13.6. Elevating a Place with Art

• A. Introduction. Good infrastructure, lighting, and spatial dimensions make the built environment work properly However, the creative details that we add are what bring our towns and cities to life We can use beauty to say something about who we are, where we came from, and who we wish to be Works of art do not need to be grand monuments or sculptures Everyday items can help tell the story of Santa Clara's culture and history—even an elegant light fixture or sculpted door knob The intent of this Section is to provide ideas and encourage the incorporation of art, in big and small ways, into the private realm of Downtown's buildings, facades, entrances, and setback areas In this way, Santa Clara can both reflect and inspire the people who live here

• B. Standard. All projects shall provide at least one piece of art—including artistically-executed functional elements—every 50 feet along its street frontage Such elements serve as "gifts to the street" from private development Qualifying pieces of art are subject to the following standards:

1. Art which meets this requirement shall:

• a. be located within 10 feet of the front property line or within a publicly accessible on-site open space;

• b. be visible or accessible to the public for a minimum of 40 hours per week;

• c. be permanent or semi-permanent in nature, designed to last at least 5 years; and

• d. go above and beyond the base requirements of the other Sections of this Code to contribute to the unique quality of Downtown Santa Clara’s public realm through artistic expression

2. Art which meets this requirement may include—but is not limited to—the following:

• a. painting—including permanently affixed works such as murals or frescoes;

• b. reliefs—including carvings, frescoes, mosaics, and earth works;

• c. sculpture—including statues, fountains, mobiles and monuments;

• d. ornamental or commemorative structures;

• e. mixed or conceptual media in any combination of forms or media—including drawings, collages, or the use of sound, light, or water Water, neon, fiber optic and electronic sculptures are not encouraged due to difficulty of maintenance, though such art may be permitted if adequate assurance of continued maintenance is provided;

• f. decorative and/or utilitarian crafts—including those in clay, fiber, wood, metal, glass, stained glass, and other materials; and/or

• g. artistically designed elements which can also serve a functional purpose, such as a bench or bike rack, that have been specifically and originally designed as a unique artistic element for the project and are not a mass production or replication

3. Art which meets this requirement may not include the following:

• a. directional elements such as supergraphics, signage, or color coding except where these elements are integral parts of the original work of art or executed by artists in unique or limited editions;

• b. objects which are mass produced of standard design such as banners, signs, playground equipment, benches, statuary, street barriers, sidewalk barriers, or fountains;

• c. reproduction, by mechanical or other means, of original works of art—unless they are limited editions controlled by the artist(s) of original works;

• d. landscape architecture, gardening, or materials, except where these elements are designed by the artist and are integral or part of the work of art created by the artist;

• e. landscaping required by the City as part of development entitlements; or

• f. artwork that is similar to, reminiscent of, or based on a corporate logo

• C. Examples. The following images serve as examples of art

Murals

Murals can turn any vertical surface into an opportunity to bring beauty and share stories or local history

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Santa Clara, CA

San Jose, CA

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Sidewalk Plaques

Sidewalk plaques can be a playful way of telling the history of a specific spot on a map while adding surprise and delight

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A reminder for people to look up

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A whole section of sidewalk can becomes a commemoration plaque

Urban Furniture

Urban furniture that goes above and beyond its function requirements can serve as art

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Bike rack

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Outdoor seating

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Trash bin

Courtyard and Entryway Art

On-site works of art, from a beautifully designed building entry to a fountain installed in a semi-private courtyard, are a wonderful gifts to the city and its residents They create an artistic interface between the architecture and the public realm

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A sculptural fountain in a court which can be accessed or viewed by the public.

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An sculptural and playful entry sign which isn't just the business logo.

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Entries which incorporate sculptural reliefs and murals

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86 | City of Santa Clara Downtown Form-Base Code

14 Glossary

This section provides definitions for terms found herein that are technical in nature or that otherwise may not reflect a common usage of the term Terms which are not defined in this section shall default to the those found in the Definitions section of the Santa Clara Zoning Code

Alley: A narrow service street which provides secondary access (and often utilities access) to all lots within a block Driveways, parking aisles, and fire lanes are not alleys

Arbor (entrance arbor): A wooden structure that is intended to define an entrance into an on-site outdoor space, such as a front yard or parking lot

Arcade. An extension of upper floors over a sidewalk, supported by vertical supports Arcades provide shade, glare control, and weather protection

Bay: A stacked (vertically organized) grouping of facade elements, such as openings and windows

Bay Window: A window, or window ensemble, that projects from any building elevation

Block: A aggregation of lots which are bound on all sides by public rights of way (whether streets or open spaces) Block dimensions are measured along private property lines

Building Base: The visually unified horizontal portion of a building that begins on the ground and extends one or more floors, typically ending at an architectural feature like a cornice or string course The building base appears to be holding up the upper floors

Building Improvements: Building improvements include work that is typical of regular maintenance and upkeep This may include changes to the exterior, but is limited to work that does not alter the general character

Building Length: The length of the building as measured parallel to the front property line

Build-To Range, Front Street: A range of distances from the property line along a street or open space A building's primary facade shall be built within this range and shall extend along the street or open space as required by the facade buildout percentage

