Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

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│ Town Center Plan January 2007
Introduction
The Planning Process
To help the community pursue this goal,
the Town of Morrisville conducted a special
planning process to share information, solicit
public input, and craft a Town Center Plan.
This work was led by the Morrisville Planning
and Zoning Board, with staff support from
the Morrisville Planning Department. The
process began with a series of background
meetings held in early 2006 to review
historic resources, transportation facilities,
greenways, and civic facilities in the Town
Center area. These meetings provided an
opportunity for the Planning Team to share
background information on the project, and
for residents and other stakeholders to share
their ideas for the future Town Center.
In June of 2006, the Planning Team toured
Morrisville’s historic crossroads in order to
develop a better understanding of the existing
conditions in the project area. In early July,
the team visited other town centers in the
region to gather ideas and benefit from
lessons learned in these places. In mid-July,
the Planning Team hosted a three-day design
workshop with the help of a professional
Design Team in order to gather additional
community input and prepare a draft design
for the Morrisville Town Center. More than
100 people attended the workshop and
provided their input. The Design Team then
took these comments and used them to help
prepare a draft design. The Planning Team
held an additional public meeting in August
to discuss implementation strategies and
receive input. Town staff then drafted this
written plan that incorporated the physical
design prepared by the Design Team,
and brought it to the Planning and Zoning
Board (PZB) for review and revision. The
PZB recommended the plan to the Board of
Commissioners, who reviewed it and adopted
it on January 22, 2007.
This plan provides a rare opportunity for
Morrisville to create a focal point that honors
the town’s past and serves as a vibrant
center of community in the years ahead. By
working together to implement the plan, the
Town and the community can help protect
and enhance Morrisville’s place as the small
town in the heart of the Triangle.
Morrisville was the site of one of the last engagements
of the Civil War, as General Sherman’s Union troops
pursued General Johnston’s Confederate soldiers west
out of Raleigh. This photo depicts Francis and Peter
Redding of McLaughlin’s Ohio Squadron of Union Cavalry,
which fought in Morrisville on April 13, 1865. (Photo:
maintained by
Larry Stevens)
In addition to the original depot village, Morrisville has
long been home to the Shiloh Community founded by
free African Americans and slaves in the early 19th cen-
tury. (Photo: Ben Hitchings, Town of Morrisville)