Issue link: http://townofcary.uberflip.com/i/791958
POLICY DIRECTION Policy Policy Intent Policy 2: Focus the Most Intense Types of Development in Strategic Locations Strive to locate the more dense forms of housing, retail, and office uses in Commercial Mixed Use Centers, Destination Centers, Mixed Use Employment Campuses, and Downtown Cary. Such uses might include multifamily residential and vertically-mixed, multistory commercial and office buildings. The intent of this policy is to place a primary emphasis on siting higher-density housing, mid-rise office, and mixed use development within a select number of targeted locations. By focusing such uses into a limited number of targeted locations (rather than spreading such efforts across too wide a geography), the town will be more likely to achieve a reasonable number of highly-functional, walkable, mixed use destinations of which to be proud. Implicit within this policy, and the related polices in Chapters 2-4, is the concept that this Plan embraces a "hierarchy" of intensities amongst these targeted locations.(See the Future Growth Framework Map for the locations of these centers.) In order of decreasing intensity: • Des na on Centers • Commercial Mixed Use Centers • Downtown Cary • Employment Mixed Use Campuses Policy 3: Encourage Mixed Use Development Support the creation of developments and locations that include a mix of commercial/retail uses, office and employment, and housing. Site designs should encourage future densification of sites. The intent of this policy is to recognize and accommodate both the growing public and market preference for mixed use destinations, as well as to obtain the public benefits associated with mixed use development. This Policy complements Policy 2, since Destination Centers, Downtown Cary, Commercial Mixed Use Centers, and Mixed Use Employment Campuses are all intended to be mixed use areas. (See the Future Growth Framework Map for the locations of these centers.) • Mixed use areas may emerge either whole-cloth in individual development projects, or as the aggregate result of a number of adjacent single-use projects. • The mixing of uses might occur either vertically (two or more uses within individual buildings), or horizontally (different uses sited side-by-side in adjacent buildings or parcels). • While the primary focus for mixed use development is in the four types of areas listed above, limited mixed use development might also occur in other locations, such as Commercial Centers. • Site designs should incorporate techniques to plan for future vertical expansion and infill. One example is the placement of surface parking lots so that they may be replaced by parking decks or buildings in the future. The Town could consider requiring a densification plan for projects in these centers to demonstrate how the site has been planned for future intensification. 87