Project Background:

The Town of Fairview is a fast growing community located within a vibrant spine of growth and development known as the US-75 Corridor. Despite its current growth, Fairview retains elements of its heritage, which belie strong agrarian roots associated with life in the North Texas Prairie. This heritage is (and has been) a dominant force in community development, reflected in local landscape and land-uses, and a major form giver defining current political divisions. This agrarian heritage was, and in many cases remains, a vital component of the social identity of Fairview. It is manifest in a community motto, which simply states, 'Keeping It Country'. Like many surrounding communities within the US-75 corridor, development trends in Fairview have assumed patterns that rarely convey this heritage. Prairie landscapes and traditional architectural detail have given way to more conventional styles of commercial development thereby replacing regional and/or local identity with a more ubiquitous look associated with the American Freeway. The experience of transitioning from one community to another along US- 75 is lost within this development trend, blurring the boundaries between towns and threatening their ability to distinguish themselves and the rich agrarian heritage that defines them.

Project Program:

As commercial development within the US- 75 Corridor expands along the highway, it creates a wall of economic value that suppresses economic growth and value beyond the corridor. Roadways forming the eastern, western, and southern boundaries of Fairview's proposed Town Center District are thoroughfares where this trend will soon be occurring. The cumulative result of such a trend is a district where economic value is concentrated along perimeter thoroughfares, with little to no economic attraction extending into the district itself. This effect will render the proposed Town Square, the future heart of this community, devoid of any meaningful economic stability .It is the charge of this plan commission to preserve Fairview's identity by redirecting current development trends and (in so doing) re-energize the proposed New Town Center so that it may benefit from the same economic energy now concentrated on the perimeter of this Town Center District.

Inventory and Analysis:

Due to minimal existing commercial development along their portion of the US-5 corridor, Fairview has an opportunity to reverse these detrimental trends. Fairview has commissioned the landscape architect to prepare a master plan and design guidelines for their future Central Business District. The first step in the preparation of the master plan was a thorough inventory and analysis of the project area and surrounding jurisdictions. The central business district property is comprised of individual farmed lands subdivided by creekways and woodlands that flow through the community .Form analysis diagrams were prepared from the inventory and analysis findings that documented opportunities such as the creekways and woodlands as well as challenges such as surrounding growth trends.

Recommendations:

The master plan utilizes Fairview's existing landscape and topography as form giving elements that serve to subdivide the district into inter-related zones, supported by a hierarchal thoroughfare system. Elements such as creekways and woodlands are preserved in this master plan, utilized as open space and parks that balance commercial development. The key zone within the master is the town square that showcases the community's identity and unique environmental assets within a 'civic' park. A town hall, convention center, library, and various other civic buildings complete the town square, unifying civic elements with recreational opportunities. Structures within the 'civic' park respond to the recreational benefits of their surroundings through their detailing and placement. All zones within the district respond to the town square as the dominant component within the central business district.

Reinforcing the importance of the town square is a hierarchal thoroughfare system that links the various zones of the district. The system is comprised of related streetscapes that utilize a family of architectural and landscape elements distinctive of the central business district. Streetscapes, and their corresponding zone, are distinguished by the manner in which they present these elements. Canopy trees and their arrangements, site furnishings, paving materials, and building geometries all work in harmony to create the streetscape. Repetition of these elements is key in rendering a legible system. Movement toward important destinations is denoted through the intensification this repetition.

The dominant street within this system is the Ceremonial Parkway, a north/south thoroughfare that alleviates the development pressures currently slated for Greenville Avenue. Prior to the master plan, Greenville Avenue was a major thoroughfare that formed the eastern boundary of the district, providing a dominant connection to communities north and south of Fairview. Plans were underway to expand this thoroughfare to a six-land divided highway that would physical disjoin the central business district from the very community it served. Reversing this detrimental effect, the master plan proposed the creation of the Ceremonial Parkway which extends through the heart of the district, as opposed to the edge, thereby providing economic worth to all areas it passes, in particular the town square. By transitioning the Ceremonial Parkway into a couplet design (two three-lane one way streets), a thoroughfare is created that accomplishes necessary traffic loads at a human scale. Its design allows for the preservation of Greenville Avenue in its rural state, avoiding the creation of a physical barrier that disjoins the community.

The master plan supports modes of alternative transportation within the district. An existing rail line is preserved for potential light-rail use in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System (DART). This rail line connects to the eastern boundary of the' civic' park created in the town square, thereby reinforcing Fairview's unique identity to its visitors. In addition to potential light rail transportation, the master plan incorporates a variety of hike and bike paths that utilize both the creekways and major thoroughfares as corridors. The various streetscapes within the district anticipate this transportation, with designs that accommodate appropriate trail widths and facilities for such a system. As with the light rail, the town square serves as a major destination along these routes as they flow through Fairview and into regional multi-jurisdictional trail systems.

The master plan replaces ubiquitous development patterns along U.S. 75 with architecture and landscape that responds more appropriately to the community's agrarian heritage. This is accomplished through building setbacks that vary along the US- 75 corridor, eliminating a potential wall of commercial development. Large landscape setbacks are established between the buildings and the corridor, minimizing the heavy architectural presence found in other communities along this corridor. A palette of plant material is used to create a distinctive 'prairie' aesthetic that signifies the community's presence along the corridor.

Supporting the master plan, guidelines for the Fairview Central Business District protect, preserve, and project the identity of Fairview's rural community. This is accomplished through the creation of requirements that govern the presentation of identity elements found within the following categories: 1) streetscape design. 2) site design, and 3) architectural design. These guidelines protect values indicated within the master plan in manners that are not burdensome or constraining to future developers, thereby ensuring the success of the district.

The landscape architect prepared both streets cape and site design guidelines. Streetscape design dictates the various streets and intersections that occur with the district. These guidelines control paving sections & materials, architectural icons, sidewalks, landscape setbacks, and landscaping within the district. It is within these guidelines that the rhythmic use of elements is established that organizes the thoroughfare system in a legible and hierarchal manner. Components of the site design guidelines include building setbacks, parking lot design, site landscaping, and general site design. The streetscape and site design sections incorporate acceptable landscape and site furnishing charts that control the expression of both hardscape and landscape elements. These charts assist the city in their efforts to enforce and protect the intent of the master plan.

Specialized Treatments:

Architectural guidelines were prepared with the landscape architect's input towards both aesthetics and construction methodologies. These guidelines govern the central business district in three distinct manners. Development on the fringes of the district, and their corresponding guidelines, respond to basic architectural principles rather than specific details. As one moves deeper into the district, the architectural principals that control perimeter development transition to specific detailing. This transition culminates in the town square, where guidelines are based upon specific architectural detailing. This approach places the greatest amount of control on development centered around the town square, the heart of the district and community while still unifying perimeter development.