HISTORY
On January 20, 2022, at the request of Commissioner Alex Fernandez, the City Commission referred the subject discussion item to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee (C4 AB). On February 11, 2022, the LUSC discussed and continued the item to the April 8, 2022 LUSC meeting with direction to the Administration to bring back different options for all types of City projects.

On April 8, 2022, the item was deferred to the May 13, 2022 LUSC meeting, with no discussion. On May 13, 2022, the item was deferred to the June 1, 2022 LUSC meeting, with no discussion. The June 1, 2022 LUSC meeting was postponed to June 6, 2022. On June 6, 2022, the item was deferred to the July 7, 2022 LUSC meeting, with no discussion.

On July 7, 2022 the item was discussed and continued to the September 23, 2022 LUSC meeting, with direction to the Administration to further develop the recommendations outlined in the July 7, 2022 LUSC memo, in consultation with the Procurement Director.

The September 23, 2022 LUSC meeting was moved to September 28, 2022.  On September 28, 2022 the item was deferred to the October 28, 2022 LUSC meeting.

BACKGROUND
On May 23, 2018, the Facilities and Fleet Management Department retained the architecture and engineering firm of Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners to assist with the preparation of a Citywide Design Guidelines Manual in order to standardize building fixtures and equipment and streamline maintenance and repair operations for City facilities. Similar to guidelines currently in use across the institutional, hospitality and retail sectors, a Citywide Design Guidelines Manual will help ensure the City’s interior spaces possess a consistent identity while optimizing maintenance operations and reducing capital renewal and replacement expenditures through standardization of select fixtures, furniture and equipment, citywide.

Beginning in the Summer of 2018, the Facilities and Fleet Management Department engaged colleagues from the City’s Capital Improvement Projects Department, Public Works Department, Planning Department, Transportation Department, Environment & Sustainability Department, Information Technology Department, Housing & Community Services Department and Parks and Recreation Department to contribute to the Design Guidelines Manual in their respective areas of expertise. Exhaustive amounts of feedback were collected and incorporated into the Design Guidelines Manual. Subsequently the Consultant prepared a draft document that was circulated for additional review and comment from the City’s internal stakeholder group. Thus, the Manual represents a holistic and consensus-based collection of standards that will aid in advancing the City’s commitment to innovation, resilience and sustainability.

ANALYSIS
Once adopted, the Design Guidelines Manual will be furnished to the City’s Architecture and Engineering Consultants to assist with the development of Construction Documents and Project Specifications for future capital projects and smaller customer requests. Furthermore, the Design Guidelines Manual will provide the Facilities and Fleet Management Department’s Operations and Maintenance Team with the needed guidance for the replacement of most any fixture or assembly, citywide. Thus, saving costs by allowing the Facilities and Fleet Management Department to implement economies of scale.

Developed as a dynamic document, future building technologies and innovations in building systems will be able to be incorporated into the Design Guidelines Manual through addendum. Similarly, stricter standards can be incorporated regarding carbon emissions, energy efficiency and water conservation, further advancing the City’s commitment to sustainability.

As it pertains to the exterior of new City Buildings, depending on the location, Design Review Board or Historic Preservation Board approval of all new City facilities is required. The DRB and HPB both have extensive criteria within the LDR’s for evaluating new construction.

UPDATE (July 7, 2022 LUSC):
At the direction of the LUSC, members of the Planning, Public Works, CIP, and Parks Departments convened a meeting to discuss different strategies for developing additional design criteria for future City projects. Currently, most above ground City projects, including new buildings, infrastructure and street improvements, require some form of review by the Design Review Board (DRB) or Historic Preservation Board (HPB). This process also includes a requirement for design Architects.

In order to further enhance the existing process, the following may be considered as it pertains to all future above ground City projects:

1. Creating additional criteria for all future Requests for Proposal (RFP) and Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) to further reinforce the importance of design and the caliber of the architectural and design professionals.

2. Creating revised standards for future selection committees to ensure that an individual with urban design experience is included to serve on selection committees that deal with above ground city projects.

UPDATE (October 28, 2022 LUSC):
At the direction of the LUSC the recommendations outlined in the July 7, 2022, LUSC memo have been further developed, in consultation with the Procurement Director. To this end, all RFP and RFQ responses currently have specific response requirements and evaluation point allocation regarding the caliber of the design professionals. Notwithstanding, the following additional criteria can be considered for all future above ground City projects:

1. Creating additional criteria for all future Requests for Proposal (RFP) and Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) to further reinforce the importance of design and the caliber of the architectural and design professionals.

a. If so directed, specific experience requirements can be created by modifying the current language of the response requirements.

b. To enhance design standards, a section can be added to future RFQs and RFPs that requires proposers to address any specific measures unique to such RFP or RFQ regarding design, as well as best practices in architecture and urban design. Specific evaluation points can be allocated as to compliance with these established design standards.

2. The applicable City Departments (e.g., Parks, Public Works and CIP) can evaluate their internal process for future evaluation committees to consider individuals with urban design experience for evaluation committees that deal with above ground city projects.

If there is consensus regarding the above noted criteria, the LUSC can transmit a recommendation to the City Commission.