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Recommendations
5.3 Future Land Use Categories, cont’d
5. CORRIDOR COMMERCIAL
A. Function
i. Provide commercial areas located along transportation corridors to meet local and
regional needs for sale of goods and services.
ii. Ensure that streets, buildings, structures and sites located along the primary transporta-
tion corridors and gateways to Morrisville present a positive visual image of the com-
munity and support Morrisville’s small town character.
B. Preferred Uses
i. Land uses should include retail uses, office and service uses, small scale business park
uses (light industrial, office), institutional uses, cultural/public uses, entertainment, and
residential (if located outside the Airport Overlay district).
ii. Retail buildings offering residential or office uses on upper floors are encouraged.
C. General Policies + Development Character
i. Design standards and signage requirements for this district should be consistent with
those in the Town Center area.
ii. Within this district, new development, re-development, infill development and structural
additions to existing development should be sensitively designed to reflect a positive
image of the community as expressed through architectural guidelines and appear-
ance standards for development and redevelopment.
iii. Retail development within this designation should establish and maintain a pedestrian
scale, walkable shopping experience offering such features as entrances immediately
adjacent to sidewalks, pedestrian amenities, outdoor eating areas, screened parking,
on street parking (where feasible), plazas and open spaces, and a variety of small retail
shops and services.
iv. New development should avoid large expanses of blank walls, should provide frequent
street level entries, and should provide sidewalk amenities such as street furniture, seat-
ing areas, trash cans, and lighting that enhance pedestrian use.
v. Building entrances should be placed close to the street, with ground floor windows,
articulated façades, appropriately scaled signs and lighting, and awnings or other
weather protection to encourage pedestrian activity.
vi. Parking and vehicle drives should be located away from building entrances, and not
located between a building entrance and the street. Surface parking should be ori-
ented behind or to the side of a building, accessed from an alley when possible, and
not on street corners.
vii. Development should be oriented away from sensitive natural resources, such as flood-
plains and ponds to minimize the environmental impacts of new development and
provide green space.
viii.Parking lots should be screened from adjacent street frontages and residential uses.
ix. Vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian links should extend into the surrounding develop-
ment.
Signs that are sensitive to nearby uses,
respect the scale and proportion of
buildings, and contribute to the sense
of place can help secure and maintain
a healthy economic climate. Facade-
mounted and street level signage is
preferred to tall, isolated signs that
create visual clutter and distract motor-
ists.
Transparent building façades generate interest
for the pedestrian and improve security through
enhanced visibility. Storefront windows and
doors help create an inviting environment for
pedestrians by breaking up monotony of a
street wall and welcoming pedestrians along
the sidewalk. Awnings, typically used to high-
light entryways or windows, appear out of
place when not part of a window or door.
In pedestrian-oriented areas, lighting should be
scaled to the pedestrian (not the automobile,)
and oriented towards the sidewalk and the
roadway to help maintain safety and visibility.
Scale, intensity, and fixture design vary between
areas of different densities and uses. Orna-
mental light posts and fixtures help to create an
attractive streetscape and should be consistent
with the architectural character of the immedi-
ate area.
This mixed-use project features local and national
stores and restaurants, office space, housing,
public open space, and public parking, along
a formerly declining commercial corridor.
This Morrisville example incorporates some
of the policies and development character
featured in the proposed district, but could
better accommodate parking behind the
buildings and additional landscaping to
support Morrisville’s small town character.
encouraged
discouraged