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Attachment 4 20 <br />3. Comment: Why is there a requirement that the principle doorway to a <br />building be located facing the fronting street when parking must be located <br />to the side and rear of the building? <br />Staff Response: As staff explained at the hearing, this is an urban and <br />site design principle to attempt to keep buildings oriented towards the <br />street on which they front (which is consistent with existing conditions and <br />character) while addressing aesthetic considerations brought about by <br />locating parking at the front of the building (between the road and <br />building). <br />Staff is recommending that the proposed ECOD text be modified slightly to <br />perhaps allow for more flexibility and innovation in site design while <br />staying true to the design principle referenced above. (See numbers 8 <br />and 9 under "Architectural Standards" in the draft ECOD text). <br />4. Comment: Why is there a prohibition on mirrored glass and why are <br />windows an buildings restricted to 40% of the total building facade? <br />Staff Response: As was explained at the hearing, there is a restriction on <br />mirrored glass because of the use of mirrored glass would not be in <br />keeping with the existing character of the area. While mirrored glass has <br />been used in buildings for energy saving reflectivity, other window <br />structural mechanisms such as window azimuthal orientations and size <br />limitations are now more widely promoted. Limiting windows to no more <br />than 40% of the street frontage building facade is being recommended as <br />a building design feature for a building that will be located in a <br />neighborhood corridor that is not envisioned to promote significant <br />amounts of window shopping by pedestrians. From an urban design <br />perspective, a showroom type of building is not in keeping with the <br />existing feel and character of the area. This type of building may be more <br />appropriate in other geographic. areas covered in the Efland-Mebane <br />Small Area Plan and could be brought .forward in the future as additional <br />plan implementation measures are proposed. <br />