Town of Summerville Planning Area - BCD Council of Governments

Goal Two – Community System Design: New communities and neighborhoods planned for the Townof Summerville should be designed and developed as extensions of existing communities or transitional parts ofnew communities.Objective:Provide an interconnected network of local roads linking to existing and plannedneighborhoods, community transportation design concepts proposed to benefit current and futureresidents of the Planning Area utilizing either the Modified Street Grid or Neighborhood Unit approach.Modified Street GridThe traditional street grid involves a series of two streets running perpendicular to each other resulting inrectangular blocks of private property for development. This development pattern was common practice in the18 th and 19 th centuries and exists in portions of the Planning Area.Development patterns of present day communities must reflect special consideration for environmentalconstraints within the natural landscape. Environmental constraints such as unsuitable soils and wetlands mayinhibit a definite traditional street grid system as currently in existence within older portions of the PlanningArea.The Modified Street Grid System is recommended for future land use districts with proposed high populationand residential densities such as the Gateway Mixed Use and Neighborhood Mixed Use District in addition toCentral Neighborhoods and Commercial Activity Centers.Neighborhood UnitThe Neighborhood Unit concept was originated by Clarence Perry, drawing upon Raymond Unwin’sneighborhood design planning principles in 1929. The initial design of the neighborhood unit was to provide analternative design approach to new communities opposite the typical residential style development of the streetgrid system. Perry’s approach to the Neighborhood Unit was designed for communities with lower residentialdensities, emphasizes open space components and less congestion when compared to the modified street gridsystem.The Neighborhood Unit is designed to integrate residential housing with schools, churches, and parksthroughout the one‐half mile of each quadrant. Avenues within the Neighborhood Unit should include amixture of office, retail and attached residential land uses to complement surrounding employment and singlefamilyresidential housing opportunities within the community.The Neighborhood Unit conceptual design is recommended for areas of predominately residential and serviceoriented land uses. Neighborhood Unit should be encouraged in the Neighborhood Mixed Use District, CentralNeighborhoods and Commercial Activity Centers.Transportation Design Element Page 7