Urban Design Element

The Urban Design Element establishes the long-range vision for the physical design, visual qualities, and sensory experience of the city. This element, in coordination with other elements of the General Plan, orchestrates a safe, functional, and aesthetically pleasing urban environment. Specifically, the Urban Design Element addresses the public realm and building form, and establishes programs and measures to improve the physical setting in which community life takes place while curtailing obsolete, dysfunctional, and chaotic development.

Urban design is the process of shaping the physical character and organization of the city and defining the relationship between people and their environment. It respects the history of a place, considers existing organizational patterns and the form and character of existing buildings, supports healthy outdoor spaces, and is mindful of the natural environment. These considerations unite to define a distinct visual quality and sense of place that reflects community values.

Santa Ana’s urban environment has continuously evolved since its establishment in 1869 (and later incorporation in 1886). The Urban Design Element identifies key components that define the city’s visual form and provides a broad framework to guide the continued evolution of Santa Ana’s visual vocabulary, ensuring it is respectful of the existing built environment and cultural heritage, reflective of local identity, and consistent with community values.

The design direction in this element is implemented by adopted design guidelines and standards, including the Citywide Design Guidelines, Heninger Park Architectural Design Guidelines, Historic French Park Design Guidelines, Hotel and Motel Design Standards, North Broadway Corridor Design Standards, and Residential Building Design and Materials Standards. The Santa Ana Municipal Code, specifically Chapter 41 (Zoning Code), also implements portions of this element.

The various design guidelines contain specific guidance that expounds upon the general goals and policies in this element, providing supplementary design guidance for issues not explicitly stated in the Santa Ana Municipal Code.

Through the community engagement process for this General Plan, participants identified numerous urban design considerations and values that they believe should form the basis of and be addressed by this element. Specifically, participants highlighted the following topics, areas of concern, and community strengths:

• Create well-designed, accessible, and attractive places for people
• Maintain well-designed private property
• Enhance the streetscape, greenscape, and urban forest
• Encourage architectural diversity and respect the city’s architectural heritage
• Promote creative development that is compatible with existing land uses
• Promote sustainable design practices

Improve the physical character and livability of the City to promote a sense of place, positive community image, and quality environment.

• Policy UD-1.1
  Design Quality
  Ensure all developments feature high quality design, materials, finishes, and construction.
  
• Policy UD-1.2
  Public Art
  Require public art as part of major developments and the public realm improvements.
  
• Policy UD-1.3
  Delineation of Public Spaces
  Encourage site design that clearly defines public spaces through building placement and orientation.
  
• Policy UD-1.4
  Safety through Design
  Incorporate public safety design features into private and public developments to prevent loitering, vandalism, and other undesirable activities.
  
• Policy UD-1.5
  Attractive Public Spaces
  Encourage community interaction through the development and enhancement of plazas, open space, people places, and pedestrian connections with the public realm.
  
• Policy UD-1.6
  Active Transportation Infrastructure
  Support the creation of citywide public street and site amenities that accommodate and promote an active transportation-friendly environment.
  
• Policy  UD-1.7
  Visual Clutter
  Promote the beautification and accessibility of the public realm through the undergrounding of utility lines and aboveground equipment.
  

Improve the built environment through sustainable development that is proportional and aesthetically related to its setting.

• Policy UD-2.1
  Enhanced Public Realm Experience
  Encourage development to enhance the existing environment through the use of creative architectural design and sustainable streetscape treatments that are consistent on each corridor.
  
• Policy UD-2.2
  Compatibility and use with Setting
  Employ buffers and other urban design strategies to encourage the compatibility of new development with the scale, bulk, and pattern of existing development.
  
• Policy UD-2.3
  New Life for Old Buildings
  Encourage the preservation and reuse of historic and architecturally significant structures to maintain urban fabric and reduce overall energy consumption associated with new construction.
  
• Policy UD-2.4
  Intentional Design
  Encourage design and architecture on private and public property that accentuate focal points, activity nodes, and historic areas.
  
