Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

Chapter 2: Planning Process & Concept Design

to medium-scale buildings arranged in an informal but organized way around an outdoor plaza. This plaza or gathering place, which was the single most frequently named need among those identified by the public during background meetings and the design workshop, could serve a variety of functions depending on the season. In good weather, Morrisville residents could enjoy outdoor movies and concerts. Fall and winter might bring pumpkin and Christmas tree sales, while weekend farmers’ markets could be featured throughout the long local growing season.

Uses in this area should be those that need good access but do not require highway visibility: a children’s theater or other performance space, live-work space, special office space, arts uses, and flexible and incubator space for startups or small businesses needing a location with special character, along with a few specialty shops toward the most visible section of this district at the Town Hall Drive end. Live-work space would ensure round-the-clock occupancy and safety of the public areas, with owners using their ground floor businesses during the day and heading upstairs to their living quarters in the evening. A café or restaurant may survive in this location if surrounding uses, such as a theater and associated classrooms or programs, have enough active and regular programming throughout the day and week. Because the nearby region is already abundantly supplied with high-visibility retail and service uses, a conventional shopping destination or downtown mix is unlikely to be viable in this somewhat out-of-the-way location. The key to the success of the civic and community heart would be to assemble an assortment of complementary uses that need and can take advantage of the unique location, perhaps with a creative or arts emphasis, and provide synergy and activity among each other. New Residential District: The new residential transition area between the historic crossroads and the civic/ cultural focus may be marked with public art, footpaths, and vehicular connections. A dogleg in the vehicular street would slow traffic while still allowing access. A children’s park might occupy a key location in the transition area and could be enhanced with a water element (perhaps serving as a play feature) as well as a notable work of public art. South of the park and footpath, new streets should permeate the area and open it up for use and redevelopment. This location would be well suited for new housing

Although the collection of buildings may be clearly oriented around this public space, the physical settingwouldbedeliberately informal and vernacular rather than monumental, to fit with the character of the nearby historic rural crossroads. A variety of rooflines, outdoor rooms created by the spaces between buildings, and covered porches would ensure that this new area resembles old Morrisville in its human scale and rural village character. Even the parking areas could be deliberately broken up into small lots tucked behind and among buildings. A venue like the community arts facility pictured above could host performances, artist studios, classrooms, galleries, and other civic functions. (Photo: Ben Hitchings, Town of Morrisville)

20 │ Town Center Plan

January 2007