Existing Conditions | 45
addressed the above, as well as conducted
a planning exercise with the attendees
so that their ideas about where and how
development should be located in the Study
Area could be articulated.
Keypad polling session
Several questions were asked of the
attendees that helped frame the Study
Areas strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and issues. Questions also drilled into
the overriding principles and objectives
that should guide the planning process
so that the resulting plan would meet with
community desires.
In summary, many of the attendees lived
in the Study Area area and recognized
that development was inevitable. As a
requirement of new growth, most wanted
to see smart growth, environmental
responsibility, preservation of rural
character and a proportional jobs to housing
balance. Where development was to
occur, most wanted to pursue a higher level
of connectivity between neighborhoods,
complete streets, environmentally
responsible stormwater management,
compact and walkable neighborhoods and
a higher level of land use integration and
mix of uses within the neighborhoods and
communities.
Environmental responsibility and
linking stormwater management into a
comprehensive system were also priorities
along with recognizing the importance of
the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife
Refuge Area and its potential connections
to open space and green space. In addition
to connecting to green space, providing
and adding to the amount of park space
recommended by National Recreation and
Parks Association (NRPA) standards was
considered important.
Group planning activity
Following the keypad polling, attendees
were asked to break into work groups to
create a hypothetical master plan for the
Study Area based on what they collectively
thought was most important. They looked
where to develop versus what areas may
be best to preserve. Although there were
some outliers, generally the themes were
similar from group to group which included:
smart, compact growth in the northern
areas and preservation of rural areas to
the south. Also important were walkability,
connections to transportation, having town
and neighborhood centers, and ‘greening’
up the area.
Online Survey
The same keypad polling questions were
released through an online survey in order
to reach the portion of the population that
was interested in giving feedback for the
study but did not attend the meeting. The
online survey had 568 respondents.
Citizens presented their ideas to the group and to the planning team during
the first public charette.
