Discuss: Rehabilitation and Adaptive Reuse

Some residential and non-residential buildings in Urban Neighborhoods need rehabilitation.

Do we need additional programs to ensure rehabilitation of residential, commercial and industrial buildings?

How can more adaptive reuse be encouraged?

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Discuss: Downtown Retail

Retail is currently focused along Fourth and Trade Streets.

How do we encourage additional retail development downtown?

How do we encourage a broad array of retail stores downtown?

Should we focus on the current retail areas or should we spread retail throughout Downtown?

How important is it to get an urban grocery store Downtown?

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Discuss: Affordable Housing Downtown

Many new housing units have been added to the Downtown/Center City area since the adoption of Legacy. Many of these units are not affordable to low- and middle-income households.

How do we encourage the development of more affordable housing downtown?

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Alternative Energy Sources and Energy Conservation

With the current national discussions on decreasing availability of petroleum and rising energy costs, it is important to consider the use of alternative energy sources and energy conservation when discussing the future of our community. This would be applicable to both how we fuel our cars, as well as how we serve our homes and businesses.

What alternative energy sources – water, solar, wind, bio-fuel – would be the most appropriate for Forsyth County?

What policies or tools can be implemented in the future to encourage conservation of energy?

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Preservation of Industrial Land

The potential loss of land designated for future industrial development is a serious problem facing Forsyth County, especially given the small size of the county and the small amount of developable land left.

What strategies should be considered to preserve designated sites for economic development?

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The Importance of New Business Parks to Forsyth County

Industrial development in Rural Hall

Business and industrial parks tend to create higher-paying jobs for workers within a community. With 120,000 new people coming to Forsyth County, the need for new high-quality jobs is crucial. Equally important, studies done elsewhere indicate business and industrial park properties generally require only $0.35 to $0.65 in local government services per $1.00 of tax revenue paid. As a comparison, low-density residential uses tend to require $1.15 to $1.50 in local government services per $1.00 of tax revenue paid. Businesses also pay privately for trash collection, and when necessary, for pre-treatment of sanitary sewer discharges. Businesses help compensate for the services required by our growing number of households as well as provide additional jobs.

Available Industrial Land = Room for Economic Growth

Another important issue is the preservation of land for future industrial and business parks. A nationwide sampling of other successful communities with more than 100,000 people found that in general about 10% of a community’s land area is devoted to industrial development. The serviceable area of Forsyth County only has 7.5% of its total land area designated for industrial use, which translates into a shortage of 4,000 acres. This is equivalent to 10 to 15 additional large business parks.

One of the factors that make preservation of industrial land difficult is current zoning patterns. In Forsyth County, all land is zoned for one use or another. The default zoning for most areas of the county is single-family residential. Even though an Industrial Sites Study has been completed which shows 4,000 acres of land that would be best suited for industrial and business development, there is nothing that stops residential encroachment on these identified sites. As a result, Forsyth County and Winston-Salem are short on the “ready-to-go” sites and buildings near interstates and highways that will help us remain successful in attracting new companies and jobs.

Promoting Street Connectivity

Street connectivity takes congestion off major roads and provides a more efficient delivery of municipal services. The result is a reduction in fuel costs for both citizens and government. However, residents often oppose connections of new roads to existing roads for fear of seeing an increase in traffic on their own streets.

How do we promote the benefits of a connected street system?

What standards do we establish for street connectivity in existing neighborhoods and new developments?

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Reducing Auto-Dependence, Increasing Transit Use

Transit use benefits not only transit riders, but the whole community by reducing road congestion, auto emissions and reliance on foreign oil. Unfortunately, most trips in Forsyth County are made in a car, often a single-occupancy vehicle.

Given the benefits, how do we increase transit use in our community?

What changes need to occur to make transit easier and more enticing to use in our community?

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Complete Streets

A Complete Street in Charlotte



Complete streets, sometimes called multi-modal streets, are designed to be safe and comfortable for all users including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists and individuals of all ages and capabilities. These streets generally include sidewalks, bicycle lanes, transit stops, appropriate street widths and speeds, and are well-integrated with surrounding land uses. Complete Street design elements that emphasize safety, mobility and accessibility for multiple modes and may include crosswalks, bus lanes, landscaping, lighting, signaling systems and adequate separation between sidewalks and streets. Many jurisdictions have adopted Complete Streets policies to make accommodation of all users as an expected part of transportation projects. Charlotte recently won a national award for its attention to complete street policies. To implement these policies, jurisdictions are developing design guidelines and/or regulations.

