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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04 MAILBOX DESIGN 10-17-94AGENDA NO. 4 / ,JATE: OCTOBER 17, 1994 Inter-Com TO: FROM: SUBJECT: CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT EAST TUSTIN MAILBOX DESIGN POLICY RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council approve the attached East Tustin Mailbox Design Policy, by Minute Motion. FISCAL IMPACT There are no fiscal impacts to the city associated with this project. The proposed East Tustin Mailbox Design Policy is intended to establish policy and procedures which will clarify the city's goals for mailbox design. BACKGROUND The Planning Commission at its' regular meeting on September 26, 1994, reviewed the proposed Mailbox Design Policy for East Tustin and recommended the city Council approve said guidelines so that staff can inform the Post Office of the City's position on this matter and then begin applying the guidelines in residential areas of East Tustin. Attached as Exhibit B for the Council's review is the Planning Commission staff report of September 26, 1994. CONCLUSION There are a number of different options available to the city Council for addressing the issues of type, design and location of mailboxes within our residential neighborhoods of East Tustin. In order to provide specific design guidelines for residential mailboxes, staff has prepared a mailbox policy that is based upon product type, street design and type of access to individual units. Based upon the above information, it is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached East Tustin Mailbox Design Policy, by Minute Motion, as submitted or revised. Sara J.~Pashal~des - Christi~ A./~hingleton Associate Planner Assistant city Manager Attachments: Exhibit A-East Tustin Mailbox Design Policy Exhibit B-Planning Commission Staff Report EAST TUSTIN MAILBOX DESIGN POLICY GENERAL GUIDELINES - The following General Guidelines apply to all types of mailboxes in all Land Use Designations of the East Tustin Specific Plan: Mailboxes should be located in an area with the least impact on residential living areas (i.e. not directly in front of living room window). Mailboxes should be located within a reasonable walking distance from the dwelling unit. Mailboxes should be located as close as possible to designated parking areas. If there is a curb adjacent sidewalk, mailboxes should be located behind the sidewalk. If there is no sidewalk, or a landscaped parkway behind the curb, mailboxes should be located behind the curb. Mailboxes should not be located within a visual clearance area which is typically a 10 foot triangular area at a street or driveway intersection where no obstacles over 30 inches in height would be permitted. Mailboxes should not be located within the curb return area which is the area between the beginning and the end of the curve on corners or intersections. · Mailboxes should be designed with a locking devices. Mailboxes should be designed with architectural details that compliment the design of the dwellings units within the development. ESTATE DEVELOPMENTS - Estate Designation: On lots with less than 75 feet of street frontage, a single rural mailbox may be permitted per post. In no event should there be more than two rural style mailboxes per post. On lots with more than 75 feet of street frontage, two rural mailboxes per post should be provided and located in the vicinity of the property line between the two properties for which the mailboxes are intended to serve. EXHIBIT A Page 2 DETACHED SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES - Low, Medium-Low and Medium .Designations: Two rural mailboxes per post should be provided and located in the vicinity of the property line between the two properties for which the mailboxes are intended to serve. PATIO HOME DEVELOPMENTS - Medium and Medium-High Designations: A mix of two, three and four rural mailboxes may be permitted per post and located within a reasonable walking distance from the residents for which the mailboxes are intended to serve. MULTI-FAMILY ATTACHED A_ND APARTMENT PROJECTS - Medium and Medium- High Designations: Centralized mailboxes should be provided and located within a reasonable walking distance from the residents for which the mailboxes are intended to serve. Clustered mailboxes may be located near garages/carports, unit entrances, greenbelt/recreation areas within the development or major project entrances. Clustered mailboxes may be freestanding in which case they should be located behind a sidewalk and outside of a designated pedestrian travelway, or integrated into a building elevation such a leasing office or club house. CLUSTER DEVELOPMENTS - Ail Land Use Designations: Mailbox requirements should be evaluated on an individual basis through the Design Review process considering the proposed development type and site plan. Mailbox guidelines for a cluster development should be used that most closely resembles a product type and site plan identified above. For example, if the cluster