Lake Elsinore Key to Downtown Design Guidelines

The City of Lake Elsinore to created design standards and visualization products for the planned development of a new Civic Center and focal point for a larger downtown revitalization master plan.

Goals

• Create a vibrant and sustainable downtown
• Celebrate the lake
• Create a civic identity
• Improve walkability and connectivity

In June 2009 the City of Lake Elsinore and the City’s Redevelopment Agency produced a Draft Downtown Master Plan with the purpose of providing an innovative urban design vision for the City’s historic downtown area that embraces its historical past while providing a bold direction for its future development. The Draft Downtown Master Plan has been developed in three parts: Vision Plan, Market Study and “Downtowncode,” with the “Key to Downtown” Area encompassing parts of the Cultural, Historic, and Waterfront Districts in the Downtown Master Plan.  The “Key to Downtown” Implementation Plan provides Standards and Guidelines for the Public and Private Realms that are specific to the “Key to Downtown” area, and follow, complement, refine, and detail the standards and guidelines in the “Downtowncode” of the Downtown Master Plan.

Results

• Development potential of Cultural District
  • 5 sites totaling 5.2 acres/218,000 sq. ft. are zoned for mixed-use commercial
  • 2 sites totaling over 2 acres/91,000 sq. ft. are zoned mixed-use residential
  • Potential for 39 to 50 dwelling units; 72 with density bonus
• Design standards and guidelines for Cultural District, Historical District, and Waterfront District
• Design strategies for various sites in the public and private realms
  • Sections, plans, and massing
  • Building prototypes
  • Street and cross-section design
  • Streetscape treatments and recommended street furniture palletes
  • Infill development