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Bishop Planning Introduces Downtown Color Palettes to Council

Bishop Planning Introduces Downtown Color Palettes to Council 

The Bishop City Council got its first look at recommended color palettes for the downtown Specific Plan from Assistant Planner Ana Budnyk at last week’s meeting. The presentation included three themes each with a range of hues for primary and trim colors. The presentation itself was well received but the big question was how to transition from the concept to reality. 

Councilmember Karen Schwartz summarized the issue bluntly: the goal is to avoid “puke green” or similarly icky colors in the business corridors.  

The palettes are part of the Specific Plan process, started years ago. An integral element was revitalizing a downtown corridor that would foster more retail businesses and encourage tourists to explore. Main and Line Streets once included interesting retail shops and restaurants. Then COVID hit and the retail corridors never quite recovered from the shut-down. 

The downside of codifying the paint colors was staff time and enforcement. While the Council did debate a choice between treating facade color choices with a carrot or a stick, neither was really feasible. Councilmember Karen Kong was more concerned with signage in the business corridors.

Rather than become the “Paint Police” similar to a Homeowners’ Association, Council agreed on the less punitive path of education with the City’s color recommendations available in area paint stores. While City permits are required for alterations to buildings, no permit is required for painting a facade. The proposed solution: business owners would be provided with the palette choices during the annual business license renewal process. Councilmember Jim Ellis used a football analogy to describe the process. Businesses would be given a large field to play in and be discouraged from running out of bounds. 

The Council never zeroed in on a specific palette. Those palettes are available on the City website through the agenda packet. The three choices: 

  • Sunset and Sage ranged from dark to smokey blues and rusty red to beige 
  • Sand and Stone: Dark blue to light gray and dark brown to beige 
  • Warm and Bright: Dark blue to a light blue/gray and reddish brown to gold 
bishop planning color palette
Courtesy of City of Bishop

The consensus of the Council was to stay with the somewhat vague guidelines outlined in the City Specific Plan. Those guidelines include “exterior colors that complement the architectural style or theme of the building and varying color to provide architectural interest.” 

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