17.40.220 Residential architectural design criteria.
A. Purpose and Applicability. This section provides design requirements for residential development within subdivisions. It is the intent of this section to require a variety of single-family residential development types, which are innovative in design and compatible with surrounding neighborhoods while being conducive to creating a balanced housing market in the city.
B. Development Standards. Residential subdivision development shall comply with the following requirements:
1. Houses within new residential subdivisions situated on lots deeper than one hundred feet shall have a minimum five-foot variation in the front yard setback from twenty to thirty feet. No more than two houses with the same front yard setback shall be placed on adjacent lots.
2. The use of roof forms, including shed, gable, and hip roofs, alone or in combination shall be used to achieve a variety of roof lines for houses adjacent to public streets. All such roofs shall be of a concrete tile or a twenty-five-year minimum architectural style composition shingle with dimensional variations. A minimum of fifteen percent of the houses within an approved subdivision shall have concrete or approved tile roofs. All other proposed roofing materials shall be subject to review and approval by the city of Wasco planning director.
3. All exterior wall elevations of buildings and screen walls shall have architectural treatments enhancing building appearance. Uniform materials and consistent style should be evident within a development in all exterior elevations. Secondary materials should be used to highlight building features and to provide visual interest.
4. All houses within new subdivisions shall provide decorative lighting on both sides of the garage or shall provide lighting under the eave of the garage.
5. All residential mechanical equipment shall be ground mounted and not be visible from street frontage.
6. The second story of a two-story residence shall be situated to the rear of the house and is permitted by right in a new subdivision. The addition of a second story of an existing residence or the construction of a new two-story home in an established neighborhood shall be subject to a conditional use permit to ensure that the design of the second story will provide privacy for adjacent single-family residences.
7. All fences shall meet the minimum requirements of the base zone district. Materials, colors, textures and design of the fence or wall shall be compatible with on-site development and adjacent properties. Fencing shall not be chain link and shall not exceed the heights as established under Table 3-1.
8. If custom homes are not proposed, subdividers/developers of residential subdivision tracts shall provide a variety of floor plans and building elevations as follows:
Number of Single-Family Dwellings | Min. No. of Bldg. Floorplans (excludes reverse plans) | Min. No. of Elevations per Bldg. Floorplan (excludes reverse plans) |
|---|---|---|
1 – 3 | 1 | 1 |
4 – 8 | 2 | 2 |
9 – 18 | 3 | 2 |
19 – 36 | 3 | 3 |
37 – 60 | 3 | 4 |
61 – 99 | 4 | 4 |
100+ | 4 for the first 100 houses, plus 1 for each 20 houses over 100 | 4 |
Notes:
*The required number of building elevations may be reduced by one for every two building footprints added to the required minimum number specified above.
9. No two identical elevations shall be placed side by side within a subdivision:
a. All exterior wall elevations of buildings and screen walls shall have architectural treatments enhancing building appearance diversity.
10. Color.
a. The use of varying building body colors and complementary accent and trim colors is considered to meet the intent of this chapter,
b. The use of bright or garish colors (i.e., fluorescent “hot” or “day-glow” colors) shall not be permitted,
c. Using building materials in their natural state, such as brick or stone, is strongly recommended.
11. The following defines the landscaping requirements for all new residential developments and existing residential uses that have had or propose substantial improvements as defined in Chapter 17.90, Definitions:
a. A maximum of forty percent of the required front yard setback area may be paved for access to off-street parking or driveway access to off-street parking. An additional maximum of ten percent may be paved for walkways or uncovered patio use.
b. All new residential developments shall provide landscaping and automatic irrigation in the front yard setback area.
c. The front yard setback shall be landscaped with drought-tolerant plant materials and two trees, which shall be planted a minimum of ten feet from any common property line; provided, however, that one street tree shall be planted per residential lot in any required parkstrip landscaping. This would reduce the number of required trees in the front yard setback outside of the landscape parkstrip from two to one.
d. All landscaping shall be watered by an automatic irrigation system.
e. All sod shall be uniformly cut and fully mature prior to installation.
f. All trees shall have a minimum trunk diameter of two inches at four feet above finished grade at time of planting, and be free of insect infestation, plant diseases, sun scalds or any other objectionable disfigurements.
g. All new trees shall be required to have heavy-weight tree stakes to provide support.
h. All landscaping and irrigation required under these standards shall meet state WELO requirements and be installed prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy. (Ord. 706 § 3 (Exh. A), 2019).