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Comprehensive P1an, City of Paris, Texas Planning Principles Such improvements are all part of good neighborhood design-even in furtherance of citywide beautification efforts as launched by the Blue Ribbon Task Force. The Stillhouse Creek corridor, for example, provides a way of linking into residential growth comdors to the north in the North Lamar School District areas. The Depot Park in west Paris could be linked with extension of a linear park along abandoned rail rights-of-way. Such improvements will create alternative transportation corridors to the schools and parks for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. School and park siting to serve residential neighborhoods should be based on a standard of from 2,500 to 5,000 people for cost-effective services. Convenience shopping, as well, requires a minimum number of people to support business activity. As residential growth becomes denser through new development and redevelopment of land, the importance of the planning process becomes clear. Land should be reserved and financing in place to add public amenities in certain areas over time. Municipal Services and Natural Features In addition to public land use policy, the physical features of the land affect future development. The broadest, most extensive floodplain in the area is in the Pine Creek basin north of Paris that flows to Lake Crook. Other major creeks flow from the high point of central Paris. The City must plan for development according to the FEMA regulations affecting floodplains to meet federal guidelines; and based on drainage basins to meet sound engineering guidelines. To accommodate the projected future land uses the City must assess its ability to serve existing and additional growth. Once this ability to serve has been assessed, the desire for and appropriateness of a specific use can be weighed against the ability to serve such a use and need for improvements based upon the projected impact of the use. This is especially important when assessing the planned "Urban Service Areas" outside the City's boundaries, as discussed in the next section. Municipal Utilities and the Capacity to Serve Growth In order to determine what type of land uses should be projected for future growth areas, an assessment must be made of the ability of the existing utility infrastructure to serve the additional growth. The desire to allow for a specific land use must be weighed against the ability of the City to serve. The need for improvements will be based upon the impact of the projected use on existing utility systems. The Natural Features Map illustrates the general layout of existing utility systems (sanitary sewer and water) and shows the ability of the Paris systems to serve the future growth areas. The following should be considered when assessing impact of projected land uses on improvements to the system: • What is the capacity of the existing system? • How much capacity is available for additional growth? • Can the existing lines handle additional capacity and if so how much? • How will connections to existing lines be made? • What are the limitations of physical constraints such as ridgelines? • What are existing and currently projected uses? • How will high water users impact the system? 5A98288\WPC\final rcpwrt 2-01.Juc 19 B WH