By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
The city of Avondale is looking at new recommended design and zoning benchmarks for new apartment developments including encouraging more solar energy use and green buildings.
The Avondale City Council will hear an update today on a new draft multifamily design manual.
Suggestions include orienting building locations and designs to allow for and maximize solar panel installations, better capturing of rain and storm water, providing parking garages for complexes of 100 units or more, and also shielding parking from street views.
The city draft also calls for more parking canopies and asking developers to offer a great diversity of designs with more design elements. The draft reports also calls for more shade structures, LED lighting and trees at new apartment developments.
The Arizona Multihousing Association (AMA) has voiced some concerns about the Avondale draft standards saying it could drive up rental costs, according to documents filed with the city.
