3(a) Introduction and Community Character Sections

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COMMUIVITY CHARACTER INTENT Identify, preserve, and enhance the key sociai and physical resources that cantribute to Pequot Lakes' unique character and add to the quality of Iffe for Its residents. BACKGROUND The historic parts of Pequot l.akes were developed in the railroad era.The original town planners of Pequot Lakes designed the city on a traditional grid pattern centered on the railroad stop.This was In deference to the two major modes of transportation at the time:the railroad between towns and simply walkingwithin. The typical buildings of this ere were erected within thls grid(ined up at the edge of the property Iine.This provided for a pleasant public space ln front of the building with room for things like outhouses and garbage bins to the rear. The same pattern was seen in commerdal and residential nefghborhoods,the mafn difference treing the side-spacing between bulldings. Thls approach changed following Worid War II.The 195d's started the highway era and automobile access became the predominant design feature for new development.Buildfngs started to be set badc fuKher to provide space for parking.They were also designed so as to appeal to passing motorists,with pedestrians frequently becoming an afterthought. Near residential and commerclal development started to appear on the periphery of tawn, often outside of the city Iimfts.When the original hi�hway was realigned and expanded,the pattern of new growth along the wrridar was auto-oriented. Over time, the hl�hway through the center of town changed the dynamic of the cflmmunity. Businesses once dispersed throughout neighborhoods migrated to the highway corrido�s and designated business park.The balance of the community changed as well. Devetopment that aras nelghborhood-focused increasingly became separated into an east-side and a west-side, a different dynamic depending upon where a property was in relation to the highway.Development also coalesced into separate commercial and resldential zones.The mixed-use flavor of the communfty was slowly lost. In the late 199d's,as low-density commerdal development continued to expand along the main roadway corridors and the countryside—once predominantly farms and forests—began to be subd(vided for residential development, area residents bPgan to rethink the auto-oriented pattem of development. Ultimately the Qty of Pequot Lakes merged with the surroundfng Townshlp of Sibley so that both could plan for the character of area's growth. Today the original community character of Pequot�akes can still be found in parts of the historic downtown,which has some memorable features and some components that mix to form a vibrant public realm.Development on the periphery of town,and that development within the historic downtown that has taken on a highway orientation,is ordinary and indistinguishable from the development within any other community along the Highway 371 cor�idor. Enhancing the community character over time simpfy requires paying attention to the elements that enhanoe the public space as we continue to develop. Comprehensfve Plan Update—February 2013 6 � P a g e