development most closely resembles a patio home project, the patio home mailbox guidelines should be used. REVIEW PROCEDURES-EXISTING AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS For new developments, the location and design of mailboxes should be reviewed by the Community Development Department as part of the project's Design Review process for compliance with the above guidelines. Page 3 For existing developments that wish to modify the design and/or locations of mailboxes they should comply with the following: Proposed modifications to the design and/or location of mailboxes for the entire project within existing developments should be approved by the applicable Homeowner's Association and submitted by the Association to the City. Individual homeowners within a development may not request such modifications. The Community Development Department should consider requests to modify mailboxes for the entire project to ensure compliance with the above guidelines, prior to the Association submitting a request to the local postmaster. The Association will be responsible for obtaining all necessary approvals from the Postmaster and ensuring all requirements of the Postmaster are satisfied. Once approvals are obtained from the Post Office, construction plans and fees, if necessary, should be paid to the Community Development Department and permits obtained, if applicable. The modifications should be implemented for the entire project, not on an individual case-by-case basis. SJP:br :boxp[ icy.3 LMN0. 3 Inter-Com ,TE: SEPTEMBER 26, 1994 TO: FROM: SUBJEC~ PLANNING COMMISSION COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT' MAILBOX DESIGN POLICY-EAST TUSTIN RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Planning Commission review and discuss the different guidelines relating to location, design and type of mailboxes and provide direction to staff on the issue. BACKGROUND In 1993, during review of the patio home developments, the City Council identified a concern with the location and type of mailboxes in new single-family developments in East Tustin. Staff prepared a summary of postal service policy and Kegulations for review at the August 16, 1993 Council meeting. The Tustin Postmaster, Mr. Robert Boone, attended that meeting and reiterated his position on individual mailboxes for single-family developments. At that time, he indicated that the actual location of mailboxes, groupings and route of delivery service is a policy decision of the local postmaster. Factors taken into consideration are customer needs and efficiency of delivery. As a result, the majority of East Tustin single-family detached developments, including the patio homes, have installed rural style mailboxes located behind the curb or sidewalk and in clusters of approximately four mailboxes per post (Exhibit A). Subsequently, the Council received some additional information which contradicted the postmaster's earlier information. Staff was advised by Nick Lall, a mailbox supplier, that the City could require new single family detached homes to be provided with single box mailbox stands for curbside delivery. Staff has received clarification from the postmaster regarding this issue. To summarize the Post Office's most recent position, the City Council may establish a policy to require developers of single- family homes to install single box or double box mailbox posts behind the curb. Mr. Boone did indicate that there is an increase of thefts and vandalism from the non-locking rural type boxes and that the security of centralized locked boxes minimizes such vandalism. EXHIBIT B Planning Commission Report Mai%box Design Policy-East Tustin September 26, 1994 Page 2 Earlier this year, the City Council reviewed a number of alternative mailbox design options. They requested a legal opinion regarding the ability of an existing Homeowner's Association to change the type and location of mailboxes and directed staff to prepare a draft policy for mailboxes for review and comment by the Planning Commission. The above noted correspondence and City Council reports and minutes are labeled and included in the attached Appendix. As a result of last year's discussion by the Planning Commission and City Council of mailbox design and location, there has been an interim mailbox policy which staff has been directed to include as a condition of approval on all new single-family and detached patio home developments. The condition reads as follows: "Final Mailbox Design, location and orientation, including methods to ensure security provision with locking devices where an acceptable manufactured product is available shall be subject to the review and approval of the Community Development Director. In determining final location the Director shall consider the following: mailboxes shall be located as close as possible to a designated parking space; mailboxes shall not be located within ten street/court intersection, or within ten the back of curb return; and (10) feet of a (10) feet from Co the location of mailboxes should encourage