Contributed commentary by Jeff Tyndall, director, Clarksville-Montgomery County Regional Planning Commission.
It is no secret that Clarksville and Montgomery County are growing at a rapid pace. We repeatedly make national news for “Best Place to Live,” “Most Desired Zip Code for Relocation” and “Best Place to Retire in Tennessee.” But this growth has quickly stressed our infrastructure, government capacity and, for many residents, put us on a less than desired path forward.
One of the roles of the Regional Planning Commission is to accomplish orderly development for current and future needs. The main tool the RPC and community have to guide growth is a 23-year-old Land Use Plan that was developed in 1999. As you might imagine, it did not anticipate the tremendous popularity and growth we’ve experienced over the past three years.
It is time to recalibrate and develop a plan for the next decade!
Spearheading this effort is the RPC and a consulting team from Houseal-Lavigne who have been busy collecting data and speaking with other city and county departments and stakeholders since spring. In addition to data collection, an online questionnaire and mapping survey was filled out by more than 900 community participants over the past several months. Initial input has centered around housing affordability, transportation challenges, and open space and recreation availability.
Now, it’s time to have meaningful conversations with our neighbors about where and how we grow. While the RPC receives many emails, phone calls and social media comments, there is a need to formally and systematically capture the opinion of our residents. Therefore, the RPC invites all residents to join one of our three workshops for the Comprehensive Plan on July 11 and 12.
During these three workshops, participants will have the opportunity to provide solutions to our community’s opportunities and challenges. Attendees will begin to identify where growth and change should happen, what it should look like, and what types of development are most suitable in different areas of the City and County.
There are three workshops spread around town and at different times, please join us for one of these:
- July 11 at Civic Hall, 350 Pageant Lane, 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. – Snacks and door prizes.
- July 12 at Kenwood High School, noon-2 p.m. – Lunch provided free to the first 200 participants by Say Cheese Please and Tacos Azteca Food Trucks, plus door prizes.
- July 12 at Old Glory Distilling, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. – Snacks and door prizes.
For more information please visit CMCRPC.com/CompPlan.
Jeff Tyndall