Commission discusses material mock-ups after Main Street Marketplace design revisions

Town planning staff told the Carbondale Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 9 that architects for the Main Street Marketplace townhomes revised their designs to be "significantly more in line with the great original approved plans." The commission provided feedback and authorized staff to allow the project to move forward.

Staff and commissioners then discussed whether the town should require a material mock-up — a small on-site sample of proposed materials, colors and finishes — for large multifamily or Main Street projects to ensure that built construction matches approved renderings. "We do require the elevations. We do compare them to what was approved, but ... one thing the town and the plan zoning commission could consider requiring is a material sample built on-site at the outset of construction to kind of finalize materials, colors," a town planning staff member said during the update.

Commissioners debated the burden on developers and whether a mock-up would stifle development. Some commissioners described mock-ups as a standard practice on larger projects and said costs are typically modest compared with overall budgets. Others said the town should apply the requirement selectively and keep flexibility to lift a requirement where it would create an undue burden.

The commission did not adopt a formal new requirement at the Jan. 9 meeting. Instead, commissioners asked staff to retain the mock-up concept in the planning "toolbox" and to bring a more detailed proposal for when and how such mock-ups should be required for future large or context-sensitive developments. Staff noted the measure could be applied selectively to projects where scale, context or past challenges with built outcomes justify it.

The Main Street Marketplace team will proceed with the revised designs; staff said they will circulate the updated materials and elevations to commissioners by email for review.