§ 1.1. Purpose.

A.

The Madison County I-55 Corridor Transportation and Growth Management Plan adopted by Madison County, the City of Edwardsville, and the Village of Glen Carbon in 2006 provides an overall framework for development, redevelopment, and preservation of a portion of Madison County. In particular, the Madison County I-55 Corridor Transportation and Growth Management Plan as adopted incorporated 13 basic principles representing a commitment to quality of life, sustainability, and smart growth, these being:

1.

Citizen and community involvement: Promote and welcome involvement of residents, neighbors, civic leaders, elected and appointed officials, land owners, developers, and local institutions throughout the process of designing change for neighborhoods.

2.

City-wide and regional connections: Establish connections to regional patterns of transportation and land use, to open space and natural systems.

3.

Transit system connections: Establish connections to local and regional public transit systems.

4.

Appropriate building densities and land uses should be within walking distance of transit stops, permitting public transit to become a viable alternative to the automobile.

5.

Economically viable: Establish linkages with economic development in order to attract public and private investments that contribute to a sustainable and economically viable community. Promote the development of an economic base of the community not solely reliant on retail or housing, but a complementary mix of uses.

6.

Neighborhood form: Promote compact, pedestrian-friendly, and mixed use neighborhoods with many activities of daily life available within walking distance.

7.

Design for the human scale: Design for the human scale and perceptions, creating a sense of neighborhood and community street design that responds to local traditions. That is, heights of buildings should relate to the rest of the neighborhood and building proportions should relate to the size of the human body. Combined height and width (mass) of buildings should not be overwhelming. Larger buildings should use techniques that reduce their perceived mass through changes in material or texture above the first or second floor to reinforce the base (scaled to a human) while diminishing the portion above. Other techniques include the use of cornice lines above the second or third floor or setbacks at the same location. Most important is the level and quality of detail at the first and second floor, the areas most within the view of the pedestrian.

8.

Mixed-use: Promote the creation of mixed use neighborhoods that support the functions of daily life: employment, recreation, retail, and civic and educational institutions.

9.

Street network: Provide an interconnected network of streets and public open space. The primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical definition of streets and public spaces as places of shared use.

10.

Public open space: Design internal and peripheral parks and open spaces and whenever possible provide connections with local and regional parks and open space network. Provide opportunities for recreation and appropriate settings for civic buildings.

11.

Architectural character: Design the image and character of new developments that respond to the best traditions of residential and mixed use architecture in the area.

12.

Safety and civic engagement: Establish relationship of buildings and streets that enable neighbors to create a safe and stable neighborhood and encourage interaction and community identity. Utilize an approach to building architecture and urban designs that promotes both building safety and streetscapes with areas of private and public assembly.

13.

Stormwater planning and control: Promote the use of stormwater best management plans that results in a more efficient use of developable property and consolidates the stormwater detention needs of multiple land parcels into pre-determined locations.

B.

This I-55 Development Code was developed to implement and accomplish these 13 principles through use of development districts and overlay zones. Development districts represent a spectrum of development characteristics by classifying and regulating the types and intensities of development and land uses within the Madison County I-55 Corridor Transportation and Growth Management Plan and are indicated through colors on the Regulatory Plan in article 2.0. This I-55 Development Code is adopted to protect and promote the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, prosperity, and general welfare of the community.

(Ord. No. 6016-07-16, 7-19-2016)