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Midtown Specific Plan SPECIFIC PLAN PRINCIPLES The following specific plan principles provide overall guidance in the areas of land use, design, and parking and circulation. Urban Design Principles, Exhibit 5, illustrates the following specific plan principles. The subsequent chapters describe in detail the development standards and design guidelines for each of the five land use/activity districts, a landscape concept plan, circulation and parking plans and a review of implementation mechanisms. LAND USE . Encourage a land use pattern that builds upon the concepts identified in the Midtown Conceptual Plan while furthering the land use policy principles established in Santa Ana's General Plan. . Residential concepts and densities should be consistent with General Plan policies. . Establish links to surrounding employment and shopping areas. . Protect and maintain the adjacent Willard, French Court and French Park neighborhoods. . Limit single room occupancy development only to the YWCA building. . Encourage the adaptive re-use of historically or architecturally significant buildings and districts throughout Midtown. . Encourage recreation, entertainment and cultural activities in Midtown to complement the Museum District. . Protect the image and integrity of the Broadway Corridor. URBAN DESIGN The following urban design principles address the overall form and structure of Midtown with specific details for its five land use/activity districts. After general considerations, they address views and gateways, building form, open space nodes, and pedestrian space linkages. These principles are intended to reinforce the unique identity of Midtown's activity districts and to achieve a coherent overall image. (Refer to Exhibit 5, Urban Design Principles.) GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS . Develop a strong sense of community identity for Midtown as a whole and for each of its districts. . Strengthen pedestrian access into, around and through the Midtown area to the maximum extent possible consistent with the City's congestion management programs. . Develop a comprehensive public improvements program, including consistent landscape and streetscape themes. . Create a secure environment that will protect the community and attract additional business investment. . Create a safe and pleasant open space component including plazas and passive green spaces. . Protect the character of the Broadway Corridor north of Washington Avenue and Bush Street by reinforcing the predominant scale of development. . Develop site and architectural design standards based on principles that promote and protect the identity and character of Midtown while stimulating additional investment. . Preserve and build upon Santa Ana's historical resources and other significant resources. VIEWS AND GATEWAYS Establish distinctive gateways to Midtown on Main Street at Civic Center Drive and Seventeenth Street through a combination of buildings, landscaping, signage, and streetscape designs. Enhance the streetscape of the approach routes to Midtown on Seventeenth Street and Civic Center Drive to contribute to greater aesthetic quality and beauty. Streetscape, landscape, signage and lighting should be coordinated to achieve a distinctive sense of arrival to Midtown. Extend downtown Santa Ana's historic street grid of square blocks into Midtown by introducing cross block view axes wherever appropriate to break up the excessive length of the blocks along Main Street. These visual breaks should occur at Ninth, Eleventh and Fourteenth Streets. This will provide an appropriate scale to the blocks and corridors. Chapter 3: Specific Plan Principles 19