Kingston Springs: A Small Town’s Proactive Effort to Prepare for Growth on Their Own Terms

In Case Studies, Cheatham, Publications, Quality Growth, Resource
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Quality Growth Case Study

Written by Kasey Talbott, 2010

Following CRT’s and AIA 150’s Visioning Workshops. Residents in Kingston Springs decided to work together and address the town’s interstate entrance corridor. The town commissioned plans to design and implement new standards to build on the town’s community character and make safer for walking and biking.

View the Kingston Springs Case Study, PDF

Background

Kingston Springs, located in Cheatham County, Tennessee is a small town west of Nashville off interstate I-40. Community members have become increasingly aware of how rapid growth in the 90s and early 2000s turned small communities, similar to Kingston Springs, into fast growing cities. The goal for leaders of this rural town was to address the realities of future growth and to establish guidelines for future development reflective of the community. In particular, emphasis was placed on open space conservation and town center revitalization for enhanced livability and economic development opportunities.

Collaborative Leadership

The Kingston Springs Plan was a unique collaboration between city officials, community leaders, Cumberland Region Tomorrow, the American Institute of Architects and the University of Tennessee Architecture School as part of the AIA 150 Blueprint for America/Quality Growth Toolbox Pilot Project. What set the Kingston Springs Plan apart is that community leaders proactively started the planning process and were able to coordinate help from the previously mentioned groups to visualize, conceptualize and put implementation strategies into place.

Marion Fowlkes, a Kingston Springs Planning Commissioner, explained that Kingston Springs is a special place and the town is aware and looking forward to new growth in the future.

“The initial goal was to get the conversation started now about what this new growth should look like later.”

Getting Public Input

In order to encourage community engagement the Kingston Springs planning group wrote letters in the local papers discussing smart growth issues at a very basic and specific topic level. The letters preceded the series of community vision sessions that were conducted by CRT and AIA volunteers. For a small town the turnout was excellent, around 150 community stakeholders participated in the two day event.

Visioning and Consensus

The Visioning Sessions were oriented around a two day series of public meetings. Day one focused on identifying strengths, weaknesses, risks and opportunities in the community while day two identified goals for future development.

Goals

Kingston Springs stakeholders indentified the top ten goals for future development in the area.

Create Neighborhood Identity
Design Matters
Protect environmental resources
Provide Choices
Design in human scale
Preserve urban centers
Build vibrant spaces
Vary Transportation Options
Conserve Landscapes
Encourage mixed-use development

Strategic Implementation

Suggestions
Based on the visioning sessions a set of recommendations were made as to how to best accomplish Kingston Spring’s goals.

There is a clear consensus and mandate for guiding growth and conserving open land in Kingston Springs. One valuable outcome of the workshops has been to confirm this consensus as a basis for future decision-making.
There is a general perception of “two differing town centers,” one historic near the former downtown rail depot, and the other commercial strip leading north from the interstate interchange.
Continue the community visioning workshop process with the Cheatham County Planner, and check and update growth regulations for compatibility with the workshop consensus.
Establish an outdoor public space in a strategic downtown location that can function as a town square, both as a visual amenity and as a place of public assembly for community events.
The interstate interchange and commercial strip leading north from the interchange does not reflect the character of the town, is unattractive, and doesn’t function well. Employ “Context Sensitive Design” on this strip, and engage in dialogue with TDOT environmental planning leadership regarding funding potential, using the workshop outcomes as a community consensus and mandate.
Continue learning and utilizing Randall Arendt’s Illustrated Design Principles, Model Village and Subdivision Design Ordinances, and Architectural Design Guidelines, in order to allow for compact development with significant land conservation.
Reinforce all of Kingston Springs as a walkable, interconnected community linking its town centers, neighborhoods, schools and natural features.
Join with other communities from Nashville to Dickson to continue advocacy for commuter rail on the CSX Nashville to Memphis line, with any subsequent development at a Kingston Springs’ station “transit-oriented development,” and not simply “transit adjacent development” (see appendix VII).
Finally, Cumberland Region Tomorrow’s Quality Growth Toolbox should be a primary resource document in the future planning Kingston Springs. This document contains tools, incentives, resources, and contacts for public officials to implement the observations of citizens expressed in this assessment and visioning workshop, including their desire to ensure economic vitality through quality growth.

Current Status

Results and recommendations allowed Kingston Springs officials to request and receive funding for planning assistance through TDOT for the Interstate Exit portion of their community. Kingston Springs citizen’s call for a safer, walkable/bikeable and more attractive gateway into Kingston Springs and Cheatham County led to an excellent Transportation Planning Report for this community’s use in determining next steps for Strategic
Implementation. In addition new city ordinances and design guidelines are expected to be passed soon and work on the master plan is the next goal. However, like many plans, funding will be the biggest challenge for Kingston Springs as it looks to begin implementation.