Early Design Guidance: Round 2, happened Wednesday evening, October 26th. The outcome: We’ll all be returning for a third round. Overall, the Design Review Board said they were pleased the developer had made some changes in the right direction, but the Board unanimously agreed that it wasn’t enough yet. A big thank you to the East Design Review Board members for upholding standards of excellence in design for this important project coming to our neighborhood!

The Board seemed comfortable with the Madison frontage of the project, yet remained concerned about a number of aspects that affect the sides facing Dewey and Republican. Specifically they asked the developer to address further the scale and bulk, the loss of the tree canopy and its replacement, the exposed garage, and questions about access (via Madison exclusively, or split onto Dewey also).

The Board got creative and offered some ideas of their own, too: like housing on the Dewey frontage, rather than the two-story garage.

If you missed the meeting you can read our summary of the Board comments that follow to get an idea of what happened.

Recap of Board comments & recommendations

Height, bulk & scale

Massing along Madison is ok.
Massing along Dewey is too much & does not respond appropriately to the residential part of the neighborhood.
Madison elevation has fair modulation, other side does not.
Board commented that there should be trade-offs (e.g. setback vs. height/bulk) and commented that 15’ setbacks are not needed with a smaller building.

Residential frontage (Dewey)

Board had a strong (negative) response to the above ground parking garage on Dewey and tall walls.
The building frontage on Dewey should have more appropriate use, for example residential instead of parking. This needs more investigation.
Use should mirror use.

Parking garage access

Board is ambivalent about split access vs. single access. Board is ok with single access on Madison if it makes more sense.

Neighborhood impacts

Board had concerns about light spillage from the exposed garage and the street scape on Dewey.

Trees

Some board members expressed confusion about the changing status of exceptional trees and wondered if a circular argument was used to explain the status change (trees are no longer exceptional because they will not survive the development).
Board would like investigation into what can be done to preserve some of the existing trees.

Madison streetscape

Board would like to see a more generous sidewalk.
The vestibule is not a gathering space. It’s an entry and should be re-imagined as a proper vestibule.

Thank you for your support. Please stay tuned for more about the next stages. Visit our website, our face book group and page, and sign up for our email updates if you haven’t yet.

We look forward to Saving – and growing – Madison Valley together.