Comprehensive Plan - Carbondale, IL

Adopted June 22, 2010g. Amend the current bufferyard requirements to tie them to the character ofdevelopment, with variations as to their width, opacity, and means of bufferingbased on the density (residential) or intensity (nonresidential) of development.In this way, the buffers are commensurate with the impacts between abuttingdevelopments.Strategy 2: Enhance the appearance of development and the compatibilitybetween districts.RationaleThe appearance of the City is, perhaps, the single most evident glimpse of the City’sdevelopment standards and its pro-activeness. As the saying goes, you don’t get asecond chance to make a good first impression. The perceptions of the communityare largely driven by the physical environment. As a result, decisions are made tolive, work, or shop here; to invest in the community; or whether to return for anothervisit. For this reason, the quality of development is essential to the community’songoing and future success. While many good standards are already in place, thereare warranted changes and improved provisions to enhance the appearance of theCity’s districts and corridors and the compatibility between them.Comprehensive PlanActions and Initiativesa. Consider embellished gateway treatments with more significant monuments,landscaping, and lighting at the locations of greatest visibility, such as thecommunity gateways along U.S. 51 and IL 13.b. Integrate gateway and other street enhancements including lighting, signage,landscaping, street furniture, and paths into community investment projects.Enhancements may include pavement colors and patterns at intersections,crosswalk textures (particularly in and around Downtown), ornamentalstreet fixtures (signal poles and mast arms), unique signage, green space, landcontouring, street trees, and pedestrian paths and amenities. Coordinationwith IDOT will be required along state routes.c. Require plantings along all parking and vehicular areas with frontage adjacentto public street rights-of-way, as well as major entrance drives. This screeningmay include shrubbery, earthen berms, walls, or a combination thereof.d. Amend the zoning ordinance to require that walls and “sight-proof” fences becomplemented by landscaping to soften the buffer between adjacent uses. Insome instances, fences may be replaced by berms and a landscape buffer, whichmay enhance their effectiveness and appearance.e. Require site design standards for temporary uses. Specify the percentage of sitearea that may be used for these uses and the display of outdoor merchandise,as well as their location on the site, means of defining the space, and the heightof stacked materials, among other applicable requirements.f. Establish design standards for the NB, Neighborhood Business, district. Thisdistrict and the other business districts have different intents, yet they aremostly similar in their uses and bulk standards.g. Prepare and adopt design standards for multiple-family developments asconceptually illustrated in Figure 2.15, Attached Housing Design Concept.These design standards should include building and parking lot siting andproximity to adjacent properties, variable building heights and façade setbacks,sustainable building and roofing materials, site lighting, landscaping andscreening, and other applicable standards.2.39Land Use Character and Community Growth