people to walk to their mailboxes." This interim policy has provided some guidelines for location and design of mailboxes, however it does not require locking devices on all mailboxes, nor does it limit the number of clustered mailboxes for single-family developments. The proposed policy provides more detailed criterim. DISCUSSION Staff has prepared a proposed mailbox design policy which would be utilized in reviewing development projects in East Tustin. The policy includes guidelines regarding the design, location and type of mailbox that would be permitted based on the type of development proposed and typical street system design recommended within the development (Exhibit B) . The policy includes general guidelines Planning Commission Report Mailbox Design ~olicy-East~Tustin September 26, 1994 Page 3 and review procedures as well as the provisions that were part of an interim policy which the Planning Commission has previously applied as conditions of approval to projects in East Tustin. The policy is intended to identify specific types of mailboxes (locking vs non-locking) and the permitted location of mailboxes for different types of development. The policy is proposed as a ~uideline only and is designed with flexibility for it's application in unique situations. The proposed policy differentiates between traditional single- family developments, patio homes, clustered detached dwellings and attached residential developments in East Tustin. Since patio home projects usually have reduced street widths and reduced setbacks, they are addressed in a category separate from single-family detached projects. The typical lot widths and building setbacks for residential developments within East Tustin are listed in Exhibit C. Since the density, street design, front yard setbacks and overall appearance of a project can differ by development type and desig-n, the policy reflects these conditions as they may affect the mailbox location and design of developments in East Tustin. The length of street frontage and the potential distance from curb to residential structure helps determine if there is adequate space for mailbox posts and if the mailboxes should be clustered. STREETS To understand the proposed policy, a review of the existing street types in East Tustin would be appropriate. The East Tustin Specific Plan includes a street hierarchy system consisting of local public streets, private streets, private drives, and private courts as described in more detail below. The minimum roadway width for a public street within a residential development with parallel parking on both sides of the street is 36 feet. Street widths are measured from curb- face to curb-face. Private streets with no parallel parking within the travel way must have a minimum width of 28 feet. On-street parallel parking would be permitted on both sides of the street where there is a minimum paved roadway width of 36 feet; parking would be limited to one side of the street only when there is a minimum paved roadway width of 32 feet. Planning Commission Report Mailbox Design Policy-East Tustin September 26, 1994 Page 4 Private drives with perpendicular parking outside of the travel way must have a minimum paved width of 24 feet. A "private court" is defined as a combination of private streets and/or private drives which take access from a main backbone street system within a detached residential development and which serves no more than 12 dwelling units. A private court serving a maximum of 6 dwelling units could be a minimum of 24 feet wide, provided there is no parking on either side. Otherwise the minimum width is 28 feet with no parallel parking within the travel way, or 32 feet with parking permitted on one side of the street. SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED PROJECTS For single-family detached product types that have public or private streets, rural type mailboxes located at the front property line, behind the curb, or behind sidewalk when a sidewalk is provided would be acceptable under the proposed design policy. Since the Code requires a minimum 48 foot wide sidewalk (if sidewalks are provided), it is more convenient to pedestrians and aesthetically pleasing to maintain a "straight" sidewalk than to "flair" the sidewalk around a mailbox post. For this reason, the mailbox should be sited behind the sidewalk. A "rural" mailbox is an individual box designed to hold one customer's mail that is typically mounted on a post. See Exhibit A for an example of the design of a "rural" mailbox. Rural mailboxes can be mounted individually on the post, or clustered in groups of two, four or even six boxes to a post. The proposed mailbox design policy recommends that one rural mailbox per post be permitted in the estate district (when the street frontage does not exceed 75 feet) and a maximum of two rural mailboxes per post in other conventional single-family developments. The typical lot width for a single-family home in East Tustin is 50 feet. (Exhibit C shows the minimum requirements for each district.) The postal