When Woodlawn meets High Rock?

What might happen if City Council authorizes an independent building committee to construct a parking garage on High Rock? With no design conditions in the lease? With no further Council oversight? With no demands that the garages design frame high-quality civic space on the important High Rock corridor?

Photo simulation. Woodlawn parking garage (built 2012) superimposed onto the streetscape of High Rock Ave at the site of the proposed City Center garage.

Saratogas Shrinking Streetscapes?

Saratogas most recent projects reflect a sharply diminished vision of our streetscapes. Compare these examples of projects completed just 10 years ago (left) with recent projects (right). The 2012-13 buildings have provided us with civic space that is less inviting, less pedestrian-friendly, less business-friendly, and less green.

2004 construction. Railroad Place 4-5 foot tree lawn; 8 feet of sidewalk

2012 construction. Railroad Place 3-foot tree lawn; 5 feet of sidewalk

2004 construction. Railroad Place 4-5 foot tree lawn; 4 feet of sidewalk; humanscale fence; faade setback to depth of stoop.

2012 construction. Railroad Place 3-foot concrete tree lawn; 5 feet of sidewalk

2004 construction. Railroad Place 4-5 foot tree lawn; 8 feet of sidewalk

2013 construction. Railroad Place 3-foot tree lawn; 8 feet of sidewalk. Decorative awning obstructs tree canopy.

Parking garages, with their dominating bulk and lack of human interactions, can easily degrade and brutalize the streetscape in which the public lives, walks, shops, dines, and generally enjoys the city. Zoning Ordinances typically lay out uniquely strong constraints on the scale, siting, and design of parking garages. Saratogas Zoning Ordinance is no exception. Saratogas Zoning Ordinance calls for parking garages to have: Minimum 50-foot setback Setback can be filled with liner buildings If no liner building is constructed, the [50-foot] yard should provide publicly accessible civic space. Faade complementary with adjacent buildings First level should be visually screened

2012 construction. Railroad Place

Zoning legislation and good planning start by establishing the kind of civic space or public realm that is desired.

Looking south from York St. at site of proposed High Rock parking garage

Project design then responds to and accommodates the constraints that create good public spaces.

Looking north at site of proposed High Rock garage. Farmers Market is visible beyond Mouzon House.

High Rock Ave., with its park, its historic springs, its 9/11 memorial, and our Farmers' Market is an important corridor of pedestrian activity. Linking it to downtown and hotels with quality civic space should be a planning priority.

Looking north from York St. View of High Rock Park and Farmers Market

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