AG 2001 05 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Introduction Planning tools and documents should be employed to promote orderly development in order to improve the quality of life for all persons presently living in the Harrisburg area, as well as for future residents. One such planning tool is the land development plan. For many years, Harrisburg has been a rural community that was more or less apart from the city of Charlotte ten miles to the west. Development trends in Charlotte over the past two decades have made it necessary for the community to sit back and reassess its position. Twenty-five years ago, mostly farms and forests separated the Harrisburg area from much of Charlotte. Now, however, only a few miles to the west of Harrisburg lies a University with a growing enrollment of over 16,000 students, a research park with such companies as AT&T, First Union, and IBM, several large scale subdivisions, and the University City community. Like most growing areas, changes have taken place in the way people live, the way land is being developed and in the way the natural environment is being used. Simultaneously, however, conflicts are emerging between the use of land and its suitability for such uses, between rural and agricultural interests and those of land developers and between small-town and suburban lifestyles. Although no planning document can state in finite terms what is best for the community and how the community shall grow, this document briefly discusses the trends which have occurred in the past and presents a means of promoting growth and development in a rational and orderly manner. The primary objective of this land development plan is to address three questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? Many issues are raised when attempting to plan for the future of Harrisburg. Embedded in these issues are conflicts which are emerging and which will continue to surface as development occurs. In any growing community there is a legitimate debate over growth versus protection of the existing man-made and natural environments. Long time residents of a community often want conditions to remain the way they used to be years ago. Residents moving to a new community like to see the community retain the character and aesthetics as when they first moved there. Growth in Harrisburg, however, is inevitable just by the very fact of the Town's location. For any community to prosper and provide a quality lifestyle to its residents, the community must provide a proper balance of economic, social and recreational opportunities for its population. This document includes recommendations concerning the location and relationship of the land uses in order to establish and maintain a healthy balance between society and environment. An adopted land development plan does not by itself dictate what an area will become. Implementation of the plan and its recommendations is the key link needed to achieve the desired changes and improvements to meet the adopted goals. A section of this document addresses implementing the stated recommendations. Harrisburg is a growing community whose needs and desires will continue to evolve and change in the future. As the Town and surrounding area will not stagnate, neither should its planning efforts. To keep abreast of these changes, this plan needs to be periodically updated so that the needs and goals of the community are always kept in proper perspective. And in turn, the residents of the area are responsible for acting on the recommendations of the plan.