Downtown board seeks CRA support for design standards

Grand Island's downtown improvement board wants to preserve both the structural integrity and the historic appearance of the 156 buildings in the 28-block downtown area.

To accomplish that, the board's design committee has prepared a nine-page booklet outlining preferred designs.

The committee will ask the Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA) on Monday to support those design standards by agreeing to not provide tax-supported grants or financing to downtown building projects that don't adhere to the guidelines.

"We wanted to provide downtown building owners some guidelines -- they aren't meant to be restrictions," Downtown Design Committee chairman Tom Ziller said.

The guidelines cover everything from preferred building setbacks to walls, roofing material, windows, doors, landscaping and signs.

They are intended to "provide consistency and help protect the district's unique character and identity," the booklet stated.

Without such guidelines, Ziller said, the historic fabric of the downtown is in jeopardy. Devastating downtown fires like those in York, Hastings and Broken Bow can leave voids that can be filled with modern metal buildings.

But the guidelines also serve as a resource to property owners wanting to spruce up or renovate their existing downtown building.

"Generally, they are looking at rehabilitation of the building -- not covering up what's there, but fixing what's there," said CRA Director Chad Nabity. "But it wouldn't prevent someone from doing something with their own dollars."

Maudie Walters received about $90,000 of CRA help to stencil a brick facade onto her 1882 downtown building at 301 W. Third St. She had wanted to bring back the building's original appearance, but it had been covered with stucco -- a finish the downtown design committee is also against.

Given the cost of removing the stucco and rebricking the building, Walters instead opted for the stenciling project, which has received numerous compliments from the CRA and other community members.

But Ziller said "cover ups" in general are discouraged because not only do they mask the original appearance, but they may also prevent a building owner from discovering a structural problem in the building.

"If those structural problems aren't addressed, eventually the building has a serious problem," Ziller said.

The downtown design guidelines are heavily focused on signs.

Moving or changeable message signs have grown in popularity, but the downtown design committee is against them for downtown.

Ziller said the downtown really lacks the space and distance appropriate for a changeable message sign. The bright lights in the signs can also overcome an area that has so many businesses within a short distance.

Nabity said St. Stephen's Episcopal Church at 422 W. Second already has a changeable message sign and the New Life Community Church at 301 W. Second St. is planning to install one after the completion of its facade improvement that was partially financed with $107,000 of tax money from the CRA.

The sign guidelines also reiterate current city code regulations on signs -- many of which are being violated in the downtown.

Ziller said signs for defunct businesses are still up and should be taken down as per current city code. He said a large banner sign hung on the side of The Independent should have been allowed to be up for only 60 to 90 days, but has been in place for about a year.

The ideas of the guidelines are to reinforce current code and protect the existing historic fabric of the downtown, Ziller said.

"People shop in historic districts because of the architecture and the overall environment … if we allow the same (modern) designs, we can't distinguish ourselves from the other strip malls and shopping malls," he said.

Nabity said the CRA had previously asked about guidelines from the downtown about facade improvements. He believes the CRA will be receptive to the nine-page booklet when it's reviewed during the CRA's 4 p.m. Monday meeting at City Hall.

"This is a carrot approach, not a stick approach," Nabity said.



Downtown Grand Island design guidelines

Here are some of the preferred and discouraged designs.

Preferred designs:

‰ Flat or sloped roofs with parapet walls.

‰ Out-of-view mechanical and electrical.

‰ Replacing windows and doors to fill the original openings, including transoms.

‰ Vertically oriented upper-floor windows.

‰ Commercial entrances with lots of glass to see inside the building.

‰ Signs with a color that complements the building and surroundings.

‰ Use of flower boxes, planters and hanging flower baskets.

‰ Artistic or historic murals.

‰ Banner signs that hang no longer than 30 days.

Discouraged designs:

‰ Painting previously unpainted brick.

‰ Sandblasting stone or brick for cleaning.

‰ Metal exterior panels.

‰ Asphalt or wood shingles.

‰ Fiberglass panels molded to mimic brick.

‰ Bricking in windows.

‰ Reflective or glass tinted more than 40 percent.

‰ Burglar bars on storefronts.

‰ Plastic or fiberglass awnings.

‰ Internally illuminated awnings or canopies.

‰ Roof signs.

‰ Billboards.

‰ Animated or electronic moving message signs.

‰ Signs painted directly on the brick.