Standards and Guidelines 2023-0607

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City of South Bend and St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Guidelines 55 Commercial Standards: Sites—Parking, Hard Surfaces, Parking Garages, Geothermal General Understanding and Approach Parking lots and other paved areas should be as small as possible and screened with landscaping and/or fencing to help blend in with the District . Parking should be developed to the extent available in the rear or sides of the site . New parking structures should include commercial uses on the first floor with storefronts that are compatible to the pedestrian scale. Materials for the parking structure should be compatible and be like the material found in the District such as brick, terra cotta or limestone . Read more about best practices when designing a parking lot or structure here . What is your project? Repave an Existing Parking Lot • Parking surfaces should be repaired with the same material as constructed . • Repaving should not add additional spaces without consideration of additional screening . Add a New Parking Lot to a Site • Locate a parking lot on the interior of a block whenever possible, but not on a primary or secondary street more than one building lot wide . • Locate surface parking to the side of a building when it is not feasible to locate parking to the rear, but only if the adjacent lot is already vacant . • Locate a surface lot so that it will minimize gaps in the continuous building wall of a commercial block . • Where a parking lot shares a site with a building, place the parking at the rear of the site or beside the building . • Proposals for parking lots that involve the demolition of historic buildings shall be avoided . • Lighting for parking lots should balance brightness and need for security with its overall impact to the District. Use of warm-colored bulbs is recommended with lamps shielded to direct light downward. Light standards should not be more than 10’ tall. New parking lots should include setbacks and screening . See also section on fencing . Build a New Parking Structure • Parking structures should include commercial use of at last 75% of the ground floor. • The façade shall reflect a height and floor to ceiling ratio that mimics the adjacent structure and District overall. Facades should be clad in materials that are found throughout the District . • Entrances for parking structures should be located to disrupt the pedestrian flow on the primary street as little as possible. • Structures taller than the average height of historic buildings in the District should have upper floor set back a minimum of 10 feet to minimize the overpowering of the adjacent buildings . • The structures should be set to the sidewalk edge along the main street to match the setbacks of other historic buildings in the District . • Open spaces between floors should be screened with an opaque metal screening or infilled with alternate ventilation louvers mimicking the window openings in the District . The following is not recommended and generally not approved by the Commission: • Gravel or other loose materials for parking lots . Sites—Parking, Hard Surfaces, Parking Garages, Geothermal Administratively Approvable Repave existing parking lot with in-kind material or new materials following the guidelines. Heads Up It is likely that other permits or variances are required from the City for projects in this section . For more information go here . Return to the Table of Contents