At the last meeting in February lighting standards and the concern over the use of wattage and lumens was discussed. Attached please find a redlined version of Article 10 Height and Area Regulations, Article 22 Hillside Development Regulations, Article 25 Signs, and Special Use Permit Guidelines. Chairman Strom and I will discuss this in more detail at the work session.
2. Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan -
The purpose of the development of the Master Plan is to:
1. Create and promote safe and convenient access for the friendly co-existence of bicycle riders, pedestrians and other transportation users in Paradise Valley;
2. Provide a comprehensive plan for improvements to the Town’s bicycle and pedestrian system;
3. Improve bicycle and pedestrian safety;
4. Provide linkages to neighboring community non-motorized networks;
5. Identify barriers to safely accessing bicycle and pedestrian destinations within the Town and in surrounding areas, along with solutions to increase resident use of these type of facilities;
6. Support existing and future land use policies and patterns; and
7. Develop a plan with actions for a pedestrian/bicycle system that will be financially feasible for the Town to implement.
The Selection Committee has completed its scoring of the consultants. The Selection Committee included Commissioner Mahrle, a representative from the City of Scottsdale, Paul Michaud, Richard Edwards from Public Works, and me. There were six consultant teams that submitted an RFP. These were Alta Planning, CivTECH, Coffman Studio, Matrix, Toole Design Group, and Wilson & Company. Alta Planning and Matrix were not selected to interview based on their low written scores compared to the other four consultant teams. The Selection Committee interviewed the four remaining teams on March 30, 2016. The Coffman Studio team ranked first in the scoring and the Selection Committee will ask Town Council to award the contract to them.
3. Design Criteria for Visually Significant Corridors -
The Town of Paradise Valley is seeking a qualified consultant to develop a Visually Significant Corridor Master Plan which will be incorporated into the Mobility Element of the General Plan. The focus shall be on the major arterials of Tatum and Lincoln, but the plan shall also be adaptable to lesser minor, arterial, and collector streets. The purpose of the development of the Master Plan is to:
1. Develop and implement a Visually Significant Corridor Plan that promotes the character and image of the Town by providing specific landscape, hardscape, and infrastructure design guidelines for Town rights-of-way
2. Include elements such as street lamps, benches, sidewalks, landscaping, trash receptacles, bike racks, bus shelters, way-finding signage and other components as identified by the consultant and the Town. Traffic calming techniques and enhanced pedestrian amenities should be incorporated into streetscape design guidelines. Themes should maintain an element of consistency and connectivity;
3. Provide a comprehensive plan to reduce negative environmental impacts including noise, excess signage, and visibility of utility boxes; while, additionally, minimizing adverse impacts to the neighborhood through the use of roadway cross sections, traffic counts, high quality hardscaping and landscaping;
4. Provide policy for the installation and maintenance of right-of-way landscaping, utilizing Sonoran Desert indigenous plant materials where appropriate;
5. Incorporate safe, comprehensive, and integrated bicycle system that is accessible and compatible with traffic patterns;
6. Integrate a universally accessible, safe, experientially rewarding, convenient, and integrated pedestrian system that promotes walking, running and hiking
7. Identify opportunities to incorporate public arts projects;
8. Include gateway elements at the Town boundaries
9. Incorporate paving materials and/or shade trees to minimize the “heat island” effect of asphalt finishing;
10. Be financially feasible for the Town to implement;
11. Support existing and future land use policies and patterns; and
12. Carry out all other applicable goals and policies of the General Plan.
A rough draft of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is attached. Commissioner Wincel is the Planning Commission representative and will be working with staff and the Mayor on this RFP.
4. Wall Code
The fence wall code updates include consideration of a “combo wall” in which the code would allow for a 6’ tall fence at a 20’ front yard setback. Minor housekeeping items such as clarification on wall finishes adjoining neighboring properties will also be reviewed. George Burton will be working with Chairman Strom on this initiative.
5. Sign Code for private property
Items to be reviewed include:
1. Criteria for construction site signs in Table XXV-1;
2. Clarification of size for residential signs;
3. Clarification on public bulletin boards;
4. Amending the duration for banner signs;
5. Criteria regarding “for lease” and “for sale” signs on Special Use Permit properties;,
6. Additional language regarding adherence to Special Use Permit Guideline requirements; and
7. Regulations for temporary, A-frame signs
George Burton and Andrew Miller will be working with Commissioner Wastchak on this initiative.
6. Noise Ordinance - Construction noise and leaf blowers
Although the entire noise ordinance needs to be looked at, at this point we are only concentrating on leaf blowers and construction noise (after hours and weekends). Robert Lee, Building Official, will be working on this topic with Commissioner Campbell.
7. Hillside Code
As part of a periodic review and update of the Town Code, staff identified issues and concerns with the hillside ordinance. The following topics and recommendations are suggestions meant as a starting point for discussion. The topics are outlined below.
1. Retaining Walls and Screen Walls.
2. Material Palette and Light Reflective Value (LRV).
3. Administrative Hillside Chair Review.
4. Disturbed Area Calculation.
5. Demolition on Hillside Properties.
6. Hillside Model.
7. Accessory Structure and Accessory Structure Height Limit (including raised decks/platforms).
8. 40’ Overall Height Measurement.
9. Driveway Disturbance Credit.
10. Lighting.
11. Process to Remove a Property from Hillside Designation.
12. Hillside Assurance/Bond - Potentially increase the assurance amount.
13. Define which Hillside Code applies to La Place du Sommet Subdivision.
14. Solar Panels and Hillside Review Process.
15. Cantilever Limitations.
16. On-Site Retention.
17. Pool Barriers and Perimeter Fencing Standards.
18. Release of Certificate of Occupancy.
19. Administrative relief on hillside lots (Article XXII).
George Burton will be working with Commissioner Moore on this initiative.
8. Blight
Staff has just begun researching this issue. The threshold for blight will need to be determined. We will review if our concerns should center on the safety of a structure or if we are more concerned with appearances (and do we want to consider a Property Maintenance Ordinance).
I will be working with Commissioner Wainwright on this initiative.
Attachments:
Visually Significant Corridor RFP
Lighting Codes Amendment (redline)