Use Map with adequate infrastructure to attractive new manufacturing firms to the area and 1) promote them nationally and internationally, and 2) protect them from pressures to be developed as something other than industrial or office uses. Policy 6.5: Attract New Retailers One of the strategies emphasized in the Town’s 2015-2025 Economic Development Strategy is to attract retailers that the Town currently lacks: sit-down restaurants, niche and clothing retailers, new or upgraded big-box stores, and higher-end chain restaurants. All of these uses in demand by local residents. Fuquay-Varina sometimes has entry-tier versions of some chain outlets; upgrading them and acquiring new places should be on the menu. To get them, marketers don’t just count rooftops, but look for lifestyles or tapestry segments that support their brands. Mixed-use centers, younger audiences, and higher wages will help attract these type of businesses. Policy 6.6: Find Opportunities to Include Artisan Industrial Space in Identified Mixed-Use Activity Centers Fuquay-Varina has an opportunity to introduce a variety of new creative building types, increasing opportunities to attract different kinds of people to the Town. Artisan industrial space is often times low-cost-space that can accommodate entrepreneurs who are involved in making products. These kinds of businesses often occur in rehabilitated historic buildings, in no frills new construction, or within live/work units, which accommodate a workshop and living quarters in one building with one mortgage. This allows creative entrepreneurs the means to affordably engage in small-scale artistic and light industrial pursuits. These buildings can also be used for artist studios and creative knowledge workers. Artisan industrial space can be set up with ground floor workshops facing onto streets, with large doors that can expose the passerby to the work
happening inside. The process of encouraging new business development can be spurred by incentives for low- cost incubator space as well as more permanent artisan industrial space, where land values are lower than those in the rest of Town.
are addressed in the Town’s Land Development Ordinance (LDO). Town officials should review current rules and design controls and amend them (if necessary) to improve use, visual, and spatial compatibility ― especially when construction on two adjacent properties may be separated by years or decades. Key topics for the LDO review include: proximity of specific land uses; complementary density or intensity standards; site and building orientation requirements; building height transitions; minimum setbacks; transitional street design standards; appropriate land features, buffering or landscaping; and lighting design considerations. Policy 7.3: Improve Parking Design Explore opportunities to reduce parking in front of existing commercial development, especially in areas of the Town where walkability is a goal. In all new development, require parking to be in the rear of the building and screened from view from the street. Policy 7.4: Enhance Character and Walkability by Orienting Buildings to the Street Prioritize the orientation of buildings towards the street in new (re)development. Doing so will create a more walkable neighborhood, downtown, or activity center environment. In conventional development, commercial uses like gas stations, drive-throughs and banks often place the building at the back of the lot and the vehicular circulation in the front. Flipping the two helps activate the street and create a more pedestrian-friendly streetscape. Policy 7.5: Provide Street Furniture and Lighting That Enhances the Character of the Town All street furniture and fixtures ― including benches, trash receptacles, bollards, planters, tree grates and bus shelters ― should be a consistent color and style along each streetscape. Styles may
Community Character
Policy 7.1: Establish a Discernible Neighborhood Structure New neighborhoods in Fuquay-Varina should contain a discernible center and a clear edge. This is an organizational concept that provides a clear identity to the neighborhood. While it may be more difficult to have well-defined edges surrounding a neighborhood, it is imperative that its center be well-formed. The center of the neighborhood should include a civic open space such as a park, square, or plaza, depending on its location within the range of contexts from suburban to urban. Neighborhoods should be organized around a pedestrian shed, or a circle with a radius approximately one-quarter mile in length, which represents a five-minute walk distance from the center to the edge. The pedestrian shed concept ensures that all residents are within a short walk of a meaningful destination. These destinations can include mixed-use centers or other civic open spaces. In the case of corridor development, the pedestrian shed may be linear. Policy 7.2: Encourage Transitional Uses and Intensities in and Around Project Boundaries Desirable growth and development patterns depicted on the Future Land Use Map considered transitional and compatibility issues between adjacent properties when assigning Character Area categories. Performance criteria established for the mixed-use Character Area categories also considered internal transitional and compatibility issues ― land use allocation, maximum density, maximum intensity, minimum street connectivity and other site design issues ― for developing complementary blocks or phases on the same property or properties. Nonetheless, most of the development and building design details that ensure proper compatibility within and between properties
140
3-141 141
Fuquay-Varina Land Use Plan
Chapter 6: Policies & Recommendations
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker