Innisfil Official Plan OMB Approved - Town of Innisfil

Town of Innisfil Official PlanURBAN DESIGN5.5 CORE COMMERCIAL AREAS OR DOWNTOWNSFuture growth within Innisfil will promote the strengthening of existing Core CommercialAreas as mainstreets with mixed-use environments that contribute to the character oftheir distinct communities, and where appropriate, the development of new mixed usecommercial core areas based on principles of mixed use street-related design. Mixeduse core areas contribute to compact urban form and promote live-work arrangementswithin communities.a) Downtown and Core Commercial Areas of the Urban Settlements shall be mixedusepromoting a diversity of uses and building form. These may include retailuses, office and employment uses, residential uses and community institutionaluses. The principle of mixed-use shall be promoted for both the evolution ofexisting core areas through infill or redevelopment, and for the development of newcore areas.b) Core Commercial Areas shall be developed as a central focal zone of thesettlement in which they are located, and with good pedestrian, transit andvehicular connections.c) Existing Core Commercial Areas of communities should be strengthened andregenerated through infill, intensification and growth that is sensitive to theirexisting character, respecting the scale of uses and built form.d) Infill and intensification should be configured to reinforce main street facades.Intensification may occur on open sites, through vertical intensification on existingbuildings or horizontal infill at the rear of sites through the use of courtyards andpedestrian links. In all cases, the existing scale of communities shall be respected.e) Heritage structures shall be retained and, where appropriate, restored throughadaptive reuse.f) The location of community and institutional uses as landmarks within CoreCommercial Areas is recommended to contribute to their diverse character andcommunity identity, and to promote continuous activity.g) New Core Commercial Areas shall reflect the typology of the Town’s existingcommunities through design that is based on a “mainstreet” model. Their designshall build on the tradition of mixed-use main streets through integration of at gradestreet-related retail uses with office or residential uses on upper storeys.h) Built form in Core Commercial Areas shall front on the primary streetscape withentries addressing the street and with appropriate setbacks to promote pedestrianscale. A generally continuous building face is recommended to establish a unifiedstreetscape.i) Streetscape design in Core Commercial Areas shall reflect their focal importancethrough provision of wide sidewalks to accommodate increased pedestrian andcommercial activity, through the highest quality of paving and landscape materials,through provision of streetscape furnishings and pedestrian scaled lighting.j) Development in Core Commercial Areas or Downtowns shall minimize the impactof off-street parking on pedestrian streetscapes by locating off-street parking at the97Adopted July 26, 2006 Approved by OMB May 2009, March 2010 & April 8, 2011