• Policy UD-2.5
  Relation to Surroundings
  Ensure new development exhibits a functional, comfortable scale in relation to its neighborhood.
  
• Policy UD-2.6
  Preserve Neighborhood Character
  Preserve the character and uniqueness of existing districts and neighborhoods.
  
• Policy UD-2.7
  Building and Strengthening Identity
  Collaborate with community stakeholders to strengthen and foster development of community and neighborhood identity and district character through complementary architecture, unique streetscapes, and programming.
  
• Policy UD-2.8
  Innovative Development Strategies
  Explore development and subdivision options that promote new opportunities for sustainable, livable, and affordable development.
  
• Policy UD-2.9
  Visual Aesthetic of Built Environment
  Ensure that on- and off-premise signs and communication equipment are situated to minimize detrimental impacts to the aesthetic quality, character, and image of the surrounding area.
  
• Policy UD-2.10
  Greening the Built Environment
  Promote planting of shade trees and require, where feasible, preservation and site design that uses appropriate tree species to shade parking lots, streets, and other facilities, with the goal of reducing the heat island effect.
  
• Policy UD-2.11
  Sustainable Practices
  Encourage sustainable development through the use of drought-tolerant landscaping, permeable hardscape surfaces, and energy-efficient building design and construction.
  

Create and maintain safe and attractive travelways through coordinated streetscape design.

• Policy UD-3.1
  Landscaped Travelways
  Promote visually appealing and sustainable landscaping along freeway corridors, roadway medians, and parkways.
  
• Policy UD-3.2
  Activate Paths
  Strengthen and activate the design of paths and adjacent development through enhanced and cohesive streetscapes, architectural themes, and landscaping.
  
• Policy UD-3.3
  Foster Community Building
  Promote a safe environment that facilitates social interaction and improves active transportation along corridors.
  
• Policy UD-3.4
  Improvements to Streetscape
  Promote streetscape improvement plans that are responsive to community needs, the nature of adjacent uses, path characteristics, street classification, pedestrian scale, and view corridors.
  
• Policy UD-3.5
  Activity Node Linkages
  Promote streetscape designs that link major destination points, landmarks, and local activity nodes.
  
• Policy UD-3.6
  Linear Park System
  Support open space improvements along roadways and nonvehicular paths, such as bike or multiuse trails, to create linear open space that connect to a network of parks and activity areas throughout the city.
  
• Policy UD-3.7
  Natural Recreational Amenities
  Enhance natural and recreational features of Santiago Creek and the Santa Ana River corridors and provide linkages throughout the community.
  
• Policy UD-3.8
  Pleasant Travel Experience
  Maximize the use of street trees and parkway landscaping to create a pleasant travel experience and positive city image.
  
• Policy UD-3.9
  Scenic Views
  Preserve and enhance scenic views along corridors and other travelways.
  
• Policy UD-3.10
  Coordinated Street Improvement Plans
  Coordinate citywide landscape medians and street trees with land use plans and development projects.
  
• Policy UD-3.11
  Urban Forest
  Create a diverse urban forest with a variety of sustainable trees in medians, parkways, public open space, and private development.
  

Create nodes and urban hubs throughout the city to foster community, education, arts and culture, business activities, and entertainment and establish Santa Ana as a vibrant center.

• Policy UD-4.1
  Intentional Development
  Support development growth in nodes consistent with the City’s vision as the dynamic urban center of Orange County.
  
• Policy UD-4.2
  Image Making through Architecture
  Promote development within nodes to reflect the significance of the area and cultivate a positive image of Santa Ana through high quality architecture.
  
• Policy UD-4.3
  Activate Open Space
  Ensure architectural and landscape design activates open space as a means to promote community interaction and enhance the aesthetic quality of development.
  
• Policy UD-4.4
  Vibrant Street Life
  Encourage development within nodes that promotes pedestrian activities, enhanced amenities, and engaging designs that allow for discovery, excitement, and social interaction.
  
