Memo - Hopkins Downtown Design Guidelines
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Planning & Economic
Development
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Honorable Mayor Maxwell and Hopkins City Council Members
COPY:
Downtown Design Committee Members
Kersten Elverum, Ho~i~~ ~evelopment Coordinator
January 21, 2003 ~V
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Hopkins Downtown Design Guidelines
The purpose of the discussion regarding this item at the January 28, 2003, City Council
worksession is to discuss the status of the proposed design guidelines and standards for the
downtown overlay district and provide staff with direction. The ordinance creating the overlay
district is scheduled to be on the February Zoning and Planning Commission agenda with City
Council action scheduled for March.
Overview
Over the past h\'o months the downtown overlay district design committee has been soliciting
input on the proposed guidelines and standards. The document has been presented to the Zoning
& Plalming Commission and to the Hopkins Business and Civic Association genera]
membership. The Hopkins Business and Civic Association (HBCA) also sponsored two owner
and tenant informational meetings on the proposed document. The first for a select group of
owners and the second on January 22, 2003, at the Hopkins Center for the Alts for all owners
within the proposed overlay district.
The response has generally been supP0l1ive of the document although there have been a few
concemed propel1y owners. The following are the major issues identified through these
meetings as well as through committee and staff discussions.
Boundaries
The proposal from the committee defines the overlay district boundaries as follows:
The south side of First Street N0I1h to 11011h side of First Street South:
the west side of 6thA venue to the east side of 13th Avenue
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Committee members discussed altematives ranging from a larger area to a smaller area.
Generally it was recognized that there are differences in the properties located off of Mainstreet,
however, they felt it appropriate to guide the design of these prope11ies in a manner consistent
with Mainstreet propel1ies.
Staff has discussed the possibility of separating the overlay district so that elements deemed
imp0l1ant for the core downtown area be applied only to Mainstreet propel1ies while maintaining
other standards such as dumpster screening throughout the entire district.
Granting Exceptions
It is recognized that there may be projects that require a depmture from the standards in order to
be feasible or reasonable. Possible reasons for granting exceptions to the standards are as
follows:
. Safety
. Unique site or building characteristics
. Standards would have a detrimental effect on the use of the propel1y
. Public Benefit
Financial hardship alone would not be recommended by staff as a reason to grant an exception.
It is anticipated that exceptions would follow a process similar to a variance request (Zoning &
Planning recommendation; Council action) with minor exceptions granted on a stafflevel.
Incenti ves:
In addition to the Commercial Rehabilitation Loan Program, staff is recommending that the City
offer design assistance through a professional architect. If this is an idea sUPP0l1ed by the
Council staff will begin drafting program guidelines for consideration. Ideally, this program
would be announced in conjunction with the implementation of the design guidelines and
standards.
Conclusion:
Members of the design committee will be at the worksession to discuss the key issues of this
project and share the feedback provided by property owners in the affected area.