All Aboard Comprehensive Planning

PURPOSE AND GENERAL SCOPE OF WORK

The Town of Thompson’s Station is located in southern Williamson County, 30 miles from Nashville.  The population has been increasing rapidly since 1990, with a significant increase from 2010 to 2017. As of 2017, the Town’s population was 4,726.  The 2020 Census showed a population of 7,485.  At approximately 22 square miles in size, Thompson’s Station is located between Franklin and Spring Hill and experiences land use and transportation pressures as a result. The Town is bisected by Interstate 840 and includes a very diverse mix of current land uses from the intensive light industrial Mars Petcare facility to active agricultural uses. However, the size and diversity of current land uses also provides challenges in ensuring growth and development does not occur at the expense of the Town’s prized character and natural resources. The Town, for decades, has endeavored to prevent growth from overwhelming the existing community character. A major objective of this planning process is to ensure that balanced approach to preservation and growth continues.

The Town of Thompson’s Station’s current policy and regulatory framework for environmental protection, land use, and transportation were adopted from 2015-2019 as separate documents.  The Town’s proposed wastewater treatment plant upgrade, scheduled to be completed in 2023, will open the Town to tremendous growth pressures. In an effort to be ready for the coming growth and development, the Town is seeking consultants who will analyze all relevant data, existing and future market conditions, study current and future development patterns, and transportation issues to establish goals and objectives to allow the Town to develop both policy and regulatory strategies that will help the Town reflect the community’s vision for future growth and development while preserving and enhancing the quality of life in Thompson’s Station.

LDO Recognized with Awards

In 2016, the Town of Thompson's Station won two awards for the new Land Development Ordinance that was enacted the previous year.

Alderman Brandon Bell said that he represented the Town of Thompson’s Station . . . at the Tennessee Municipal League’s annual conference in Gatlinburg, where the town received the Small Town Progress Award for the work done on the new Land Development Ordinance.

“My understanding is that’s a state award,” said Mayor Corey Napier. “It represents the collaborative and consensus-building process we went through last year to look at our Land Development Ordinance and the intended code that went with it.”

The Town also received a national award, the Driehaus Award, national recognition from the Form-Based Codes Institute located in Detroit.  “What they were patting us on the back for is we’re looking out 20, 30, 40 years down the road and saying, ‘We know growth is going to happen here, and this is how we are going to address it,'” Napier said. “What this was acknowledging was that we are still considered a somewhat rural, agrarian area, but we know that’s changing with 840 and with the popularity of Williamson County and Middle Tennessee.” 

Find out more about the Awards on the Land Development Ordinance Webpage.

History of the Land Development Ordinance

Working with the Placemakers LLC in 2015, Town Officials and Staff worked to create the Land Development Ordinance with Public Input that updated the Town's Zoning Framework.  Shown is a slideshow of the Town's submission for the Driehaus Award which explains the project, workshop results, and previous framework with illustrative plans.  (Next Stop Submission - PDF)

Visit the Next Stop: Thompson's Station Webpage that gives an in-depth look at the history of the Land Development Ordinance.

Next Stop - Thompson's Station Submission

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The All Aboard Comprehensive Planning process will include simultaneous updates to the following documents:

An Economic Development Analysis will occur in parallel to the All Aboard Comprehensive Planning Process; however, it is not included in the scope of the All Aboard contract.

The consulting firm Kimley-Horn will be helping the Town through the update process including the hosting of informal Public Workshops throughout the Spring and early Summer where citizens can stop by to give their feedback.  The first Public Workshop was held April 7th from 5-7pm at the Community Center (1555 Thompson's Station Rd West).  More Public Workshops will be announced this spring/summer.

Scroll to the bottom of the page for video of the Mar. 22nd Joint BOMA/Planning Commission Workshop where the All Aboard plan was presented by representatives from Kimley-Horn.

Key Takeaways

All Aboard Comprehensive Plan Key Takeaways

The following sets the Town’s general expectations for the All Aboard Comprehensive Planning Process:

Comprehensive Public Engagement, to include at a minimum: a Steering Committee, a series of public input meetings, online engagement, and other activities to help ensure the planning process is a reflection of the community. The selected planning consultant will be expected to offer a robust public engagement process that mixes both in person and virtual activities.

The Town’s General Plan functions as a comprehensive framework plan for Thompson’s Station. The public engagement process should lead to the creation of a Vision Statement for the Town of Thompson’s Station that encapsulates and distills the All Aboard Comprehensive Planning Process. Town Staff expects the community engagement to lead and inform a set of guiding principles for the Town’s future growth and development. This process will result in an updated General Plan that will augment and better focus each existing plan element to ensure the Plan guides future growth while assuring preservation of the Town’s natural environment and cultural resources. At a minimum, the guiding policies are expected to equip the Town to:

  • Bolster neighborhood and Town character, 
  • Incorporate sustainability and low impact development measures, 
  • Balance preservation and growth, 
  • Ensure economic vitality and equity, and 
  • Promote fiscal stability for the Town.

The Town’s Major Thoroughfare Plan (MTP) functions as a comprehensive transportation policy plan for Thompson’s Station. This process will result in an updated MTP that will refresh the policies and projects from the 2019 MTP, while providing realistic opinion of probable costs for recommended projects and a realistic framework for Town project prioritization. A major emphasis of the MTP update will be the incorporation of specific and achievable multimodal elements, Town-wide.

The Town’s Land Development Ordinance (LDO) was adopted in 2015 and includes the Town’s Subdivision Regulations and Zoning Ordinance. This process will work within the existing LDO regulatory framework and result in a turn-key LDO that is clear, predicable, and establishes standards and regulations to enact the guiding principles of the General Plan and the Major Thoroughfare Plan. Town Staff has identified the following LDO updates to include: updated and simplified thoroughfare standards; the creation of a PUD process that ensures the Town accrues benefits from any PUD developments; simplified and clarified permitting processes; simplified signage standards; and creation of comprehensive development standards as part of the zoning process, with an emphasis on commercial and mixed use standards. Town Staff fully expects other LDO changes to be identified as part of the All Aboard Comprehensive Planning process.

Watch the video the Joint BOMA/Planning Commission Workshop from March 22nd where the All Aboard process was presented to elected and appointed Town officials with representatives from Kimley-Horn.