Sandy Springs City Council accepted a $280,250 bid by a consultant to create design guidelines for six areas of the city.
“Design guidelines can provide a practical tool for the city to help ensure new development promotes high-quality building form and design while reinforcing the context with the Urban and public realm characteristics,” Senior Planner Matthew Anspach told the city council during its meeting on Sept. 3.
Rhodeside Harwell (RHI) of Alexandria, VA will use research, stakeholder engagement, staff and public input, and direction from the mayor and city council to establish design guidelines that establish desired architectural and urban design characteristics for the mixed-use and commercial districts.
The six areas are Greater City Springs, Perimeter, North End, Powers Ferry, Crossroads, and Neighborhood Village.
Councilmember Melissa Mular asked if the city council would participate in discussions of the design guidelines and how long the study would take.
Anspach said council participation was a priority to get feedback on what they want. The estimated timeline is 16 to 18 months, he said.
He confirmed that the design guidelines developed by RHI would go before the planning commission and the city council. The new design guidelines will emphasize what makes the six districts unique.
“We have an adopted priority of redevelopment that I think on paper sounds good, but we’re not seeing a lot of redevelopment,” Councilmember Andy Bauman said.
Anspach said the design guidelines will let developers know what the area is trying to become. For new redevelopment it will give them an idea of what the community wants, which may be very different in each of the districts.
