Town and Country Vision Plan
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7.2.1 Suburban Village Centers

Suburban villageSuburban village centers are intended to focus retail, office, medium density residential, institutional, neighborhood services and transit opportunities within an area bounded by a ten minute walk, roughly a one-half mile radius. This section describes the strategies for creating suburban village centers by explaining the planning and design principles upon which the strategies are based.  The strategies are intended to facilitate the gradual evolution of village centers over time in response to market forces. 

A. Strategies and Principles

Principles for locating potential village centers 
The principles for locating suburban village centers are described below and illustrated in Figure 7-6.

• Locate centers along multi-lane regional roads at points of high accessibility. These points could include a series of intersections or the potential for a series of intersections that offer dispersed connectivity to existing or proposed development on both sides of the multi-lane regional road. 
• Locate centers where there is already a critical mass of commercial or mixed-use development.
• Locate centers where the potential exists for future public transportation.
• Locate centers on high ground at the edge of watersheds.
• Locate centers where possibilities exist for establishing connections to existing residential development.
Define traffic improvements including traffic calming techniques, street network potential and connections to existing suburban development.
Good site access and efficient circulation are key elements of successful suburban centers.  The former ensures that suburban centers are attractive for development while the latter permits the centers to achieve a suitable mass.  The principles of site access and circulation should be applied to people, not just vehicles.  In other words, transit and bicycles—in addition to automobiles—deserve attention as viable means of site access, while accommodations for pedestrians should be recognized for their ability to enhance internal circulation.

Listed below are several important components of programs focused on the optimization of site access and internal/external circulation:

• Maximal interconnectedness between all roadways and land parcels.
• Maximal connections to roadways outside the suburban center, so that the site is approachable from several directions.
• Traffic calming to reduce cut-through traffic and control travel speeds on neighborhood streets.
• Roadway pattern that fosters appropriate pedestrian-scale development, with block dimensions of roughly 200 feet to 600 feet on end, if possible.
• Wide sidewalks and additional pedestrian amenities such as shade trees and street furniture.
• Parallel parking in front of street-front businesses, to allow convenient access.
• Bicycle parking facilities, preferably on the edge of the main pedestrian zone.
• Conveniently located transit facilities, including shelters and benches.
Establish future block and parcel configuration
Some areas proposed for village centers will often feature large parcels of underutilized land. Others may contain existing commercial development, either strip malls with buildings set back from the road and parking in front, or a “big-box” retail structure with parking in front. The objective of this strategy is to incorporate these disparate existing situations into a holistic village concept.  Figure 7-6 illustrates principles for establishing village-oriented blocks in these contexts.
• For large parcels of underutilized land, extend the surrounding street network through the parcel in order to form development blocks and maximize connectivity. Block sizes should be in the 400’ to 600’ range.
• For strip malls create a long-term block plan that uses the driving aisles of the parking areas for future roadway. Again, block sizes should be in the 400’ to 600’ range. Attempt to connect this development to the village by means of pedestrian and bikeways.
• For big box retail the same parceling principle applies: plan the driving aisles of parking areas for future roadways. Establish connections to the main village area.
• For strip malls and big box retail it is important that the commercial activity within these developments be incorporated into the village center in order to create a critical mass of services. Over time, as the remainder of the village begins to develop and perhaps transit is introduced there may be a demand for more intensive development on these parcels. This development should be built along the street with parking behind. 
Establish long-term mixed-use program
The majority of village development should be mixed-use in order to create the rich tapestry of activities typical of village centers, to facilitate walking access to these activities, and to create a residential population within the center.  The long-term village build-out program should be based upon the following principles:
• Uses should be mixed within the same block and within the same building where possible.
• Ground floor development should be retail and service; upper level development should be either office or residential with preference given to residential.
 

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