COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS DOWNTOWN CHARACTER + ECONOMIC NODES Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States. -- Ronald Reagen Imagine…A Hamden that: Leads the State of CT in new business development
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COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS - Hamden · COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS ... vehicular traffic along Hamden’s commercial corridors are not mutually exclusive ... By addressing these questions in this
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COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS
DOWNTOWN CHARACTER + ECONOMIC NODES
Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises
are responsible for almost all the
economic growth in the United States. -- Ronald Reagen
Imagine…A
Hamden that:
Leads the State of CT in new business development
Shows the greatest improvement neighborhood businesses
Has more locally owned businesses than any other CT municipality
Has the greatest percentage of high school students employed in the region
Is designed to encourage residents to walk to grocery stores, banks, and pharmacies.
ELEMENTS OF DOWNTOWN CHARACTER
What if parts of Whitney Avenue and Dixwell Avenue looked like this?
It is difficult to design a space that will
not attract people. What is remarkable is
how often this has been accomplished. -- William Whyte
Most buildings constructed post World War II prioritized speed of construction, and affordability
of labor and building materials over character. Buildings with human scale, detail and proportion
of elements became a rarity. Buildings that respect these characteristics do not need to add cost
to construction, but the do require thoughtful design.
Buildings that invite window shopping, spark visual curiosity and evoke a welcoming
environment are typically those with historic scale and detail, feature public art or unique design
elements, or contribute as an edge of a great public space.
Hamden’s citizens place a high value on access to food, whether at restaurants, from local
grocery stores or farmers markets. Food is often the excuse for social and cultural
gatherings. Private parties and picnics, food truck events, restaurants, wine tastings and summer
concerts are all places we build relationships and experience new places. Recognizing that food
can activate an area, adding outdoor cafes, and on-street benches to enjoy a cup of coffee or an
ice cream cone can make the difference between cultivating a social space or deadening an area
and discouraging human occupation. Hamden’s commercial corridors should be studied for ways
to enliven the social realm in safe and desirable ways; in ways that encourage social vitality, and
economic investment in combinations of retail, commercial and residential uses.
What Hamden citizens don’t like is traffic! Encouraging economic growth and limiting
vehicular traffic along Hamden’s commercial corridors are not mutually exclusive. They are, in
fact, symbiotic. Accomplishing this combination requires three steps:
1. Slow traffic down enough that travellers can take note of the stores and services available
along the way;
2. Provide public space infrastructure, such as sidewalks, bike lanes, benches, recycling and
trash receptacles, lighting and street trees, that spur economic development;
3. Encourage parking! If cars are parked, people are walking. This may seem a simple
concept, but it is the single most effective way to positively activate a commercial
corridor. Providing on-street parking and parking behind a line of shops and service
centers is one of the most successful ways to positively activate a street with pedestrians.
Active pedestrians are the best tool for creating a profitable, safe and fun commercial
corridor. [See Chapter on CIRCULATION, TRAFFIC + PARKING for further
discussion.]
To create, preserve and enhance successful places, a balance between good food, good
architecture and traffic flow that does not inhibit social activity and non-vehicular travel along
sidewalks and bike lanes. The goal of public space along Hamden’s commercial corridors is to
shape a series of satisfying, sustainable, and safe spaces in each part of Town. They must be
developed or enhanced based upon “economic realities, cultural needs, environmental concerns
and design opportunities.”
WHAT MAKES A PLACE SUCCESSFUL?
Areas that are desolate, devoid of people, do not make for promising
economic development.
Downtown areas and neighborhood nodes need lively, walkable and bikeable
landscapes where commerce and social interaction can happen serendipitously.
In October, 2007 the Hamden Planning Office conducted a four day charrette. This intensive
design workshop studied twelve neighborhoods, and Hamden’s three major commercial
corridors: Dixwell Avenue, Whitney Avenue and State Street. An enormous amount of work
was completed during these four days, with a great deal of polishing by the consultants during
the post-charrette phase. Hamden’s new zoning regulations were written based upon the values
and vision articulated during the charrette process, resulting in the most progressive and
comprehensive zoning regulations in the State of Connecticut. The hybrid form- and use-based
zoning regulations were adopted in December, 2009 and became effective January 1, 2010.
