[OMS_MANAGERS] Color Requirement Enforcement Question

Fri Feb 5 11:23:20 PST 2021

I am with Sarah, frankly. As I said, our palette is not enforced. And I have worked with owners on colors not on the palette. In one case, the building landed an Excellence in Downtown Revitalization Awards.

Harv

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________________________________
From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> on behalf of Sarah Lu Heath <sarah at astoriadowntown.com>
Sent: Friday, February 5, 2021 11:14:36 AM
To: Oregon Main Street program managers <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Color Requirement Enforcement Question

I’ll offer a very different standpoint from Astoria…

We recently completely an overlay zone that covered half of downtown (Ha, I know). We specifically advocated that we don’t try to arbiters of good taste, a traditional failing of historic preservationists, IMHO. We often have to explain to folks hesitant to invest in historic buildings that there are some freedoms, and freedom of color is one of them.

We requested only that ‘fluorescent’ colors be disallowed.

Here’s an interesting article from the Lower Columbia Preservation Society on color: https://www.dailyastorian.com/opinion/columns/guest-column-color-makes-for-a-vibrant-downtown/article_a9fff6ae-34fd-11eb-a870-ff32a762abba.html<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailyastorian.com%2Fopinion%2Fcolumns%2Fguest-column-color-makes-for-a-vibrant-downtown%2Farticle_a9fff6ae-34fd-11eb-a870-ff32a762abba.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C534f842f7987492230ae08d8ca0a4a37%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637481492831435996%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=%2BLt%2Fm6g38LU%2FGtb7MbWfRmPxKVqQ4TRgq%2F5u7Bukx%2BQ%3D&reserved=0>

From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of Dan Fleishman
Sent: Friday, February 5, 2021 8:55 AM
To: Oregon Main Street program managers <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>; Kenna West <westk at ci.willamina.or.us>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Color Requirement Enforcement Question

When I came to Stayton, about 15 years ago, the Code made reference to a palette of acceptable “earth tone” colors in the downtown area.  I asked around City Hall where I could I find that palette and everyone said “Palette? What palette?  There is no palette.”  When we were writing new design standards for the downtown in 2007, the Planning Commission desired to keep a palette of acceptable colors in the Code.   So I copied various colors off the internet and pasted them into our Code, creating a page that looked like:

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D6FBAF.D98B1E30]

The problem was that the colors looked very different depending on which computer monitor you were looking at or which printer was used to print the page.  Therefore the City used a fair bit of discretion in allowing a variation in color from those shown in the Code.

A few years ago Revitalize Downtown Stayton, our Main St group, proposed to the City to amend the Code to require that “the predominant colors of commercial and mixed use buildings in the Downtown Zones be earth tones, defined as shades of green, red, gray, brown and yellow with a light reflecting value [a measure of ‘brightness’] of no less than 15 or no more than 50%” and volunteers from RDS created a foam board (attached .jpg file) with actual paint chips to show the acceptable colors.  The  Code leaves it to me, as the Planning Director, to determine what is acceptable.  I created the attached hand-out (pdf) explaining the code and describing the colors.

The issue, as Kenna mentioned, is that a permit is not required to pick up a paint brush, as it is to pick up a hammer.  Therefore, buildings do sometimes get painted without the owner checking in on the acceptable color.  That is unavoidable, no matter how much outreach and education the city and the main street group do.  There is always someone who either doesn’t hear the news, chooses not to listen, or is brand new.  I have had to deal with that by contacting them, informing them of the code requirements and having them repaint with an approved color.  I usually hear about it shortly after the painting project has started and they haven’t gotten too far along.  So far, there has been some grumbling about the cost of painting twice and the usual grousing about telling people what they can and cannot do on their own property, but we haven’t had to take formal enforcement action.  Most of the time owners are aware of the requirements and contact me in advance.  I have a complete set of Sherwin Williams color chips that I can lend (in our case Sherwin Williams works well because they list the light reflecting value on the back of each color in the color wheel), as well as an extra copy of the foam board that they can take with them.  They come back, indicating what color they are going to use, usually with their own paint chipos, and I give them the okay.

Dan Fleishman

Planning and Development Director

City of Stayton

362 N Third Avenue

Stayton, OR 97383

Ph 503-769-2998

www.staytonoregon.gov<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.staytonoregon.gov%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C534f842f7987492230ae08d8ca0a4a37%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637481492831445992%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=jYPqWKWHZTwrJYq1uz6kImfl1sgoU8swkupEtYdYVro%3D&reserved=0>

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am working from home for the foreseeable future.  You may reach me by phone at 541-207-2558.

From: OMS_MANAGERS [mailto:oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov] On Behalf Of STUART Sheri * OPRD via OMS_MANAGERS
Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2021 4:50 PM
To: Oregon Main Street program managers <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>>
Subject: [OMS_MANAGERS] FW: Color Requirement Enforcement Question

Hi all – I responded to Kenna but also offered to share over the listserv. Any advice for Willamina? Thanks, Sheri

From: Kenna West <westk at ci.willamina.or.us<mailto:westk at ci.willamina.or.us>>
Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2021 9:39 AM
To: STUART Sheri * OPRD <Sheri.Stuart at oregon.gov<mailto:Sheri.Stuart at oregon.gov>>
Subject: Color Requirement Enforcement Question

Sheri,

We are undergoing a relatively large Development Code overhaul that includes a downtown business area overlay.  That overlay includes allowed colors and facades for buildings.  We are trying to keep our downtown as authentically Willamina as possible.  One question that has arisen as we work through these issues is, how do other cities enforce the code requirements regarding colors?  The theoretical issue is that someone who is unfamiliar with the code, buys a building in the business overlay zone and paints the building neon green or some other non-allowed color before the City has the opportunity to stop the work.  Do you know what other cities have done to avoid that issue?

Thank you so much for any assistance you can lend!  Have a wonderful day!

Kenna

Kenna L. West, JD

City Manager

City of Willamina

411 NE C Street

Willamina, OR 97396

(O) 503-876-2242 (C) 971-222-5808

westk at ci.willamina.or.us<mailto:westk at ci.willamina.or.us>

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

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