As part of the 1991 Plaza Park Master Plan, a draft formbased development code was prepared for the entire Downtown area. We believe this existing code is still valuable as inexpensive and responsive tool to guide future development regulations. It recommended that infill development be based on a number of traditional urban building types and frontage types, and provided a “regulating plan” that assigned those types to each block and street.
A “shorthand” way of describing recommendations for the basic scale and massing of buildings, and the design of their frontages that connect them to and define the character of the streetscapes. The recommendations provided and illustrated in this document are for the most part the same
as those included in the 1991 code and should provide a head start for preparing new development standards and design guidelines to implement the community’s vision for the Downtown.
Small scale infill development will be in addition to the proposed Plaza Park development at Arts Hub.
Building Types and Massing
For most of the Downtown core area – surrounding the Plaza Park, A Street, Oxnard Boulevard, and 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Streets from Oxnard Boulevard to B Street – the recommended building type is the classic small-town mixed-use building from one to 4 stories (or more, as enabled by parking) in height, and tall (at least 15 feet) ground floors. The recommended frontage type is the shopfront, with tall, clear glass windows and awnings to shade the glass. At residential frontages stoops and shallow dooryards provide the requisite degree of privacy.
Simple and elegant would be the two words to describe the architectural design intent for these buildings. The illustrations on these pages provide examples of simply composed facades – generally emphasizing the vertical – classically proportioned door and window openings, executed
with good quality materials that age gracefully, detailed thoughtfully and with restraint.
