Development Patterns: Buildings should provide logical arrangements that define outdoor pedestrian space and provide an arrangement of buildings that help to define streets as public space and parking areas.

Land Use: Retrofitted or redeveloped strip centers should allow for a flexible range of uses. Uses should range from the addition of small retail kiosks and food trucks to higher density residential and mixed-use buildings. The scale of new development should be compatible with adjacent uses with effective transitions and/or screening.

Open Space: Public open space should be provided in conjunction with infill or redevelopment of strip centers. Depending on the scale of the project, a range of open spaces should be applied (e.g., small plaza to neighborhood green). Open space should be visibly and physically accessible and allow for a range of activities.

Building Orientation: Commercial and residential buildings should be arranged to define streetscapes and open space. Active building frontages should be oriented toward a common street or common open space to increase accessibility walkability.

Parking: Where possible, parking should be located to the rear or side of new buildings to reduce street- or thoroughfare-facing parking. Landscape islands should be included in parking lots to minimize the impact of parking and to increase tree canopy and impervious area.

Pedestrian Access: Connections between adjacent nonresidential development parcels and residential neighborhoods should be provided by siting access points continuous to the adjacent development.

Vehicle Access: Vehicle access and circulation in commercial developments should provide for an interconnected street network. Access points along thoroughfares should be reduced and consolidated concurrent with new development to provide safe vehicular and pedestrian environments.

Connectivity: The street system internal to a strip development should connect to the perimeter public street system to provide for both intra- and inter-neighborhood connections. Clear and delineated pedestrian connections and sidewalks should be developed from parking locations.

Transitions: Transitions from strip shopping centers to adjacent residential development should use adequate setbacks, green spaces and/or landscaping, natural features, or similar land use and scale elements to create a cohesive connection.

Drive-throughs: Drive-throughs should be compatible with the development that they are located within and integrated into the overall building development scheme. Access should be from drives/streets that are internal to the development. Drive-throughs should be sited away from primary building frontages and open space or screened from view when not feasible.

Landscaping: The perimeter of strip centers should include landscaping (street trees and shrubs) and green infrastructure (bioswales or raingardens) to ease the transition to adjacent uses, increase the city’s tree canopy, and improve permeability for stormwater. Landscaping should also be used to screen the view of parking from adjacent uses and the street.

Service and Loading Access: Strip centers should have a clear and consolidated service and loading that is located away from primary building entries and pedestrian areas where feasible.