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<br />REVISED DRAFT APRIL 9, 2012 <br />investment in an overall neighborhood by improving <br /> <br />streets, sidewalks and crosswalks, pedestrian <br />lighting, parks, drainage, etc. The intent of this type <br />of program is to ensure residents are living in <br />decent, safe and sanitary homes; and that both <br />individual homes and the neighborhood, <br />collectively, are able to maintain or increase the <br />area’s property values. <br /> <br />Infill development will also play a primary role <br /> <br />during the 20-year planning horizon since the City is <br /> <br />bound by industrial districts and the limits of other <br />municipalities. Therefore, new development and <br />redevelopment will likely occur in the few remaining <br />vacant or under-utilized parcels adjacent to or <br />within already developed areas. While these <br />remaining areas could be developed using the same <br />policies and regulations that shaped the last 20 <br />years of City growth; it is an opportune time to re- <br />examine how the City facilitates and regulates <br />development, particularly because of an articulated <br />interest to increase residential rooftops and <br />The photo on top depicts an example in La Porte <br />commercial retail opportunities. A successful infill <br />that may warrant redevelopment, while the photo <br />development program must go beyond the <br />on the bottom depicts an area that may warrant <br />revitalization piecemeal development of individual parcels; to <br />. <br /> <br />focus on how the remaining areas may be <br />Source: Kendig Keast Collaborative. <br />assembled and developed into the existing <br />community fabric, i.e., creating a healthy mix of uses <br />(that add both vitality and convenience for <br /> <br />residents) that are designed and built in a way to <br />improve compatibility while offering additional <br />choices in living and new business opportunities. <br /> <br />Benefits of mixed-use infill development include a <br />more compact form of development, which is less <br />consumptive on land and resources and offers <br />increased convenience and mobility for those who <br />cannot or prefer not to drive (e.g., the elderly, <br />youth, or low income residents who lack a car). Infill <br />development also has a positive impact on the City’s <br />budget as vacant properties are added to the tax <br /> <br />rolls, less infrastructure is required, and existing <br />Sugar Land Town Center is an example of a mixed <br />facility operation and maintenance costs are able to <br />use infill development project. <br />be spread across more residents and commercial <br /> <br />businesses (which is a benefit for individual <br />Source: Kendig Keast Collaborative. <br />taxpayers, too). In addition, as discussed later in this <br />2.4 <br /> <br />Chapter 2 <br /> <br />