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a 78-acre parcel owned by Hahn Co. a mile away. The latter
<br />proposal was then before the zoning committee.
<br /> The University of North Carolina-Charlotte then entered
<br />into partnership with John Crosland, a local housing developer.
<br />Five years ago, the company ventured into commercial develop-
<br />ment and sold its residential interests. Crosland and the univer-
<br />sity decided that their 80 acres across the street from the
<br />McAdams-Norman land could best support a power shopping
<br />center and petitioned the committee for a zoning change.
<br />Following suit, another developer, Cambridge Properties, also
<br />proposed a power shopping center and 300 multifamily resi-
<br />dences on a property down the block and across the street from
<br />the Hahn site. All the sites circle the university.
<br /> "Crosland just wanted that land rezoned for the future," Dayton
<br />says. "Political power can negate sound planning."
<br /> "They are abandoning a good plan and creating blight right up
<br />to town instead of rebuilding and renewing the present commercial
<br />(properties)," she adds. "They have granted these people replace-
<br />ment commercial." Dayton fears that the council's vote will attract
<br />strip shopping center development along the main roads rather than
<br />in areas designated by the district plan. "How do you enforce
<br />something when you've just gNen license to it?" she asks.
<br /> Martin Cramton, director of the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Plan
<br />Commission, expresses more optimism. "I think the district plan is
<br />going to hold and we're not going to strip-zone major arteries," he
<br />says. "The plan is alive and well."
<br /> Despite the opposition to the Cambridge and Crosland sites,
<br />Steve Vermillion, senior vice-president of retail development for
<br />The Crosland Group, says the council approached its decision
<br />realistically. "They didn't say here's our plan for the next 20 years
<br />and we're not going to vary from it. The plan provides guidelines.
<br />The city council is empowered to change that district plan when it's
<br />needed." Deviating from the guidelines is justified when growth
<br />and road patterns change, he says.
<br /> But in the three years since the district plan was approved,
<br />there have been nine small revisions, most proposed by
<br />Crosland, Dayton notes. Each helped justify the rezoning a step
<br />at a time, she says. But the council vote sets precedent. "This
<br />(revision) was so massive that resisting changes in other plans will
<br />be very difficult since the political system buckled under," she
<br />says. "The district plan had residential balance. But those people
<br />are not emotionally involved in this part of town, so this part of
<br />town can be sacrificed politically."
<br /> The Crosland Group has already downsized its development
<br />proposal by 140,000 square feet of retail floor area because there
<br />are no tenants to rent the spaces, Fields says. "There's this big
<br />
<br />Zoning News is a monthly newsletter published by thc American Planning/~sociation.
<br />Subscriptions are availahlc for $45 (U.S.) and $54 (foreign).
<br />Israel Stollman, Executive Director; Frank S. So, Deputy Executive Director.
<br />ZonlngNewr is produced at APA. Jim Schwab, F-,ditor; Michael Barrette, Luke Bogarh,
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<br />Morris, Amy Van Doren, Reporters; Cynthia Ch~ki, Assistant Editor; Lisa Barton,
<br />Design and Production.
<br />Copyright ©1993 by American Planning Association, 1.31_3 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL
<br />606.37. The American PlanningAssociation has headquarters offices at 1776
<br />Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036.
<br />All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any
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<br />American Planning Association.
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<br />
<br />game going on where eve .rybody's claiming the), have the best
<br />site and the tenants, but nobody does. Hahn has only two of
<br />their three anchor tenants accounted for, and the Cambridge
<br />developers are modifying their plan to go back to essentially a
<br />neighborhood shopping center."
<br />
<br />Debra Schwartz is a J~ee-lance writer in Highland Park, lllinois.
<br />
<br />Site Planning and
<br />Community Design for
<br />Great Neighborhoods
<br />Frederick D. Jarvis. Home Build~ Press, National Association of Home
<br />Builders, 1201 15th St. N. W., Washington, DC20005. 1993. 133
<br />pp. $19.60for NAHB members; $24.50 fbr nonmembers.
<br /> Written by a founding partner in the design firm of LDR
<br />International, this book is lush with clear illustrations and computer
<br />graphics and full of simple, clearly organized design suggestions.
<br />Though written for builders and architects, it is equally useful for
<br />site review planners, who will find it a valuable addition to their
<br />design libraries.
<br />
<br />Grand Traverse Bay
<br />
<br />Region Development
<br />Guidebook
<br />
<br />Ptanning and Zoning Center, Inc., 302 S. Waverly Road, Lansing, MI
<br />48917. September 1992. ]28pp. $25.
<br /> Prepared for communities in the five-county Grand Traverse Bay
<br />region of northern Michigan, this guidebook was the winner of a
<br />Michigan A.PA chapter award last month. It focuses on improved
<br />management of the area's rapid growth while preserving the natural
<br />and scenic resources that have attracted that growth. Its lavish use of
<br />graphics make it easy to read as it deals with complex topics like
<br />shoreline protection, building aesthetics, and sign regulations. A
<br />companion volume, Sample Regulations, is also priced at $25.
<br />
<br />Planning Implementation
<br />Tools and Techniques:
<br />A Resource Book for
<br />Local Governments
<br />Foster Ndubi. u; Institute of Community and Area Development,
<br />University of Georgia, Treanor House, 1234 S. Lumpkin St., Athens,
<br />GA 30602. 1992. 224pp. $19.95 plus $3 shipping and handling.
<br /> The impetus for this well-written, well-organized book was the
<br />need for a readable guide for local government offidak seeking m
<br />comply with the mandates and vision of the 1989 Georgia State
<br />Planning Act. 'But, as the author states, it became dear that its
<br />usefulness extended beyond Georgia's boundaries. Thus, while
<br />detailing the act's requirements, the book discusses a variety of
<br />traditional planning took such as subdivision regulations, impact
<br />fees, performance assessments, and aesthetic and historic preserva-
<br />tion controls.
<br />
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