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Planning Commission <br />Meeting Minutes <br />Page 10 of 23 <br />Hartronft responded that they had done a lot of historic renovations including false fronts and <br />that it was standard to reduce window size as you go up the building. They did not interpret that <br />style literally, but their window design was homage to that style. He added that they were trying <br />to design an efficient building as well, and sunlight was an important way to reduce energy <br />consumption. <br />Williams stated that the glass was the one element that stood out as incredibly modern, <br />whereas the two-story northern structures were more in line with contextual design. She also <br />asked to see the full -on front view of the building to walk the Commission through the materials <br />that would be on the facades. She also asked why they did not choose brick as one of the <br />materials. <br />Brauneis asked staff to address the question of metal in the development criteria. <br />Zuccaro responded that the criteria for downtown were different from the Commission had <br />considered with the Fire Station application previously. Metal could be used for accents, but not <br />as a primary material. <br />Williams stated that C-6 in the Design Handbook described materials for developments. <br />Hartronft stated that the outside face of the one-story building above the windows was metal <br />and the setback section beneath it was wood. The windows had metal siding, but the greatest <br />percentage of the one-story storefront was glass. The center section had horizontal wood siding <br />and a wood storefront with small metal awnings. The north section had horizontal wood siding, a <br />setback section with a metal kick -plate, and a column of metal with wood panelized siding <br />above. The second and third levels had painted cement -wood siding and glass. In the north <br />elevation in the alleyway, where they would like to paint a mural, there was stucco, which has a <br />good fire rating. Brick was using for the library and the Chase building from the 1980s, but they <br />felt that wood would be a nice, friendly material more so than brick. <br />Williams asked if the gray on the color rendering was metal <br />Hartronft responded that some of it was metal and some of it was paneling. <br />Brauneis reminded the Commission that they were not an architectural review board. <br />Hartronft responded to an earlier question from Commissioner Rice about the height of nearby <br />buildings, stating that the Mercantile building was 34 feet rising to 38 feet at the peak. <br />Hoefner asked what other parking options they considered. <br />Hartronft responded that they looked at what could be provided on the alley level alone, which <br />provided about half the required parking. They also considered off -site parking, which would <br />require razing a nearby building downtown, and paying the fee in lieu of parking. <br />Hoefner asked if the third -story was being driven by the parking issue. <br />Hartronft stated that they could accommodate the necessary square footage in two stories if <br />they did not have the parking garage. That being said, the proposal is below the maximum <br />allowable square footage and within design guidelines, meaning that they had a land cost for <br />building a new building instead of buying an empty lot and buying a new building. He stated that <br />these kinds of project had razor -thin margins and that they never pay for themselves in the first <br />