Most Recent Action
In the fall 2008, the working group presented its recommendations to TACIR for consideration.TACIR unanimously approved a motion offered by Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg.The Bragg motion provided that TACIR accept the working group’s recommendations with the proviso that:
(1) TACIR be absolved of any further obligations related to the research, analysis, or study of issues related to PC 1101, until such time as the General Assembly shall deem it appropriate to provide further instructions to the commission.
(2) The contents of the working group’s report be provided to representatives of the counties and municipalities within this state and that these representatives would be strongly encouraged to consider this report as the basis for discussions designed to identify modifications to PC 1101 that are capable of garnering the support of a majority of local governments.
(3) Any changes to PC 1101 only occur as the result of a thoughtful and deliberate process that constitutes a consensus of opinion and enjoys the support of a vast number of local governments.
Background
Public Chapter 1101 of the Acts of 1998 required each county, in cooperation and in conjunction with the municipalities incorporated within the county, to develop and adopt a comprehensive 20-year growth plan.
The initial draft of a county growth plan was formulated by a coordinating committee comprised of representatives of the county, cities, utilities, schools, chambers of commerce, the soil conservation districts, and others.
Each plan identifies three distinct types of areas: (1) “urban growth boundaries” (UGB), which include the existing corporate limits of a municipality as well as the adjoining territory the city expects to incorporate within its municipal boundaries over the next 20 years; (2) “planned growth areas” (PGA), compact sections outside incorporated municipalities where growth is expected (if there are such areas in the county), and where new incorporations may occur; (3) “rural areas” (RA), territory not within one of the other two categories which is to be preserved for agriculture, recreation, forest, wildlife, and uses other than high-density commercial or residential development.
During the initial drafting period, each county designated its planned growth area and the rural area while each incorporated municipality within the county proposed its urban growth boundary.After some period of negotiation, a map was produced that delineated the proposed urban growth boundaries for each municipality in the county as well as the planned growth and rural areas.Each plan was subject to a public hearing and ratification by the county and individual municipal governing bodies.
All 95 counties have adopted growth plans, as required by the act.The growth plans are rarely amended but any amendment to an approved growth plan is subject to public hearing and must be ratified by the governing bodies of the affected jurisdictions.
In recent years, legislation has been introduced seeking to amend the various statutes created by PC 1101.Typically, the legislation introduced favors either municipal government or county government, but rarely both.It has become commonplace for the General Assembly to refer such legislation to the Tennessee Advisory Commission of Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) for study.Upon review, TACIR offers its recommendation to the General Assembly or requests additional time for further study.
During the summer 2007, TACIR appointed a working group to study details of the implementation of PC 1101 in order to determine whether the intent and goals of the General Assembly had been fulfilled.Additionally, the group was charged with identifying those parts of the act that required strengthening, clarifying or otherwise amending.
