Business Transitional District Standards & Design Guidelines

Introduction
The Town of Gray has established a Business Transitional (BT) zoning district on Shaker Road to promote economic development while preserving the existing mixed use character and neighborhood quality of the location between Gray Village and the Dry Mills area at the end of the new Route 26 bypass.

The Town has enacted these Design Guidelines as a tool to supplement the performance standards contained in the Gray land use ordinances. Although there is greater flexibility allowed in meeting the Design Guidelines than in other regulations, they are to be interpreted as being mandatory requirements for all projects within the district.

There are many ways to meet each guideline. The statements in left hand columns set the standards that must be met for compliance with the Zoning Ordinance. The Design Guideline bullets in shaded columns provide more specific direction for interpreting the standards and analyzing development applications. The Guidelines help the Planning Board determine that the project design meets the Design Standards. Photographs and captions simply provide visual clues to help determine intent of the Design Guidelines.

Implementation of the Design Guidelines relies heavily on the services of architects and landscape architects working as consultants for developers and peer reviewers for the Town. The Design Guidelines provide a context for coordinated discussions of design issues in advance of formal site plan review procedures. This collaborative process ensures that site plans in the Business Transitional District produce high quality development that contributes to the area’s gateway role.