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City Council Meeting Minutes June 25, 2020 <br />historic preservation as well as for some other design areas within the city. <br />Those are the ones that are currently used when reviewing new development in <br />the downtown area. Mr. Winter stated that their work this year was <br />to focus on the 2020 update and to look more closely at the issues that have been <br />identified by the community based on concerns about some of the more recent <br />developments, some of which has been considered to be successful and others <br />that have raised issues, particularly about compatibility and how they reflected <br />the character of San Marcos. <br />Focus of 2020 update: <br />• Include new standards to address design issues identified by the community <br />• Incorporation of new graphics to clearly illustrate the standards and <br />guidelines <br />• Tailor standards and guidelines to various contexts within downtown <br />The key topics to be addressed include: <br />• Massing of larger buildings to promote compatibility with traditional <br />downtown scale <br />• Articulation of facades <br />• Building materials <br />• Street level design that promotes a sense of place and activates the public <br />realm <br />• Transitions from high density zones to sensitive edges <br />Marcia Boyle, with Winter & Company, highlighted the feedback received <br />from the community. They met with the Historic Preservation Commission, <br />Heritage Association, Main Street Advisory Board, Downtown Design Task <br />Force and Downtown Association Board. <br />Ms. Boyle stated the feedback was similar at all three meetings plus the input <br />from the community and the big ideas that came from these meetings include: <br />Design excellence, Sense of place (design for San Marcos specifically), Four <br />sided design, Visual continuity, Balancing old and new and responding to <br />"context". <br />The detailed observations feedback included the following: Buildings are too <br />long and monolithic, Parking opinions ranged from too much parking to too <br />little, parking to parking not in the right locations, the scale of new buildings is <br />too large - out of scale with existing buildings, views of the skyline are <br />obstructed by new buildings, and lastly outdoor dining spaces are crucial. <br />City of San Marcos Page 3 <br />