Quote:
Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter
Do you visit this square often? Any square?
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I'll answer the question applied to myself: Yup, I visit Spanish Springs town square regularly. At least once a week, and I drive through it more often than that to get from my house (in the historic section) to other parts of the Villages.
At 50 new units, you'd need 75 parking spaces reserved for residents of those units. Behind the MPV building there are enough for units in that building, without needing any reserved on the street. The Katie Belle's building would need spaces off to the side in the back, closer to Amerikano's, in order to accommodate off-street parking for non-resident patrons of the square and employees.
It's absolutely do-able, but yes it would also absolutely change the complexion of the Square. Currently, residential units surround the Square in the townhouses, and there's a hotel at (not in) the Square with sectioned-off parking spaces in the back. As long as the parking spaces are reserved, and the reservations can actually be enforced (via gate pass or numeric passcode for example), and the spaces are not on the street-side, it should be fine.
My objection to the Katie Belles' thing was its isolation, parking logistics, and the Morse family's ridiculous comparison to Brownwood Lofts, which have amenities on-site and were built on the perimeter of the square, and not just repurposed buildings at the square itself.
But if you repurpose upper floors of a couple of buildings surrounding the square, with resident parking behind and some on-site amenities, then the residents of the square will feel more like a community to each other - and us "regular visitors" will have a more "village-like" atmosphere to visit.