RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Rutherford County Planning Commission has officially approved its Plan Rutherford blueprint for the county.

Rutherford County is expected to surpass 550,000 residents by 2045. On Monday, planning commissioners approved a plan to help the county manage that growth over the next two decades.

“The whole idea of the plan was to encourage growth in areas where it makes sense," Rutherford County Planning Director Doug Demosi said. "So, this is certainly not a plan where we're trying to stymie any growth or try to discourage growth; we just want to see it in places where it makes sense."

The plan takes a look at what kind of density an area can handle when it comes to development. It considers factors such as available roadways, whether they're paved and how close a property is to things like schools, police and fire services.

“This plan does not say you can never build a large-scale, high-density neighborhood in the rural reserve part of the county," Rutherford County Planning Commissioner Michael Shirley said. "What it says is that if you're going to do that, you're going to have to prove that the infrastructure is in place in order to get a higher density than what is allowed in the plan."

However, the plan also takes into consideration almost three years of public feedback and works to preserve the county's character, especially when it comes to rural and farmlands.

“We came to at least a general consensus; nobody's going to get everything that they want, but I like the fact that I think we're doing a little bit more preserving in the rural areas than we did under our current plan, and I think that overall there's more focus on that in this plan,” Demosi said.

The plan will now head to the Rutherford County Commission for consideration. They can choose to approve it in its entirety or call for adjustments.

Shirley urged residents to visit planrutherford.org and review the plan and let their county commissioners know what they think.

“It is a response to the constituents of Rutherford County that went to these planning meetings out in the local areas, this is what they said they wanted, and then we took that feedback and tried to find a plan that would also balance the needs and developers in our county, and people that live in our county and are moving to our county, this plan seeks to address all of their concerns together,” Shirley said.

Planning commissioners will present the updated Plan Rutherford outline to the County Commission on Oct. 7.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/rutherford-county-planning-commission-approves-plan-rutherford-now-set-to-go-before-county-commission/