Scottsdale wants your input on updating Old Town urban design guidelines, here's you primer

There will be two open houses to review and provide comments.

PUBLISHED JUL 9, 2024

Old Town embraces its southwest, desert heritage while remaining flexible to adapt to change over time. (Source: Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design & Architectural Guidelines)

Scottsdale, Arizona: Scottsdale has called for feedback on draft amendments to the Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design & Architectural Guidelines (UDAG). The Development Review Board initiated a focused update to the Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design and Architectural Guidelines to align with recent City Council-adopted amendments to the Old Town Scottsdale Character Area Plan and the city’s Zoning Ordinance.

An artist's impression showing the pedestrian character of Old Town Scottsdale that serves as an attraction to visitors, supports business vitality, and encourages social interaction valued by residents. (Source: Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design & Architectural Guidelines)

There will be two open houses to review and provide comments: 11.30am-1.30pm Wednesday on July 10 and 5-7pm Thursday, July 11. Both take place at the Community Design Studio.

But before you head down to the open house here are 10 points from the draft amendments to the Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design & Architectural Guidelines, you can also read the whole document (as you probably should) here.

Interconnected Downtown: Ensure that Old Town remains a walkable, human-scale environment with a variety of mobility options, enhancing the pedestrian experience through covered walkways, passageways, courtyards, and plazas.

High-Quality Architecture: Promote high-quality, human-scale downtown architecture influenced by local and regional culture, climate, and the Sonoran Desert landscape.

An artist's impression showing how pedestrian environment is supported by internal connections, links between sites, and route choices. Building location establishes a consistent setback pattern from the street and helps define the street-space. (Source: Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design & Architectural Guidelines)

Distinct Landscape Character: Create a distinct landscape character that contributes to a unified downtown, enhancing the overall identity and aesthetics of Old Town.

Coherent Street-Spaces: Design street spaces to be coherent and consistent, supporting the pedestrian environment and fostering social interaction.

Blending Old and New: Design within the context of each Old Town district, introducing new architectural and building designs that are compatible with existing designs to form a blend between new and old.

Old Town architecture should be influenced by the regional climate, character of the desert landscape, and a concern for human size and scale. (Source: Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design & Architectural Guidelines)

Encouraging Vibrant Development: Encourage property improvements, new development, and redevelopment to maintain a vibrant, lively, and attractive downtown destination for residents, visitors, and businesses.

Historic Old Town Design District: Maintain the frontier town/Western character of Historic Old Town, retaining historic assets, and incorporating arid landscape design and wooden covered walkways to reinforce area character.

Public Space Design: Design public spaces in the Civic Center District to support both day-to-day activities and special events, incorporating urban design elements to enhance district identity and visibility.

The amendments aim to promote the character and identity of the Arizona Canal District through open space, landscape, and urban design. (Source: Old Town Scottsdale Urban Design & Architectural Guidelines)

Arizona Canal District Identity: Promote the character and identity of the Arizona Canal District through open space, landscape, and urban design, relating project design to themes of water, desert oasis, and the natural and human history of the Southwest.

Quality Design Principles: Emphasize quality design that seamlessly integrates into the surrounding context, respects and enhances its surroundings, and is functional and durable to withstand the test of time.