Los Gatos Commercial Design Guidelines FINAL ... - City of Winters

Town of Los Gatos
d) Provide landscaping between commercial structures
and neighboring residents to screen, break up and soften
views of the structures. See diagram to the right for
view cones in which buffering landscaping should be
provided.
e) Avoid placement of mechanical equipment where
noise would negatively impact residential neighbors.
f) Visually screen all trash and outdoor storage areas
from view.
C-1 DISTRICT
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Provide buffer landscaping in view cones to
residential windows and private yard space
2.3.4 Visually treat any exposed walls visible from
fronting streets
a) Use landscaping and screen walls or architectural
treatment consistent with the primary and nearby facade
designs.
2.3.5 Avoid visually bulky buildings
a) Provide horizontal wall plane changes along street
frontages and areas easily viewed from adjacent properties.
Wall plane changes should have some portions
that are at least two feet to provide building articulation.
b) Keep the size of roof fascias small.
c) Inset windows as much as possible from wall faces
to provide some visual depth to facades. Where interior
uses make this difficult, provide exterior trim around
windows to achieve facade depth.
d) For any structures over two stories in height, set
back upper floors by a minimum of fifteen feet from
the lower floor facades to minimize scale and bulk
changes that would stand out significantly from the
norm along the adjacent streetscape.
e) Break up large wall surfaces.
f) Use a mix of materials that have a smaller scale
(e.g., stone, brick, wood siding, shingles). Avoid concrete
block and metal siding or panels.
Commercial Design Guidelines
Mitigate exposed wall surfaces with
architectural and/or landscaping treatment
Step upper floors back on structures taller
than two stories
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