Section 15-217-55 - Architectural design(a) Awnings, trellises and canopies: (1) The use of vinyl or plastic awnings, trellises and canopies is prohibited along promenade streets and view corridor streets;(2) Awnings, trellises, and canopies shall comply with Figure 1.13 (building placement and encroachments), dated September 2011, made a part of this chapter, and attached at the end of this chapter;(3) Awnings, trellises, and canopies shall not obstruct views of pedestrian-oriented signage (e.g., blade sign) for shops and businesses; and(4) The location of awnings on a facade shall be of a consistent height. Similarly, the location of awning on a facade shall generally align with those on adjacent buildings, to the extent practicable.(b) Balconies: (1) Balconies shall be accessible from inside the building;(2) Balconies shall not be completely enclosed;(3) Balconies shall comply with Figure 1.13 (building placement and encroachments), dated September 2011, made a part of this chapter, and attached at the end of this chapter; and(4) For floors one through five, balconies adjoining dwellings within multi-family buildings shall have a minimum depth of at least five feet.(c) Buildings with auto rental or sales uses: (1) Applicability. This subsection shall apply to all existing and new principal buildings used or intended to accommodate auto rental or sales and/or auto repair land use classifications;(2) Showrooms shall be located at the frontage line and include a fenestration value of seventy-five per cent at the first floor of the facade;(3) Vehicle repairs shall occur within a separate building located behind the principal building or portion of a principal building located behind the showroom; provided, however, that vehicle repairs may be located within floor area at a frontage line abutting a primary parking street;(4) Service bays shall not be visible from an abutting alternative parking access street or promenade street;(5) Pedestrian pathways shall lead pedestrians from the public sidewalk and customer parking areas to the vehicle showroom and service areas;(6) Service bays, vehicle displays or storage areas shall be screened from view from abutting thoroughfares through building placement, landscaping, fencing, and/or decorative walls; and(7) Water efficient landscaping and low accent walls between two to three feet in height shall be installed along all outdoor displays and parking lot perimeters.(d) Storm water drainage. Rainwater shall be diverted away from sidewalks through downspouts visible on the rear building elevation, internal drain pipes, or through awnings or canopies.(e) Fences, walls, and hedges: (1) Fences, walls, and hedges may be constructed or installed to a height of six feet in any side yard or rear yard and to a height of four feet in any portion of a front yard or a side yard that faces a thoroughfare, except where the rear yard or side yard abuts a parking lot or industrial use, a maximum six-foot tall fence, hedge or wall is permitted;(2) Retaining walls shall be constructed out of masonry or stone or another equally durable material;(3) Fences shall be constructed out of ornamental iron, steel, wood pickets and/or a synthetic wood product (such as wood-filled Recycled plastic lumber) and may have stucco or masonry piers;(4) Chain link, barbed wire, vinyl, plastic or exposed cinder block walls are prohibited within front yards abutting any boulevard, avenue, or promenade street; and(5) Fences in front yards or side yards facing a thoroughfare shall be painted or constructed out of a decorative material compatible with the materials of the principal building.(f) Lighting: (1) Entrances, arcades and passageways shall be illuminated;(2) Courtyards, passageways, roof gardens, corner plazas, and other landscaped areas shall provide pedestrian-scaled, tamper-proof lights;(3) Lighting sources shall be constructed or installed so that light is aimed downwards and does not spill over to abutting properties;(4) Lighting that is visible from adjacent properties or thoroughfares shall be indirect or incorporate full shield cutoffs ;(5) Incandescent exterior lights and high-pressure sodium lights are prohibited; and(6) Architectural details may be accented through lighting.(g) Building facade and elevation materials. A change of exterior texture and material shall be accompanied by a change in plane. However, glazing and spandrel glass is exempt from this provision.(h) Roofs: (1) Roofs may be accessible and used as roof decks, gardens, balconies or terraces;(2) Roofs shall be finished with light colors for reflectivity or incorporate landscaping; and(3) Roof top mechanical equipment shall be clustered away from the edge of the building and either painted to match the roof top or located behind a parapet wall or in a roof top mechanical equipment enclosure so that it is not visible from a thoroughfare, historic or public buildings,(i) Service functions: (1) Utilities, service elements, recycling and trash elements shall be located off alleys (where present), or in structured parking garages where they exist. Alternatively, they may be located at least ten feet behind the facade of a principal building or screened from view from a thoroughfare other than an alley