• Policy UD-4.5
  Open Space at Nodes
  Promote creative, multipurpose public space within nodes, major development projects, and people places.
  
• Policy UD-4.6
  Community-Led Installations
  Provide for opportunities to incorporate distinctive, innovative, and community-informed public art in plazas and open spaces to promote pedestrian activity.
  

Create focal points at major intersections to enhance community identity and open space.

• Policy UD-5.1
  Building Presence at Intersections
  Create a strong presence at focus intersections by locating intense building mass and open space areas along the street that include high quality design and materials.
  
• Policy UD-5.2
  Linkages Between Public Art
  Promote public art in conveniently accessible and prominent places to physically and visually link development with streetscape and paths.
  
• Policy UD-5.3
  Activating Intersections
  Encourage projects at focal intersections that incorporate vertical design features or mixed-use development as a means to provide visual presence and encourage pedestrian activity in these areas.
  
• Policy UD-5.4
  Intersections for all Travel Modes
  Strengthen active transportation connections and amenities at focal intersections to promote a pleasant and safe experience for nonmotorized forms of travel.
  
• Policy UD-5.5
  Coordinate Features
  Ensure projects within focus intersections incorporate consistent architectural designs, enhanced landscaping, and coordinated signage.
  

Create new and protect existing City landmarks and memorable places that convey positive images.

• Policy UD-6.1
  Design with Landmarks
  Strengthen the design of development to frame and enhance landmarks, natural features, and view corridors.
  
• Policy UD-6.2
  Appropriate Design Near Landmarks
  Ensure development near existing landmarks is supportive and respectful of architecture, site, and other design features of the landmark.
  
• Policy UD-6.3
  Create New Landmarks
  Encourage new development that will lead to the creation of new landmarks in the City and bolster community pride.
  
• Policy UD-6.4
  Decorative Features
  Promote coordinated landscaping and decorative features in projects near landmarks that appropriately enhance the vicinity and do not create visual clutter.
  

Create and strengthen gateways into the City that promote a sense of arrival.

• Policy UD-7.1
  First Impression
  Strengthen the architectural design of developments near gateways to communicate a sense of arrival and inspire positive images of the City.
  
• Policy UD-7.2
  Streetscape Improvements
  Enhance Santa Ana’s gateways to include unique and distinctive streetscape improvements.
  
• Policy UD-7.3
  Improved Freeway Interface Design
  Collaborate with Caltrans and adjacent jurisdictions to enhance freeway interchanges that create a sense of place and arrival.
  
• Policy UD-7.4
  Monuments at Gateways
  Promote imaginative and distinctive features, such as entry monuments, public art, decorative landscape, directional signs, landscape statements, and architectural elements that project a positive image and community character at City gateways.
  
• Policy UD-7.5
  Transit Corridor Beautification
  Improve transit and rail corridors and interfaces to create a welcoming experience for all travelers.
  
• Policy UD-7.6
  Neighborhood Signage System
  Encourage the creation of a citywide signage system that identifies and promotes a sense of place for the city’s various neighborhoods.
  

An implementation plan is a coordinated series of actions the City desires to take in the future that are intended to advance, over the long term, the City’s Shared Vision, Core Values, and the General Plan goals and policies. An implementation plan is thus a follow-up measure for this element. Taken as a whole, these programs represent the City’s best thinking today on what actions should be taken to address the considerations and concerns of the community and make sure that the plan’s aspirations are achieved.

Implementation is in large part contingent upon adequate funding. Many of these actions can be pursued through initiatives already underway. Other programs will require additional resources. Therefore, the exact mix and timing of programs the City may pursue will in part be opportunity driven, dependent on the availability of funding, staffing, and other necessary resources. The Time Frame in the Implementation Table below is the target for completion of the Action.

This element may be implemented by amendments to existing plans, ordinances, development standards and design guidelines; capital investments/projects; and interagency/interjurisdictional coordination. The following table identifies the implementation action, the responsible City agency, and targeted timeline for accomplishment.