ITEM NO.   E-2

MEETING DATE: 8/22/2001

 BACKGROUND

In May 1999, the Town received and accepted the Downtown Historic Resources Study prepared by Glenn David Mathews. In that document, the consultant recommended that the Town prepare and adopt Downtown Design Guidelines. The Resources Study further recommended that the Town prepare and adopt a Local Historic Inventory of buildings in Downtown.

The Local Historic Inventory was completed and adopted earlier this year. Its adoption allowed the Town to apply the California State Historic Building Code to those buildings listed in the Inventory. In the short time since its adoption, the Town has used the Historic Building Code to help preserve architectural features (doors, windows, etc.) on certain buildings that would otherwise have been lost to Uniform Building Code requirements.

The Downtown Design Guidelines project has been longer in the making. However, under the guidance of a Steering Committee, the final draft Downtown Tiburon Design Handbook has been prepared and released for public review.

ANALYSIS

Preparation of the Handbook was guided by a Steering Committee comprised of Donna Kline (Heritage & Arts Commission), Mayor Thompson (Town Council), Miles Berger (Planning Commission), Kirk Beales (Design Review Board), and Steve Sears (Chamber of Commerce).

The Steering Committee solicited proposals for the preparation of the Guidelines and following a detailed review and interview process, selected a design team led by James McLane & Associates over five other teams that submitted proposals. The team includes James McLane, architect; Bruce Anderson, urban designer; Stephen Wheeler, landscape architect, and Michael Manwaring, graphic designer.

From the outset of the Handbook preparation, the Steering Committee has felt that the consultants very quickly grasped the major thrust of the Town’s desires for preserving and enhancing its Downtown’s character. The Steering Committee believes that the Handbook successfully captures the essence of what makes Main Street and Ark Row unique and memorable, and suggests ways to preserve and enhance that special character. The Tiburon Boulevard Corridor is seen as a prime area for improvement in terms of site layout, streetscape, signage, and building design. Over the long term, it is anticipated that the Handbook will help guide the transition of the Tiburon Boulevard Corridor to a more lively, pedestrian friendly, integrated, and attractive part of the Downtown fabric.

The Steering Committee also believes that the Handbook makes great strides toward the preservation of those design features and characteristics of Downtown that have previously been identified as worthy of preservation. It also provides much more detailed direction to applicants, designers, and decision-makers than is currently available regarding the Town’s desires and visions for Downtown.

It is important to note that the Handbook is directive and suggestive, but is neither mandatory nor prescriptive. The Steering Committee and consultants strongly believed that a prescriptive document would, over the long term, have stifled creative design and encouraged a sameness, or monotony, of design. The intent and use of the Handbook is stated very eloquently on P. 5. A major objective is to encourage the kind of "genuine building design" that one can recognize in some of the Town’s historic buildings, by emphasizing compatibility with historical precedent rather than foreign architectural styles. The Handbook does not rule out contemporary design, but seeks to avoid gratuitous emulation of western, waterfront, Mediterranean, or other motifs.

In order to make full use of the suggestions and design concepts set forth in the Handbook, it is likely that some amendments to the zoning district regulations in the Zoning Ordinance will be advisable. Any such amendments would be the subject of future preparation and review at public hearings.

Take any public testimony from interested persons.

Review and comment on the final draft of the Downtown Tiburon Design Handbook.

Recommend to the Town Council formal adoption of the Handbook.

EXHIBITS

Downtown Tiburon Design Handbook.

Local Historic Inventory List of Buildings in Downtown Tiburon.

FEBRUARY, 2001

Main Street (Lower)

15-17 Main Street

16 Main Street

20-22 Main Street

21A Main Street

26 Main Street

27 Main Street

30 Main Street

31 Main Street

32 Main Street

34 Main Street

35 Main Street

38 Main Street

55 Main Street

Main Street (Upper) (a.k.a. Ark Row)

72 Main Street

104 Main Street

106 Main Street

108 Main Street

110 Main Street

112 Main Street

116 Main Street

118-120 Main Street

122 Main Street

Tiburon Boulevard @ Juanita Lane

1696 Tiburon Boulevard