Williamson County-A Regional Leader in Quality Growth Planning

It is no accident that Williamson County has become one of the most desirable places to live, not only in Tennessee but in the country. Its natural beauty, combined with its convenient location to Nashville, and its high median household income has afforded Williamson County a high quality of life and services for its residents.

The City of Franklin, the county seat, is home to the past and present. The historic downtown district and famous Civil War battle sites mix with modern shopping at the CoolSprings Galleria and the new headquarters for Nissan North American. The City of Brentwood, which hugs the southern Davidson County line, is known for its affluent neighborhoods and community character. Other communities such as Spring Hill, Fairview and Nolensville border neighboring counties and offer distinctly different living styles of their own.

In 2007, Williamson County finalized its award-winning comprehensive plan, focusing on permanent rural preservation, community revitalization, and efficient use of community services. More recently the county is creating Special Area Plans for rural villages and hamlets for unincorporated communities College Grove and Leipers Fork. These community plans help guide development for unique communities with a focus on preserving rural character and limiting growth.

Pre Civil War Williamson County was originally inhabited by at least five prehistoric cultures, including tribes of Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Shawnees. White settlers had settled here by 1798, and on October 26, 1799, the Tennessee General Assembly created Franklin and Williamson County. In 1800 Abram Maury laid out Franklin, the county seat, which was carved out of part of a land grant he purchased from Major Anthony Sharp.The county was named in honor of Dr. Hugh Williamson of North Carolina who was a colonel in the North Carolina militia and served three terms in the Continental Congress.

Many of the early inhabitants of the county were recipients of Revolutionary War land grants. Those veterans who chose not to settle here often sold large sections of their land grants to speculators, who in turn subdivided the land and sold off smaller lots. Prior to the Civil War, the county was the second wealthiest in the state; its resources of timber and rich soil (farmed for a diversity of crops including rye, corn, oats, tobacco, potatoes, wheat, peas, barley, and hay) provided a stable economy, as opposed to reliance on one cash crop.

Williamson County was severely affected by the civil war. During the Civil War, Williamson County saw three battles: the Battle of Brentwood, the Battle of Thompson’s Station, and one of the bloodiest battles in the war, the Battle of Franklin. The large plantations that were part of the economic foundation of the county were ravaged, and many of the county’s youth were killed during the war. Many Confederate casualties of the battle of Franklin lie in the McGavock Confederate Cemetery near the Carnton plantation house. This cemetery, containing the bodies of 1,481 soldiers, is the largest private Confederate cemetery in America.

The agricultural and rural nature of the county remained much the same for the first part of the 1900s. Most residents were farmers who raised corn, wheat, cotton and livestock. One of the first manufacturers to come here was the Dortch Stove works in Franklin, which later became the Magic Chef factory, producing electric and gas ranges. After falling into disuse, this factory complex was restored in the late 1990s and is a model historic preservation adaptive reuse project.
Since the completion of the Interstate system and the growth of Nashville, Williamson County has seen tremendous growth. Between 1990 and 2000, the county’s population grew at an of increase of 56.3 percent.

College Grove: Defining & Planning for Rural Villages

Quality Growth Case Study

Written by Kasey Talbott, 2010

Williamson County’s focus on preserving and enhancing rural hamlets and villages such as College Grove and Leipers Fork have been seen as models for the Middle Tennessee region. Using planning standards typically designed for more urban areas. These individual plans work with community residents’ vision to design custom plans that enhance community character, encourage mixed use and denser development in the community center, and preserve the immediate rural landscape surroundings.

Williamson County: 2008 Agricultural Economic Profile

Employment in Agriculture and Forestry made up 1.6% of total jobs created in Williamson County in 2008 with 1,963 total jobs in these sectors. Primary agriculture was the largest job creator with 1,357 jobs or 77% of total agriculture jobs created. Overall, the forestry industry created 190 jobs or 10% of total agriculture and forestry jobs created in 2008.

 

Progress On CRT Principles for Quality Growth:

Comprehensive community plans

Williamson County, boasting about 165,000 residents nestled among its rolling hills continues to outpace most of the nation in population growth. The cities of Brentwood and Franklin are particularly booming, driven by their business-friendly atmosphere and tight-knit suburban communities. Recently ranked as America’s wealthiest county by the Council for Community and Economic Research, Williamson County certainly possesses the means to aggressively pursue smart growth projects to manage that expansion. Williamson seized the challenge and finalized its Comprehensive Plan in August 2007, focusing especially on permanent rural preservation and regulating community services. Williamson County is now focusing on creating Special Area Plans for rural villages, such as the College Grove Village Special Area Plan, completed in the summer of 2010. This plan will guide development for this unique community with focus on preserving its rural character and limiting growth.

