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April 27, 2006

Heart of the Triad and New Urbanism

Heart of the Triad folks met yesterday.

Here's what didn't make the story, for lack of space.

David Taylor was really asking the steering committee for guidance on a couple of issues. The first had to do with which of the new maps should HDR be working with. The answer, courtesy of High Point's John Faircloth, was all three until the traffic data is back. That'll take close to six weeks, so there won't be a May meeting.

The next issue was what to do with the demand for open space and land zoned for agriculture. Throughout the planning process residents have sadi there should be a premium on open space, which one could take as a euphemism for preserving farmland. But what Taylor said he's found is that people are saying they want to preserve open space, but that he sees nothing to indicate its actually being done. Both counties allow residential development in agricultural zones at a rate of 1 house per acre. That doesn't really preserve much open space.

Taylor said if the counties are interested in preserving ag land, then they should probably consider agricultural zoning restrictions that allow one unit per 20 acres to one unit per 50 acres, or set aside more money for agricultural preservation programs -- where restrictive covenants are placed on a particular piece of property in exchange for some financial consideration.

Bill Whiteheart, a Forsyth County Commissioner who has repeatedly expressed concerns about Heart of the Triad putting restrictions on property owners rights, said that he thinks quite a few farmers in the region are in the same boat he is: they want to farm their land as long as they can, but don't expect the next generation too and want them to be able to capitalize on the land value, if need be.

The committee also discussed the nature of "New Urbanism," which is a movement within planning and development communities to create places where you have the basic principals of an old-fashioned urban neighborhood: homes, offices, shops all within close proximity. It's a movement that's fast on the rise in the United States and particularly in North Carolina, Taylor said. The three states where developments using New Urbanism concepts are most prevelant are Florida, California and North Carolina, he said. With that in mind, several members of the steering committee intend to take a field trip to Charlotte to see how some of these developments are working there. They tend to have high densities that planning boards and members of the public normally shy away from. Taylor said that with a good design, people will buy into the higher density.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at April 27, 2006 5:01 PM