CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Regional Planning Commission hosted an open house on Tuesday night where they introduced a draft of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Comprehensive Plan. The open house served as a chance for the public to give feedback to the RPC on a document that will help guide the future of Clarksville.
Since January 2022, the RPC has worked alongside the community, local leaders and consultants from the firm Houseal Lavigne to develop the Comprehensive Plan.
This plan is being proposed to help guide the city and the county for over the next 20 years. According to its documents, it will be used as a policy guide that outlines actions to work towards achieving the community’s overall vision.
The Comprehensive Plan is made of several elements, including some of the following: vision and guiding principles, land use and development, housing and neighborhoods, economic development, transportation, etc.
13 planning areas
One section of the Comprehensive Plan is centered on 13 planning areas that make up the local community.
The plan offers a focused look at the sections, or “planning areas,” to “identify how each differs and what improvements are needed specific to that planning area.”
These areas are broken down into the following sections: South Clarksville, North Clarksville, Hilldale, St. Bethlehem, Sango, New Providence, Lafeyette Peachers Mill, Fredonia/Adams, Downtown Urban Core, Rossview, Cumberland South River, Woodlawn Dotsonville and Fort Campbell.
When you look at a specific planning area, let’s use North Clarksville as an example, there are general recommendations on how to improve the section.
The plan suggests that North Clarksville needs to:
- Support continuation of mixed housing.
- Incorporate traffic calming in retrofit neighborhoods to encourage lower speeds in residential areas.
- Encourage advanced manufacturing to support economic opportunities.
- Address park space needs for residents in proximity to established neighborhoods and within new development.
- Promote and enhance existing parks.
These are just a few of the general recommendations that the Comprehensive Plan recommends for the North Clarksville area. The full list can be found in the plan, along with the general recommendations for all the other planning areas.
Attainable housing
Jeffery Tyndall, who is the director of the RPC, told Clarksville Now that the need for affordable/attainable housing was a heavy theme throughout building the Comprehensive Plan.
In fact, at the beginning stages of the plan, members of the RPC met with the City Council, Montgomery County Commission, Technical Committee and a group of selected citizens. They asked each group to rank the top issues they want to be addressed.
Tyndall previously said that each group keened in on the need for affordable housing, in addition to numerous other issues.
So, in the housing and neighborhoods section of the plan, the policy statement focuses on the “encouragement to develop complete neighborhoods with a variety of attainable housing choices for all income ranges and stages of life with access to key amenities, commercial areas and personal services.”
What’s next
The Regional Planning Commission will hold two more open houses as they encourage feedback from the public over the Comprehensive Plan.
The open houses are scheduled for this week on Wednesday from 10 a.m.-noon and Saturday from 10 a.m.-noon at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library, 350 Pageant Lane.
Tyndall said as they continue to make provisions over the next couple of months, they aim to bring the final draft of the Comprehensive Plan to the City Council and County Commission in April of this year.