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Long-Range Planning
Long Range Planning
| The primary purpose of the Long-Range Planning Division is to prepare and maintain the city's Comprehensive Plan, which guides the future development of the city and its Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). Long-Range Planning responsibilities also include planning for geographic areas of the city at the neighborhood or community level, fostering and promoting citizen participation through the administration of citizen surveys and the Visual Preference Surveyä (VPS), and collecting and analyzing Census data. |
In 1998, the Tennessee General Assembly passed Public Act 1101, which addressed many growth, development, and planning issues. The law requires the preparation of 20-year growth plans by every county in the State. Each growth plan, developed by a county coordinating committee, must assign all land in the county to one of 3 categories, a municipality's urban growth boundary (UGB), a planned growth area (PGA), and rural areas (RA).
Johnson City's Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) consists of the city and contiguous territory where urbanization is expected to occur during the next 20 years and where the city can efficiently and effectively provide urban services. The UGB encompasses 119 square miles and includes portions of Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties. A great majority of Johnson City's UGB lies in Washington County. The Washington County plan was adopted by the state's Local Government Planning Advisory Committee (LGPAC) on June 28, 2000. |
| In 1999, a team of planning, transportation, and economic consultants, led by Dover, Kohl & Partners, prepared a proposed land use and transportation study for Johnson City, funded by grants from the Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Pilot Program of the Federal Highway Administration and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. This study is being considered by the Johnson City Regional Planning Commission as part of the Comprehensive Plan update. For more information, contact the Planning Department (423-434-6071) or visit the Dover-Kohl website. |
| What is a Visual Preference Survey (VPS)? |
A VPS is a measuring process developed by A. Nelessen and Associates to gauge citizens' preferences for different types of land use and development. Unlike most opinion surveys which are written, the VPS measures reactions to photographic images of various types, styles, and intensities of urban, suburban, and rural development.
The images are ranked and the results analyzed to identify how citizens view their community and what they desire for the future. After enough citizens have participated in the survey to be representative of the community, local officials can use the results to enact codes to produce the type of development their citizens prefer. |
| The more citizens who participate in this exercise, the better. With input from a large number of people representing all walks of life, the result will be a more complete and comprehensive vision of the community, its desires, and its needs. The Johnson City Planning Department began conducting this survey in 1994, and to date more than 1,500 citizens have participated. Those surveyed include civic groups, Parent-Teacher Associations, church groups, students, government and civic leaders, developers, realtors, builders, and neighborhood groups. |
| Who to contact for more information? |
| If you are a citizen of Johnson City and would like for your group to participate in a Visual Preference Survey and need more information, contact the Planning Department at 434-6071. |
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