The city of Spokanes design review committee and its Plan Commission will hold a joint workshop tonight to kick off discussions about new citywide design guidelines, which developers would be required to follow as they developed projects.


The public workshop will feature Mark Hinshaw, an urban-design consultant from LMN Architects, of Seattle, who will present concepts for potential citywide design standards for residential, commercial, and office uses. The city will incorporate the new design standards into its zoning code, which currently is being revised, says Ken Pelton, a city planner.


The meeting, at 5:30 p.m. on the lower level of City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, will address things such as how you deal with the design of a building and its site, in terms of parking, landscaping, and drive-through facilities, Pelton says. This moves toward implementation of the comprehensive plan.


The citys comprehensive plan, adopted in 2000, is its guide for growth. It focuses on a concept called Centers and Corridors, which aims to concentrate growth in a number of areas around Spokane. While the plan outlines a vision for the citys future, it doesnt lay out specific rules for the community.


The citywide design guidelines would be one step toward solidifying a set of policies and standards developers would follow as they erected office buildings, apartment complexes, gas stations, fast-food restaurants, and other projects, Pelton says.


Hinshaw says he will show attendees some examples of good design from other cities, but will focus mostly on some positive examples already in place around Spokane. Those will include high-quality landscaping, detailed design work on buildings exteriors, and thoughtful arrangement of rooflines, he says.


It wont be a matter of introducing anything dramatically new, but drawing from the good examples that already exist, Hinshaw says.


Two cities that enforce design guidelines are Bozeman, Mont., and Wenatchee, Wash., he says.


They view (such guidelines) as an economic-development tool, Hinshaw says. Its especially useful when dealing with an out-of-town chain that has a standard template (for its buildings), and this gives them an idea of what the local community is expecting.


Hinshaw says requiring developers to follow design guidelines can increase property values for the entire community. He says the guidelines need to be simple, clear, and limited to about 10 items.


Pelton says a development-code task force of 63 community membersincluding architects, engineers, school representatives, clergy members, and othershas been working to update the citys zoning regulations for two years.


Were dealing with a zoning code that was adopted in 1958 that we are totally revising, he says.


The design-guideline development process should take about six months to complete, says Hinshaw, with whom the city is contracting.


The public will have chances to comment on the design guidelines throughout that process, Hinshaw says.


Pelton says the city also expects members of the zoning-code task force to take draft regulations to their organizations and industry sectors for review and feedback as theyre developed. The new zoning code is expected to be ready for initial public view by this fall, Pelton says.