Page 10 - State College, PA Design Guidelines

06.28.2018 •

DETERMINING WHICH BUILDING COMPONENTS ARE SUBJECT TO
DESIGN REVIEW
In addition to specifying projects types subject to design review, Ordinance 2104 describes which building
components are subject to design review. The diagrams that follow explain how to make this determination for each
building.
WHAT IS THE 50% RULE?

Ordinance 2104 explains that projects requiring review in State College’s historic districts are those which can be
seen from the front yard(s) and include 50% of the wall, roof and other architectural elements adjacent to the side
yard(s), as measured from the building front. The descriptions and diagrams that follow indicate which components
of a contributing main building in State College’s local historic districts are subject to HARB design review. Each
diagram illustrates a corner lot and an interior lot. By definition, corner lots have 2 front yards.

WHAT IS THE BUILDING FRONT?

The “building front” is a building wall that faces a street and that is the forward-most wall. On a corner lot, there
will be two building fronts.
Key
Building Front Front Yard

Property Line Side Yard
Street Rear Yard

Street

WHAT IF A BUILDING FRONT IS NOT A SINGLE WALL PLANE?

Where the front of a building includes offsets or other features that create multiple front-facing wall planes rather
than a single wall plane, the 50% mark is measured from the forward-most plane, as highlighted below. Buildings on
corner lots have two building fronts, while buildings on interior lots have one building front.

Key
Building Front Front Yard

Property Line Side Yard

Street Rear Yard

Street

4 STATE COLLEGE, PA • HERITAGE STATE COLLEGE DESIGN GUIDELINES