DESIGN CHARRETTE
Designed with community in mind
To properly plan and design a project of this magnitude, we brought in renowned neighborhood designer, Tom Low, of Civic by Design of Charlotte, NC. Tom was a founding member of the Traditional Neighborhood Development philosophy, starting with the New Urbanist firm DPZ in the 1980s. Over his decades of experience, he has planned hundreds of Traditional Neighborhood Developments across the country.
To aid in the design process, Tom hosted a live charrette over the course of September 2022. The charrette involved numerous meetings with neighbors, community stakeholders, local government officials, and local planning organizations.
Based upon the feedback he received in these meetings, Tom was able to draft initial diagrams for the site. In these diagrams, Tom approached the neighborhood design from different perspectives to show the possibilities the site provided.
We presented these diagrams to neighbors and other community stakeholders and gathered their responses. The feedback received informed an initial draft neighborhood plan, crafted by Tom and his team over the course of the next week.
The neighborhood’s main street is on the southwest side of the property, close to Alt. 220. This concept retains the historic structures of Murray Cider Co. to be repurposed for civic and commercial uses. Residential properties radiate northeast throughout the property, with higher densities toward the neighborhood Main Street and lower densities toward the top of the property.
Well-designed streetscapes, rear alleys for parking, and dedicated pedestrian walkways provide residents pleasant walking conditions throughout the entire community. The property’s hilltops and sky pond are preserved as common amenities, and common greens allow for uninterrupted views of the surrounding mountains. The common greens also allow for natural drainage throughout the property - eliminating the need for expensive underground infrastructure and large, unsightly retaining ponds. This concept envisions a variety of housing types and price points - from apartment houses to large estates. This concept plan has not yet been submitted for consideration by Botetourt County and remains subject to change.
