Medina, OH Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

04 sets the design criteria the Planning Commission applies during site plan review for all new construction or building renovation other than single-family residential structures. Blank walls without openings are barred on public building faces, and long unbroken facades must include recesses, fenestration, or pilasters for character. The front door or main entrance must be visible from the street. Building colors must consist of earth tones, with bright or chromatic colors discouraged, and mechanical or waste equipment must be screened to match the primary structure.

An Ord. 58-17 amendment (passed 4-24-17) added a list of discouraged materials: mansard roofs on one-story residential-character buildings, pre-engineered metal or pole buildings, exposed concrete or cinder block on front or side walls (except architecturally patterned block), unaccented stucco, sheet metal siding, exposed unstained wood, vinyl siding, and flimsy vertical wood siding such as T-111. Roof materials should be asphalt, fiberglass, or slate, with clay tile or ribbed metal considered case by case. Large retail establishments, defined as a single tenant or occupant over 10,000 square feet, face added facade rules: any facade over 100 horizontal feet must include wall-plane projections or recesses at least 3 percent of the facade's length and extending at least 20 percent of it, and street-facing facades need arcades, display windows, entries, or awnings along at least 60 percent of their length. Large parking lots must be broken up with landscaping or walkways and must include customer trash receptacles throughout.