Recommendations in Brief for the Village Center Study

 

 

The Villages Committee determined that there are common planning themes for all three centers, which are to:

• Support and maintain village character of each center;
• Create design guidelines and a design review process; and
• Conduct further studies for better understanding of how future mixed-use redevelopment might appear and impact the centers.

 

Concord Center:

• Define design parameters that reflect existing scale and style of Concord Center;
• Encourage more restaurants, while also preserving retail on the ground floor;
• Create incentives for a mix of retail uses appealing to Concord residents;
• Explore parking requirements to allow shared parking and mixed uses;
• Increase access and visibility of the Mill Brook as a feature and amenity for pedestrians; and
• Study further the possibility of new mixed-use area (sub-village) at Keyes Road/Lowell Road intersection.

 

Thoreau/Depot:

• Create design review process to promote building and façade improvements that maintain village scale; 

• Improve aesthetics of the commuter and retail parking area with enhanced landscaping;

• Re-examine existing zoning to attract new businesses such as quality restaurants and more diverse businesses;

• Develop informational/directional signage linking Thoreau/Depot area with Concord Center; and

• Study further the redevelopment potential of the area around Crosby’s Market located easterly of Sudbury Road.

 

West Concord:

• Create design guidelines and a design review process for both the architecture of the building and the site development plan, which determines the appropriate location of parking, particularly behind storefronts;
• Explore zoning options to continue the village scale and type of uses along Main Street/Commonwealth Avenue;
• Examine options to maintain affordable rents;
• Assess potential for building a walkway connecting Baker Avenue to West Concord Center;
• Explore ways to strengthen connections between the Center and the waterways (i.e. river, brook) and to create or enhance pedestrian greenways; and
• Study redevelopment potential of large areas by examining ways of creating village-scale redevelopment and mixed-use flexibility in business areas away from Main Street/Commonwealth Avenue.

 

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