Alderman Brandon Bell accepted the award for "Small Town Progress" in Gatlinburg, TN on June 14th at the Annual Tennessee Municipal League Conference. The TML recognized the Town's work integrating public opinion into the new Land Development Ordinance through a charrette process. Partnering with the consulting firm Placemakers, LLC., the Town held a week-long public workshop, known as a charrette, in 2015 with the goal of bringing the Town’s vision for the future in line with written policy. Details of the charrette, tagged “Next Stop: Thompson’s Station”, are laid out in detail on Thompson’s Station’s website.
The Form-Based Code Institute (FBCI) also recognized the Town’s new ordinance at the 24th Annual Congress of the New Urbanism conference in Detroit, MI. The Driehaus Form-Based Code Award is in place to recognize achievement in the writing and implementation of Form-Based Codes. Mayor Corey Napier, Administrator Joe Cosentini and Town Planner Wendy Deats attended the conference and accepted the award on behalf of the Town. The FBCI awards jury considers such things as a code’s ability to be easily implemented and whether the code promotes good urbanism when evaluating award candidates. The Town was recognized in particular for innovations in by-right development for traditional neighborhood design, signage illustrations and the inclusion of growth management strategies that identified Targeted, Intended, and Controlled growth sectors. The jury found that Thompson’s Station code “is a well-prepared unified development ordinance that integrates new walk-able urban districts within the existing pattern of use-based suburban standards.”
Commenting on the new code, Mayor Napier feels it “will provide an excellent roadmap for future development while insuring a high quality of life for present and future residents.”
FBCI Website:
http://formbasedcodes.org/driehaus-form-based-codes-award/
http://formbasedcodes.org/codes/4095/