City of Williams Design Manual

Design Review, established by the General Plan and Zoning Code, is a City planning process that reviews new development and signs proposed in the City of Williams. It examines a project’s layout, its relationship to the neighborhood, landscaping, parking, driveways, signs and other features – in other words, all factors in a project’s appearance, including how well it works on the site. Without understanding the community’s design strengths and the community’s desires for future design orientation the design review process for new development becomes a gamble for both the development community and the City. To assist those who invest in Williams’ future, the City has embarked upon process to develop a Design Manual. The Manual will provide a clear understanding of what the City expects of its future development and sign design throughout the City.

The Manual will not only describe a new design review process introduced through the new General Plan and Zoning Code, but will also articulate Williams small town character and sensitivity to the contextual influences of the area, especially in terms of building scale, building placement and architectural design. The Manual will provide design guidance to meet the needs of many users: property owners, merchants, real estate interests, architects, designers and building contractors, planning to invest and build in Williams. It will also provide guidance to the Planning Commission, Design Review Committee, City Council, City staff in reviewing projects to meet these community design expectations. The Manual will help provide a fair and reasonable program to evaluate projects based on specific and consistent design standards. The Manual will create more certainty in the return on investment into the community, evolve City/Development partnerships for facilitated development review and ultimately enhance community values through consistent design and community development.

This Website will be used as tool to provide information on meetings and events held pertaining to this process, to present various documents drafted for the production of the Manual, and to provide the opportunity for public comment on the Manual.

To kick off production of the Manual, the City conducted a Community Design Meeting on August 24, 2011, involving the public for the purpose of providing meaningful guidance on preferred design concepts and criteria. An image survey was administered at this meeting as presented in one of the download documents below. The initial results of the survey are provided in another download document below.

An Ad-Hoc Committee, appointed by the City Council, will steer the development of the Manual with it’s first meeting scheduled for October 11, 2011, at 6:00 pm in City Hall located at 810 E Street, Williams. The Public is encouraged to attend this and all other related future Ad-Hoc Committee, Planning Commission and City Council meetings held on the Manual.

Public Input: We welcome your questions, comments, and participation in the production of the Manual. Please feel welcome to contact City Planner, Monica Stegall by e-mail at planner@cityofwilliams.org or by phone at (530) 473-2955.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Community Design Meeting:

August 24th Community Design Meeting
Community Image Survey Results

Meeting Agenda: January 9, 2012
Meeting Agenda: October 11, 2011

Design Manual Ad-Hoc Committee Draft Documents:

Draft Design Manual 2-14-2012
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E