Chamfered corner: A bevel where two perpendicular building faces meet, resulting in a third face at a 45-degree angle

Civic Building: A private or public structure of civic importance that is noncommercial in nature This includes but is not limited to: schools, places of assembly, libraries, museums, city hall, or any other building type that has historically been prominently featured in traditional cities and towns as a center of public life Civic buildings do not include retail (with the exception being a notable food hall or market structure featuring many tenants) or mixeduse buildings, residential buildings, day care facilities, privately-owned office buildings, or municipal yards

Court: A court is an open space surrounded by one or more buildings, for use by residents or tenants, or for activation as a public plaza or outdoor dining area It can provide visitor access from the street to dwellings, retail, office spaces, or buildings within the lot that lack direct access from the street

Director: The Director of Community Development, or designee

Dormer Window: An individual roofed window that protrudes out of a sloped roof

Drive Aisle: A vehicular lane within a parking lot that provides access to the individual parking spaces

Driveway : A vehicular lane within a lot that leads to onsite parking

Encroachment: Any structure extending into a required setback area

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Facade Buildout: The required length of the primary facade (located within the Front Street Build-To Range) divided by the total buildable length along a street or open space, expressed as a percentage

Fenestration: Transparent glass openings in a building face

Fire Lane: An on-site right of way required by the Fire Marshal for the access of emergency vehicles

Forecourt: A court that abuts the public sidewalk Where forecourts give access to retail and other public uses, they function as an extension of the public realm Where forecourts grant access to residential or other private uses, they function as transitional spaces between the public and private realms

Frontage, Private: The ground floor building facade and the area between the building facade and any property line along a street or public open space

Frontage, Public: The space between any street-adjacent property line and the first travel lane in the roadway

Gallery: A ground-floor colonnade that supports a shed roof or deck that covers the sidewalk, intended to provide shade, glare control, and weather protection

Ground Floor: The floor of a building located nearest to the level of the existing grade around the building

Half-Story: The uppermost story of a building in which the sloping roof forms the walls These are often lighted by dormer windows and include knee walls under roof slopes

Lot: A portion of land delineated from others to host an allowed development For the purpose of this code, lot is synonymous with “property” or “design site ”

Lot Line: A front, side or rear of a lot For the purpose of this code, lot line is synonymous with property line

Massing Increments: A complete facade composition that is visually distinguished from an adjacent facade composition of the same building Each increment has a coherent look and character from the ground to the top of the facade Sometimes, Massing Increments appear as multiple parts of a single building, while in other cases, they appear as distinct buildings altogether

Non-Formula Retail and Restaurant Establishments. If there are fewer than 12 worldwide locations, including the proposed location, and if the business has less than two standardized features, then the proposed use is NonFormula

Outbuilding: A rear building on the same property but separate from, and smaller in scale than the building which contains the primary use of the site

Paseo: A pedestrian path that provides a connection from one right of way or public open space to another They may be privately maintained or dedicated to the City

Passage: An on-site pedestrian path

Pergola: A wooden structure that is intended to either provide a small area of shade or define an entrance into an on-site outdoor space, such as a front yard or parking lot

Pier. Vertical structural elements which, when dividing shopfronts, often define bays or Massing Increments

Primary Access: The principal or most-important means of approaching and entering a building or property

Primary Building: A building situated towards the adjacent street or public open space that accommodates the primary use of the site This is distinguished from an outbuilding, which is ancillary in use and form, and sits near the rear of the site

Primary Entrances: Typically refers to front doors, and may include direct access into a ground floor residential unit, into nonresidential space, into a common lobby, or into a zaguan that leads to a court

Primary Facade. The portion of the facade located within the Front Street Build-To Range along a street and/or open space

Privacy Windows: Windows which are either opaque and unopenable or which begin at least 6 feet from the floor

Public Realm: All streets, sidewalks, parks, plazas, and other open spaces that comprise the shared space of a city for its visitors, employees and residents It is the space between buildings where civic interaction occurs and is defined in contrast to private property The public realm is publicly-accessible, regardless of whether particular parts of it are publicly or privately owned and maintained

Rosewalk: A wide paseo with residential frontages on either side

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Rowhouse Building. A building containing an array of side-by side units

Shopfront: A ground-floor frontage assembly that includes an arrangement of large transparent windows and a conspicuous entrance that leads directly into the unit Shopfronts are spatially defined on either side by structural vertical elements called piers

Through lot: A lot which extends from one street frontage to another, across the entire span of the block

Trellis: A frame of latticework used as a screen or as a support for climbing plants

Side, Lot Line: Any property line that is shared with a neighboring property when there is no public open space between the two

Sideyard: The portion of a parcel extending from the front of the property to the rear of the property, between the side property line of the parcel and the closest side of the principal building

Story height: The vertical distance from floor to ceiling For the topmost story, it is measured from the top of the floor finish to the bottom of the ceiling joists or, where there is not a ceiling, to the bottom of the roof rafters

Street: A right of way that is defined in Section 2.9 Paseos, driveways, parking aisles, fire lanes, and alleys are not streets

Street, Front: The side of the lot that is adjacent to a street A property may have multiple fronts

Street, Side: (Applicable only to corner lots) The side of the lot that is adjacent to a street or public open space that is not considered the front (see Street, Front)

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