Master Plan & Development Guidelines for Downtown Centerville

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• Minimize the impact of automobiles into the setting through strategies such a shared parking", in which adjacent land uses having different peak -hour parking demands can share parking facilities. • Improve access to and from County State Aid Highways 14 and 21. • Achieve "traffic calming" benefits through: an integrated street network, provision of options for traffic flow, the design of streets with adequate width, and the provision of on -street parking. • Provide for public open space that uses storm water treatment ponds as a visual and recreational amenity to the project. • Ensure the compatibility of buildings with respect to the specific character of their immediate context within each district. • Encourage active ground floor uses, such as restaurants, shops and services, to animate the street within the Mixed -Use Corridors portion of the area. • Develop a better connection between downtown and Centerville Lake The task force developed a vision statement for the entire project that will guide the development of the plan and aid in the evaluation of development proposals. "Centerville will continue to be a small town and will be a safe community where people know their neighbors. The historic fabric of the downtown and the surrounding neighborhood provide a strong sense of place and pride for residents. Residents will be able to walk to downtown through a well-connected trail system. Centerville's historic downtown will offer a mix of uses, with the small town character preserved by Downtown Centerville Master Plan &Development Guidelines appropriate design standards. A range of housing types will be available in downtown, each meeting high design standards. Centerville will meet the challenge of managing growth while enhancing the historic small town flavor, safety and strong sense of community that has attracted people to live here." - Task Force Vision Statement History of Centerville Centerville has a rich French-Canadian history with the first white settlers arriving to the area in the 1840's. They were trappers coming to the area for the abundant wildlife. Prior to the white settlers moving into the area the Dakota Indians lived here in the 1600s and 1700s. At that time, this area was covered with dense woodlands and many square miles of marshes, lakes, and waterways. The Dakotas abandoned their settlement in the late 1700's, but returned annually to harvest wild rice. Soon after, families from Canada arrived and settled here because it reminded them of their former homeland. Several descendants of these original settlers still live in Centerville. The city was officially established on August 11, 1857, when Minnesota was still a territory. At that time Centerville was known as Centerville Township and encompassed the current City of Centerville and the City of Lino Lakes. The downtown area of Centerville was originally known as the French Section. German immigrants settled farther to the west in what is now part of the City of Lino Lakes. The pioneers cleared the land for farming and agriculture soon followed. Residents formed the Church of St. Genevieve of Paris. The Downtown Redevelopment Task Force wanted to build off of Centerville's history with an emphasis on our uniqueness of having the downtown still standing, but all of January 4, 2006 Page 5 of 30