Phelps Project Preserves Rural Character

March 10, 2011

Village Preserves Area's Rural Nature

Hart Howerton design protects scenic corridor

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A Rural Village
The village design responds to community surveys in which
Toro Area residents asked for a grocery store, post office, restaurants and retail that
meets everyday needs.

78% Support

The local Phelps family hired an independent polling firm to survey the community in order to ensure that the project's design met community needs. The survey determined that
three out of four local residents support a neighborhood serving shopping village.

Village Offers Experiential, Gathering Place

Hart Howerton has designed a neighborhood-serving shopping village that is the opposite of a strip mall. A typical strip mall has no investment in the center's physical characters, offers a narrow range of tenant types, maximizes signage visibility (no trees), and is unsafe for pedestrians.

The proposed Phelps shopping village is designed Pedestrian village as an experiential, gathering place. The village features amenities like open air plazas and domestic-scale and quality buildings. Strolling around the project is encouraged. There is integrated design and architecture that reflects the Toro Area's historic agricultural buildings. And, it's the type of design that will attract and retain great tenants for the community.

Steps Taken to Protect Rural Character

The Hybrid LEED site plan preserves both the Highway 68 scenic corridor and the rural character of the Toro Area with:

Heavy planting on wide berms along frontage roads.
Domestic-scale and quality buildings
Architecture, colors, and materials that mirror local historic agricultural buildings.
Exterior lights that focus downward and keep nighttime light from spilling upward or outward.
Underground new utilities.

Here's a view of the project site today traveling on 68 from Monterey to Salinas.

And here's that same view 5-7 years after the project is built.