or service street, with a hedge, landscaping, low wall, or fence;(2) Prohibited materials for constructing recycling or trash enclosures include: chain link, fencing with slats mesh screen, cinderblocks, or unpainted wood;(3) Utilities and service elements that are visible from thoroughfares shall be incorporated in the building structure in a manner accessible to the trash collection service provider, but shall not be visually intrusive through use of the following strategies: (A) Burying underground (utility wires, meters, transformers);(B) Incorporation into the building or parking garage as a utility room (meters, transformers);(C) Screening behind building (meters, terminal boxes); and(D) Clustering on roof within a mechanical enclosure (HVAC); and(4) Recycling or trash enclosures shall be of a similar material and color with the principal building.(j) Signage All signs shall be in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations administered by the city and county of Honolulu, as provided for in the city and county of Honolulu's land use ordinance, as it may be amended from time to time,(k) Windows: (1) Highly-reflective, mirrored, and opaque window glazing are prohibited;(2) Window glazing shall be transparent with clear or limited UV tint so as to provide views out of and into the building. Visible light transmission level of windows on the ground floor shall be seventy per cent or greater and on all other floors the visible light transmission level shall be fifty per cent or greater;(3) For floors one through ten, all principal building windows shall be operable;(4) Vinyl window frames are prohibited, except for Figures BT.1 to BT.3, dated September 2011, made a part of this chapter, and attached at the end of this chapter;(5) Pop-in muntins are prohibited below the third floor; and(6) Window grilles are prohibited except at window openings to podium parking or on building elevations facing alleys. (l) View preservation: (1) Mauka and makai views to the mountains and the waterfront shall be preserved through orientation of towers with the long side of the tower parallel to the mauka-makai axis (see definitions section and Figure 1.6B (view preservation), dated September 2011, made a part of -this chapter, and attached at the end of this chapter);(2) The orientation of the tower may deviate from its designated mauka-makai axis by a maximum of twenty degrees. The authority may consider, pursuant to section 15-217-82 of this rule, a deviation of the tower orientation of more than twenty degrees from the designated mauka-makai axis provided that the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the authority that based on building massing, tower floor plate size, tower configuration, tower orientation, energy efficiencies, and other pertinent factors that the proposed tower orientation will not have a greater impact on mauka-makai view than would result from a twenty degree mauka-makai orientation;(3) The tower floor plate shall not exceed a horizontal plan projection dimension of one hundred and fifty feet on one direction and a maximum length of two hundred and ten feet between two farthest points of the tower floor plate. The plan projection dimension measured perpendicular to the horizontal projection may exceed one hundred and fifty feet provided that the maximum dimension between two farthest points on the tower foot print do not exceed two hundred and ten feet in length;(4) A proposed tower shall be located a minimum of three hundred feet from an existing tower, when any portion of the proposed tower falls within the existing tower's mauka-makai zone (see definitions section and Figure 1.6B (view preservation), dated September 2011, made a part of this chapter, and attached at the end of this chapter);(5) No tower shall be less than eighty feet from another tower; and(6) The areas of buildings above sixty-five feet on view corridor streets shall be setback by fifty feet behind the lot line.(m) Storefronts and windows for retail: (1) Applicability. This subsection applies to existing or newly proposed principal buildings used or intended to accommodate the retail land use classification;(2) Stores that occupy greater than sixty feet of frontage shall incorporate multiple entrances along the street;(3) Street front elements shall have a depth of forty to eighty feet of usable commercial space with potential for dividing walls at least every thirty feet;(4) At least seventy per cent of a retail thoroughfare front element shall be transparent glazing, with at least seventy per cent of the glazing to allow views into the store rather than being shallow window box displays;(5) No more than thirty per cent of the window area at facades may be obstructed by signage or interior displays;(6) All principal entrances shall be located along the thoroughfare or a thoroughfare-facing courtyard, rather than from a parking area, alley, or another point within the interior of a block;(7) Display windows shall be used on the ground floor and on upper floors of retail space; and(8) Buildings facades and side elevations shall accommodate signage for ground floor retail tenants. [Eff NOV 11 2011 ] (Auth: HRS §§ 206E-4, 206E-5, 206E-7) (Imp: HRS §§ 206E-4, 206E-5, 206E-7)