Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/02/2012

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design guidelines, such as engineers and architects. We purposely held the meeting before putting any guidelines together. Our consultant made a general presentation with questions for the audience about de- sign concepts that might be acceptable for Salem. We found that improving the charac- ter of the Route 28 strip was a shared goal of most of the participants, but there were concerns about adding costs to comply with new design guidelines and overregulating signs in particular. Armed with feedback from this meet- ing, our consultant prepared a document using many photographs of local sites and lines were adopted by the planning board in March 2011 as part of the town's site plan review regulations. The guidelines apply to new development as well as expansions or redevelopment of existing buildings and sites. They are applied to each development that requires site plan approval from the planning board, but can be waived if the board finds they are not applicable due to project size. One critical decision was to adopt the guidelines as voluntary recommendations, not mandatory regulations. The planning board felt that the level of detail in the guide- lines would take some time for everyone to buildings. We posted everything on the town website and, after several revisions and review by the planning board and my- self, a final document was produced. This document, Design Guidelines for Salem, New Hampshire, includes chapters on site planning, architecture, landscap- ing, lighting, and signage. It covers all new commercial (retail, office, and industrial) and multifamily residential development projects. Each chapter contains goals, objectives, and guidelines, which take the form of brief sentences with accompanying photographs. There are about 25o separate guidelines in 90 pages. The design guide- ® These before- and -after photos demonstrate the power of aesthetic improvements to change a retail strip. get used to, and they wanted to gauge the community's experience with them for a few years before making them mandatory. LESSONS Adopting design guidelines in a pro- develop- ment community with an existing commercial corridor is no easy task. In Salem, it helped to invite the development community to partici- pate in the process at an early stage, not just to comment on a finished document. Keeping the public informed by posting draft versions of the guidelines on the town website and televising all discussions on them created a climate of openness. We were fortunate to hire an experienced consultant who was able to smoothly deal with concerns after having done so many times before in other communities. We were able to overcome any remaining objections by adopting the guide- lines as voluntary. I also prepared a checklist to summarize the 90 -page document in just a few pages, which made it easier to convey to property owners. Several new projects have been reviewed under the design guidelines so far, and the experience has been positive. The planning board requested architectural upgrades and increased size of plantings in accordance with the guidelines. I expect that, as they are used more often, both the development community and the planning board will find the photo- graphs in the guidelines to be beneficial and easy to use. Ultimately, I have no doubt this tool will help us better control the appearance of new development in Salem. 0 Newer projects demonstrate what the town was trying to accomplish with design guidelines, including more attractive buildings and improved signage and landscaping. ZONINGPRACTICE 11.11 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION ipage 4