Making the Connection

Street connectivity refers to the directness of links and the density of connections of the road network. For many years, new developments were not required to provide connections which is now causing congestion on many of our roads. Benefits of connectivity include a decrease of traffic on arterial streets, shorter travel distances, more direct routes that encourage travel by walking and bicycling, quicker response times for emergency vehicles and more efficient trash and recycling collection.

Many jurisdictions have adopted connectivity regulations, the most common method is to establish a maximum block length. Another method is to establish a “connectivity index” that must be met in new developments. The current street standards adopted for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County establish a minimum connectivity index for new subdivisions of 1.2 and a maximum cul-de-sac length of 800’ unless deemed impractical due to topography, existing development or natural obstacles.

Street connectivity standards are used primarily in new developments but could also be used when considering connections in existing neighborhoods. Because street connectivity disperses traffic, some jurisdictions connect existing streets as an alternative to road widening.

Summary: Chapter 4 - Land Use Discussion Draft

If we want to avoid “build-out” in the near future in Forsyth County, a change will need to be made in the way we develop the remainder of our available land. The 2001 Legacy Plan has had successes and failures in its attempt to curb sprawl and guide compact development. While demographics show that we are not increasing our overall density in Forsyth County, our existing land use map does show increased densities along some strategic corridors. Unfortunately, the sites currently recommended for increased residential growth may not be enough to truly impact our density levels in the future. We do have new tools in place through regulatory changes which should help provide incentives for infill and increased densities, but additional strategies and tools will need to be developed. Negative perceptions of increased densities will need to be addressed through better design requirements.

For nonresidential land use, Legacy  principles and Area Plan recommendations have done a good job. While progress has been made through the formation of  Activity Centers, further steps must be taken to focus commercial development and continue to promote compact, walkable development. More incentives need to be created to encourage mixed-use development and strategies need to be developed to protect viable industrial and business park sites.

After community discussion, general land use principles and recommendations will be developed for this chapter. The more detailed strategies for land use objectives will be addressed in the Land Use Regulation and Area Plan chapters of this Plan.

Preservation of Industrial Land

All land in Forsyth County is zoned for one use or another, and most vacant tracts in GMAs 3 and 4 are already zoned for single-family residential. Unfortunately, this zoning pattern makes it difficult to hold land for  future industrial and  employment centers. One subdivision built in a large tract of vacant land can make it unsuitable for a future employment center. This issue has left few areas in our county for large-scale business development. 

Given the limited amount of Serviceable Land Area we have left, what are the tools we need to preserve land for future industrial development and jobs?

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Increased Density Downtown and in Urban Neighborhoods

Increased residential density in central Winston-Salem is critical because it concentrates population where public infrastructure is already in place and where a variety of transportation choices will be located in the future. Development in the central city is more cost effective way for the community to grow from a public service delivery standpoint. Growth concentrated in Growth Management Areas 1 and 2 also reduces the pressure for land to be developed farther out in the future growth area, preserving open space and rural areas and avoiding traffic congestion and costly new infrastructure.

How and where will we increase residential densities in the center city without encroaching on or negatively impacting existing residential areas? How do we design attractive and livable higher-density areas that fit well with their surroundings?



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Themes for the Legacy Update

Look for the following icons throughout the Legacy Update in our discussion sections:

Sustainable Growth: Sustainable growth is the wise use of physical resources which allows us to not only meet our current needs, but have resources for the needs of generations to come.

Livable Design: Livable design through thoughtful development can enhance the safety, prosperity, beauty and quality of life for residents. Livable design is tied to all aspects of a community including housing, neighborhoods, transportation options, facilities, commercial areas and open spaces.

Fiscal Responsibility: Fiscal responsibility deals with providing infrastructure and services to citizens in an efficient manner so that tax rates can remain lower through orderly cost-efficient growth.