The Historic and Design Review Commission meets at 3 p.m. today (May 21) in the training room of the Development and Business Services Center, 1901 S. Alamo St.









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Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Image 2 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 3 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 4 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 5 of 14 Image 6 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 7 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 8 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 9 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 10 of 14 Image 11 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 12 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 13 of 14 A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. A proposed gas station and convenience store at 215 N. San Saba St. Photo: Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects / courtesy Image 14 of 14 Gas station proposal ripped under new design guide 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

Still haven’t read the brand new, 72-page Downtown Design Guide? Neither have I, though it’s on my list.

We get a good idea of what it contains, however, from this week’s HDRC meeting.

Big Diamond LLC, which appears to be the retail subsidiary of Valero, has submitted a proposal to build a gas station at 215 N. San Saba St., just inside I-35/I-37 in west downtown.

The design, by Michael Imbimbo Inc. Architects, is wildly inconsistent with what the design guide recommends for new infill development in the downtown area.

“The proposal site plan does not meet the purpose and intent of the Downtown Design Guide,” CityDesignCenter staff writes in its recommendations to the commission.

Particularly, the building’s massing  overall size and shape  is too far back from the sidewalk, according to the CityDesignCenter’s comments. There should be no parking between the storefront and the sidewalk intersection, it recommends.

The department, which crafted the downtown design guidelines, recommends the convenience store take on an L-shape, closer to the sidewalk, so that it would interact with both San Saba and Houston streets.

It also recommends a 3-foot-tall wall of brick and limestone wrap around the perimeter, add a cornice of plaster at the top of the building, among other aesthetic improvements.

Click here to read the agenda item.

Related

Design guide approved for infill development

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