3(a) Comprehensive Plan Update - Community Character Section

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COMMUNITY CHARACTER I NTENT Identify, preserve, and enhance the key social and physical resources that contribute to Pequot Lakes' unique character and add to the quality of life for its residents. BACKGROUND The historic parts of Pequot Lakes 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 walking within. The typical buildings of this era were erected within this grid lined up at the edge of the property line.This provided for a pleasant public space in front of the building with room for things like outhouses and garbage bins to the rear. The same pattern was seen in commercial and residential neighborhoods,the main difference being the side-spacing between buildings. This approach changed following World War II.The 1950's started the highway era and automobile access became the predominant design feature for new development. Buildings started to be set back further to provide space for parking. They were also designed so as to appeal to passing motorists, with pedestrians frequently becoming an afterthought. New residential and commercial development started to appear on the periphery of town, often outside of the city limits.When the original highway was realigned and expanded,the pattern of new growth along the corridor was auto-oriented. Over time, the highway through the center of town changed the dynamic of the community. Businesses once dispersed throughout neighborhoods migrated to the highway corridors and designated business park.The balance of the community changed as well. Development that was neighborhood-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 residential zones.The mixed-use flavor of the community was slowly lost. In the late 1990's,as low-density commercial development continued to expand along the main roadway corridors and the countryside—once predominantly farms and forests—began to be subdivided for residential development, area residents began to rethink the auto-oriented pattern of development. Ultimately the City of Pequot Lakes merged with the surrounding Township of Sibley so that both could plan for the character of area's growth. Today the original community character of Pequot Lakes 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 corridor. Enhancing the community character over time simply requires paying attention to the elements that enhance the public space as we continue to develop.