Updated zoning, subdivision and building codes to implement plans

Williamson planners are actively revising zoning codes, especially those governing rural areas. For example, planners are shifting to new conservation rural subdivision regulations in lower density areas that ensure community character while directing residents towards established municipalities. Additionally, villages of especially historic or environmental value are drawing up individualized plans to ensure their continued protection. By blending macro and micro level planning, Williamson hopes to close damaging code loopholes that have often compromised past plans.

Design for protection and enhancement of community character

Williamson residents highly prize their status as a rural community, and they have fought vigorously to maintain that standing despite their booming population. In addition to traditional policies respecting historic buildings and agricultural lands, Williamson residents seek permanent preservation for several historic roadways throughout the county, particularly in its northern and western portions. To streamline the preservation process, the county has commissioned survey to identify lands and structures of high historic priority.

Although planning participants reached a consensus on the need to preserve rural character, they wildly disagreed on how to achieve that end. Many argued that establishing lowering density requirements in rural areas would best protect land, but several others countered that such a policy would unduly burden landowners with the duty of open space conservation; therefore, the final plan does not endorse mandatory lower densities, but rather strengthens alternatives such as natural resource conservation rules and Transfer of Development Rights programs.

Housing

Given the relatively high average income in Williamson, housing prices are steeper than many of Nashville’s surrounding suburban areas, creating barriers for many potential residents; therefore, policymakers are diversifying the housing stock, through zoning and differential fees, to offer a series of price points for homebuyers and renters. Furthermore, they are prioritizing housing targeted for the substantial elderly population in the county, as well as concentrated maintenance on the many older homes dotting the rural landscape.

Conservation

County leaders and citizens are exceptionally apprehensive about the integrity and continued stability of Williamson’s water supply, which flows primarily from the sensitive Harpeth River watershed. By implementing stream and lake setbacks, watershed protections, floodplain controls, and other water conservation measures, Williamson hopes to stretch its fragile water sources to fit its growing population without destroying invaluable natural resources.

Additionally, residents have instituted a policy of preservation for smaller farmland staples such as stone walls, older fences, and surrounding woodlands. By reusing existing amenities on farms, specifically, landowners can circumvent construction that can erode existing land and compromise water quality. The city of Franklin has even created separate Sustainability and Tree Commissions to more closely study issues of preservation and natural resource sustainability.

Land use and transportation

State Route 840, currently under construction, bisects Williamson from West to East, creating both opportunities and development pressures along its entirety. To control that pressure, the Williamson Plan designates a handful of “840 Centers” at key interchanges along 840 at which development is encouraged; however, all other development proposals along the highway will meet significant barriers. Currently, only one 840 Center is approved, although more will be opened as construction progresses.

Although the Williamson Plan designates scrupulous rules governing new roadway construction and maintenance, it grants scant attention to alternative methods of transportation. Though roads require careful attention to ensure minimal environmental impact and congestion, they would produce a far smaller impact if citizens were walking or biking on them. Williamson has taken many steps in the correct direction for transit policy, but it can take many more for alternative transportation.

Efficient use of existing infrastructure

As the county population explodes, municipal services face daunting challenges to keep up with growth while managing costs. Schools are of particular concern: Williamson historically boasts high-quality school systems, but funding and access for future schools could be jeopardized if costs outpace revenues generated by new residents. Careful school siting within walking distance of students can help reduce infrastructure costs and lower the need for inefficient car-related expenses.

Additionally, county policymakers worry that new alternative sewage treatment methods—non-public entities which operate on a decentralized, situational rather than a regional basis—will expedite rural sprawl if planning does not regulate use. The County therefore plans to battle sprawl through a policy of limited service availability: areas designated for rural development will receive rural levels of service, while designated suburban areas will receive suburban levels of service, for example. By rationing services and implementing alternative sewer technologies only as needed, the community hopes to prevent “leapfrog” development.

Thinking and acting regionally

As Williamson’s growth accelerates, so too does its need for regional collaboration. Thankfully, Williamson is working extensively among its many communities as well as reaching out to Nashville’s planning leaders. Through regional action, Williamson can ensure its continued economic vitality without compromising its bucolic integrity.