REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The Town of Thompson’s Station requests proposals for Planning/Engineering Consultant Services for the All Aboard Comprehensive Planning Process to include updates to the Town’s General Plan, Major Thoroughfare Plan and Land Development Ordinance.
The Town of Thompson’s Station is accepting statements of proposals for the All Aboard Comprehensive Planning Process. This submittal is for consultant proposals only. Do not provide fees for this project.
RFP Documents: RFP All Aboard Comprehensive Planning Services (PDF)
Proposals are to be turned in By: August 9, 2021, at 4:00 p.m.
Please provide (4) four hard copies and (1) one electronic copy of your statement of qualifications as part of your proposal.
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. 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 early 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.
The All Aboard Comprehensive Planning process will include simultaneous updates to the following documents:
- General Plan,
- Major Thoroughfare Plan, and
- Land Development Ordinance.
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 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, Townwide.
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 throughfare 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.