98 ENVISION FRANKLIN | Design Concepts FORM Building Placement Buildings should be arranged on sites so that they help to frame and define the streets, giving deliberate form to streets and sidewalk areas. Building setbacks should be minimal to create an active street environment that encourages pedestrian activity. Where internal drives are used to organize buildings and pedestrian movement, setbacks should be minimized wherever possible. Along high-volume streets, buildings may be set back from the street, provided they are sited to be consistent with the predominant line of building massing (setback) along the street. Building design should provide contextual references to its surrounding built and natural environment. Design context could include natural features, such as a river, lake, park, open space, or hillside; historic and cultural contexts; and existing architecture. Examples of contextual references could include maximizing visual access to scenic views, streets, pedestrian corridors, plazas, public art, and prominent buildings; incorporating distinctive architectural details, materials, and styles from nearby buildings where an established character exists; and siting buildings in a manner that uses the natural topography and minimizes grading. For new multifamily residential uses, the entire first floor facing the street should have commercial spaces with residential on upper levels. In locations where commercial use on the first floor is not viable due to topographical or environmental constraints or lack of visibility from a major street, multifamily units should provide individual ground floor entrances, stoops or front porches, and pedestrian connections to the street or to an internal drive. Large expanses of surface-parking areas should be avoided. Infill buildings and associated parking structures are expected and encouraged to replace large, surface-parking lots. Buildings, where feasible, should be sited or designed to create public spaces, such as plazas, outdoor seating areas, etc., that are easily accessible from adjacent streets or sidewalks. Drive-through windows and delivery or service areas should be to the side or rear of building. REGIONAL COMMERCE
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