regulations require a minimum of two mailboxes per post when the street frontage exceeds 75 feet in length. PATIO HOME PROJECTS For patio home developments or other projects, i.e. clustered projects or properties with either attached or detached units (similar to the Presidio project in East Tustin) and where the street system is predominantly composed of private streets and private courts, the current interim and proposed design policy Planning Commission Report Mailbox Design Policy-East Tustin September 26,~1994 Page 5 recommends the use of clustered mailboxes of at least four to a post. Since the maximum number of units permitted within an auto court is 12 dwellings, there would be approximately three posts per auto court. In addition, since dwelling units sometimes take access directly from the main loop street, in this case the clustered mailbox posts would be located on the loop street in a centralized location. Since these patio home projects generally have narrower streets, reduced lot width and sometimes no sidewalks on at least one side of the street, clustered mailboxes seem more appropriate to reduce clutter and obstructions. MULTIPLE-FAMILY ATTACHED PROJECTS For developments that have clustered or attached-units, the proposed policy recommends that mailboxes be clustered and placed at one or more centralized locations within the project. To minimize inconvenience the location should typically be in close proximity to garages/carports, unit entrances, centralized recreation facilities or a major project entry. There may be some clustered developments that have a street design similar to a standard single-family subdivision, and in this case the mailboxes could be sited adjacent to the street, two to a post and at the side property line. LOCKED VS NON-LOCKING MAILBOXES Earlier this yearj the City Council identified a concern with the security of Tustin resident's mail, particularly when rural mailboxes are unlocked and clustered four or six to a post. The perception is that providing a locking device on the rural mailbox will increase security and prevent mail thefts. In clustered projects, multi-family developments and apartment projects that have centralized mailboxes, locking devices are currently provided. The prcposed mailbox policy continues to require locking devices for centralized mailboxes. For detached single-family homes and patio home projects, the policy would require the developer to provide locking mailboxes. Although there is a perception that a gated community is "safer" and less prone to thefts, the proposed design policy requires the locking devices for all mailboxes, whether inside or outside of a gated community. EXISTING DEVELOPMENT~ Last year some of the Homeowner Associations in East Tustin expressed a desire to convert their clustered mailboxes to individual boxes. Staff reviewed the Post Office policy which Planning Commission Report Mailbox Design Policy-East Tustin September 26, 1994 Page 6 states that any request to change delivery service must be made to the local Postmaster. The City Council requested a legal opinion regarding the issue of changing delivery service. It is the City Attorney's opinion that the request should first be submitted to the local Postmaster for a decision. His decision can be appealed to the U.S. Post Office Consumer Advocate. The City should first review the Association's proposal for delivery service to ensure conformance with the proposed design mailbox policy. Once City review is complete, the Association could submit their request to the Postmaster for change of service. In order to ensure compatible design and consistency, requests for change in service can only be submitted by the Homeowner's Association for the entire development and not individual homeowners. Similar to other design issues, if any Association in East Tustin wishes to modify a specific aspect of their project (such as mailbox design and location) which was a part of their Design Review approval, they would request an amendment to their original approval. In this manner, the design details of Tustin Ranch projects will be maintained and remain an integrated part of the project. Any proposed changes will be reviewed by the City to ensure compatibility of design and conformance with City policy. CONCLUSION There are a number of different options available to the Planning Commission for addressing the issues of type, design and location of mailboxes within our residential neighborhoods of East Tustin. In order to provide specific design guidelines for residential mailboxes, staff has prepared a mailbox policy that is based upon product type, street design and type of access to individual units. Based upon the above information, it is requested that the Planning Commission provide direction to staff on this issue. AssociaYte Planner Attachments: Christine A. Shing Assistant City Manager Exhibit A-Typical Rural Mailbox Design Exhibit B-Mailbox Design Policy Exhibit C-Residential Development Standards Appendix-Correspondence, Reports, Minutes SJP: br: mlbxs 3. sj p