Bookstores are lonely forts, spilling light
onto the sidewalk. They civilize their
neighborhoods. -- John Updike
Hamden’s citizens, neighborhood associations, planning staff, and planning and zoning
commissioners worked diligently to clarify a vision for three critical aspects of the town’s future:
1. Protect and enhance the relationship between existing and future buildings, and
the social spaces that form between them;
2. Strengthen the potential for responsible economic growth, and an expansion of the
local tax base,
3. Locate optimal areas for economic nodes along Hamden’s major commercial
corridors, where benefits outweigh negative impacts on adjacent neighborhoods
and the preservation of their character, and
4. Prioritize environmentally sustainable development of buildings, the public realm,
neighborhoods and the region.
By planning ahead, the important questions of "What should be built?", "Where should it be
built?", "How it should be built?" were addressed in the updated zoning regulations. The
questions regarding the physical and economic development of the Town and Region are
considered here. "What infrastructure is needed to support future development?" “What goods
and services can be provided on a regional level, resulting in cost savings to Hamden and other
area municipalities?” By addressing these questions in this Plan, and not leaving them to be
discussed and debated only during the permitting process for individual projects, principles and
public policy are articulated and will serve as a dispassionate guide for future development.
Development of large-scale plans for most of the town, without regard to individual projects, has
allowed Hamden to secure its long-term goals in public policy, not personality. The public,
developers, public officials and anyone else that chose to share their ideas and concerns were
heard. Their ideas and concerns were vetted and incorporated into the revised zoning
regulations. Now, not just the allowed uses in a zone are clear, but so is the intended form for
each zone. Investors in Town can now be clear about what Hamden expects to be built, prior to
spending money on architects, land surveyors, engineers and other design professionals. This
creates a much more business-friendly atmosphere in commercial areas, while giving a level of
confidence to the public regarding what new spaces will feel like and how new buildings will
present themselves to the street. In addition, improved streetscapes, pedestrian- and bicycle-
friendly designs and the opportunity for an improved tax base increases with each new
development.
The new zoning regulations have helped set the stage for “development readiness” in areas along
the three major commercial corridors and within Hamden’s various and unique neighborhood
nodes.
Pre-Planned Zoning and Streamlined Permitting Hamden has planned and zoned each Transect and Special District for appropriate development
and has modify its zoning regulations to reflect this planning. Subdivision and other land use
regulations should be reviewed and revised to meet the intent of this Plan.
To improve permitting processes for applicants and ensure coordination between land use
permitting agencies, it is recommended that applicants be able to apply for locally issued permits
through a single point of contact at the municipality. Coordination between the Planning &
Zoning Department, the Building Department, the Engineering Department and the Fire
Department would streamline the permitting processing.
Market-Based Planning
Hamden has planned and zoned each Transect and Special District for appropriate uses and
densities based upon existing and projected market demand. The Planning & Zoning
Commission has modified its zoning regulations to reflect this long-range planning. The allowed
uses may change over time as market demand fluctuates.
Fairness to Neighbors
The adjacencies between Zoning Districts, as shown on the Zoning Map and in the Transect, as
shown in the Zoning Regulations, are meant to consider appropriate neighboring uses, building
form and densities. The opportunity for symbiotic relationships between various uses and
densities should be encouraged, as well as mitigation of possible negative impacts. New
development should balance the positive and negative impacts on neighboring communities, and,
where applicable, on those who may be displaced by the new development.
Transportation Access
Permitted uses, building form and densities along Hamden’s three major commercial corridors
should consider access to mass transportation in lieu of automobiles as a development
asset. Development that will be supported by existing transportation infrastructure or by
reasonable identifiable upgrades to that infrastructure should be encouraged, as should that
which will decrease the number of vehicle miles travelled (vmt).
The street is the river of life of the city,
the place where we come together, the
pathway to the center. -- William Whyte
Adequate Utilities and other Infrastructure
Uses, building form and densities should be supported by existing water, sewer and other utility
infrastructure or by reasonable identifiable upgrades to that infrastructure.
