Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning Department

TO:	Mayor and City Commissioners
FROM:	Planning Staff
CC:	Dave L. Corliss, Acting City Manager Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager
Date:	7/19/06
RE:	Commercial Design Standards and Guidelines

The Commercial Design Standards and Guidelines have been revised following adoption of the Development Code. The City Commission received the Planning Commission’s recommendation for approval of the Standards and Guidelines on 4/5/06. The changes made include:

• Edits to the standards and guidelines based on a review by Steve Chinn. The bulk of the changes were to ensure that multiple standards and guidelines are not contained within single statements. In addition, standards and guidelines that were found within Purpose and Intent sections were moved to the Standards and Guidelines sections. Formatting changes were also made to the document.
• The Planning Commission met on March 3, 2005 to review alternate language to the standards and guidelines. The Planning Commission subsequently approved adding the alternate language. Staff has added the alternate language to the standards and guidelines.
• Language was added to clarify that adopted guidelines that are part of Urban Conservation Overlay Districts will take precedent over the Commercial Design Standards and Guidelines. It was also clarified that commercial developments that fall under the Kansas Historic Preservation Act or Chapter 22 of the City Code (Conservation of Historic Resources Code) will not be subject to the Commercial Standards and Guidelines.
• The Signage sections of the standards and guidelines have been removed. Staff determined, in consultation with Steve Chinn, the signage sections should be amended into the Sign Code.
• The checklist found at the end of the document has been removed. The checklist is being revised based on the above changes. In working with the checklist recently, staff had concerns about its usability. Changes made to the checklist will address those concerns as well.