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there that was approved by a 5 -0 vote that story poles should be added to any downtown projects as part of the project whenever they were needed. So they also confirmed that we just need to ask for it or has it as a standard. But I wanted to find out from staff what we can do to get that built in as part of our process. Chair Ritter: When is it required and when is it not required? Commissioner Nagler: Before you guys respond to these, let me just say to help flesh this out because I appreciate the comment you're making about that particular project, but then in general; that story poles are important but also have limited utilities because a story pole was put up on the project on Spring Street and I don't know that that communicated the mass of the building at all. Commissioner Allen: You're right on Commissioner Nagler: So it's an excellent point and it is to be worked out with staff, but given the utility of modern computer programming and renderings, that the story pole may or may not be the right thing to do. Maybe every project in the City we should require a computer - generated 3 -D renderings from a half a dozen perspectives or something, right? Commissioner Allen: Something that shows the mass clearly Chair Ritter: Exactly, what's your thought on these? Beaudin: Okay, so all great points and you know, I'll start maybe from where I think the start is and that is, I feel responsible for Commissioner Allen feeling like the information wasn't there so it is a point taken in terms of where buildings are going to be visible from and how we characterize view shed and potential view impacts and where buildings are going to be seen. You know, we talked in some detail about this and I think for me the idea of our downtown changing is going to result in buildings that are more visible mostly because the scale of things that are there, and there's a lot of one -story buildings particularly on the side streets, and those single story buildings, typically what comes up around them will be more than one story. And so that building that's currently under construction does not have any of the exterior finishes or materials on it, so it does stick out like a sore thumb right now. There is the Carey Hoddnefield project coming in behind the single story structure on the corner on Peters which I think will help fill that particular block in and hopefully this new building when it's got the roof material and the exterior cladding, it starts to fit in with the character of the downtown. So that's specific to that one example, but I think that just needs some time to fill in. There's pros and cons. To Commissioner Nagler's point, I don't think I've ever seen an applicant submit a rendering or a photo simulation that doesn't serve their project pretty well, and so it's a great tool and I think it does help us better. I think that story poles help with height. They can help you visualize where the envelope of the building's going to be but the renderings really start to give you the texture, the setbacks, a better feel that the massing; how it's going to be developed and refined, and so it's using all of the tools PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 13, 2016 Page 33 of 38