Utility and infrastructure upgrades located within ¼ mile of major commercial corridors, mass
transit routes and/or areas that have been zoned to accommodate increased development density
and intensity and also have one or more of these additional characteristics:
1. Job Opportunities: New development within economic nodes will create employment
additional job opportunities;
2. Housing Opportunities: economic nodes will include new "workforce housing" or "starter
home" opportunities.;
3. Community Enhancement: New development within the economic nodes will support or
revitalize existing uses and structures;
4. Land Re-Use: Much or all of the new development within economic nodes will be located on
previously disturbed land;
5. Transit Availability: Economic nodes should be designated within convenient walking distance
to public transit;
6. Smart Energy: Zoning and other regulations within a growth district should promote or require
efficient use of energy through improved design, high efficiency technologies and conservation
and/or the use of clean renewable resources to create electricity and heat;
7. Green Buildings and Low-Impact Development: Zoning and other regulations within a growth
district should promote the efficient use of water and other resources, including best practices for
water conservation, wastewater management and stormwater management;
8. Good Design: Zoning and other regulations within a growth district should incorporate best
practices for building, site and neighborhood design.
New growth and development will continue to occur throughout the Hamden outside of
identified economic nodes. Nonetheless, a successful economic growth initiatives should:
Create an inventory of development-ready sites for new and expanding
businesses, especially in T-4, T-5 and Special Districts where appropriate;
Cooperate and coordinate with other municipalities in the Greater New Haven
region to promote the fair and equitable distribution of new economic growth
throughout the region;
Create a range of new workforce housing opportunities throughout the town;
Promote new commercial and residential growth that is consistent with the State’s
Smart Growth principles;
Act as a catalyst for the revitalization of the Greater New Haven region;
Provide a focal point for coordinated action by the various state, regional and
local entities involved in land use and development
By concentrating new development and
redevelopment in areas that have existing
or planned infrastructure, we can create
jobs, avoid sprawl, expand
transportation, and protect our
environment. -- Martin O’Malley
Governor of Maryland
Concept Sketch for Economic Development on Big Box Sites
If there's a lesson in street-watching it is
that people do like basics -- and as
environments go, a street that is open to
the sky and filled with people and life is a
splendid place to be. -- William Whyte
Here is a corner store that has made the most of its location in a way that enhances
the walkability and sociability the surrounding neighborhood. The small scale of this
store does not compete with surrounding residences. The outdoor cafe establishes a
useful neighborhood social area that uses an otherwise useless large setback. Using a
large percentage of glazing on the first floor clearly distinguishes the retail use from
that of the second floor where residential style double-hung windows make clear that
a quieter use exists above.
Smooth flowing traffic is a distant memory. Where auto-dependency continues, peak traffic
increases in both duration and volume. There is growing public support for change that combats
global warming, addresses the unpredictable increase of fuel prices, the sameness of commercial
strips, their automobile-oriented design and pavement-dominated environment. The desire for
authentic places is increasingly at odds with the form of and access to existing public spaces. In
Hamden, as in most municipalities, older auto-oriented commercial strips border neighborhoods
that depend on the services and convenience they provide.
We can never get a re-creation of
community and heal our society without
giving our citizens a sense of belonging.
-- Patch Adams There is a silver lining to the creeping obsolescence of strip malls. Redevelopment of these areas
into walkable, mixed-use, transit-oriented streets typically result in:
1. A greater tax base for the Town;
2. Greater desirable economic development;
3. Environmentally responsible site design, architectural design, and product use;
4. Improved access to quality mass transit, for those with or without access to automobiles,
and
5. Coveted housing for millennials and baby-boomers.
RESTRUCTURING THE COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR
In the 1990’s, contemporary planning was just beginning to move in the direction of mixed-use
developments. Plans that combined shopping with residential, commercial and entertainment
uses on a single large parcel, complete with internal streets and walkways are now replacing
large malls and open-air strip malls.
Strip malls sprouted like dandelions, up and down commercial corridors across America during
the 1950’s through the early 1980’s. “A legacy of low-quality, short-lived construction” along
wide commercial streets were the result of several factors:
1. The post-World War II love affair with the automobile;
2. An oversupply of properties zoned for retail use, and
3. An inflexible design with very long blocks, many curb cuts and the front two-thirds of the
lots swathed in parking spaces.
Strip mall sites have buildings that are typically limited to a single story, and are located as far
back from the street as possible to advertise how much parking they supply. The Hamden Plaza
and the Hamden Mart were among the very first strip malls built in America. They were the
shopping destination for those who lived and worked in New Haven. The most trendy shopping
in the area was in Hamden, and it was only a trolley ride away.
One of the first developments of this type in the United States was Mashpee Commons, located