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 | TCSP-1999 Grant Proposals"The Land Use and Transportation Plan" |
I. COVER SHEET AND ABSTRACT
Type of Project Request: Planning Grant Project Title And Location: The Land Use and Transportation Plan Johnson City, Tennessee Organization: City of Johnson City, Tennessee Key Contact: Eric Thomas Iversen Address: PO Box 2150 Johnson City, Tennessee 37605 Phone/Fax/E-mail: Phone: (423) 434-6075
Fax: (423) 461-1641
E-mail: iversen@cityhall.ci.johnson-city.tn.usGrant Request: $ 275,000 Abstract:
The Land Use and Transportation Plan is an innovative plan integrating land use planning with transportation planning to increase the performance and efficiency of the transportation system. The final result of the Land Use and Transportation Plan will be adopted formal code changes to land use regulations based on the principles of traditional neighborhood development and transit oriented development. Code changes will create opportunities for intensified mixed-use development to occur in neighborhood nodes and permit increased accessibility for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit. These changes will lead to a decreased percentage of vehicles miles traveled. Current regulations effectively limit bicycle, pedestrian, and transit access by mandating the separation of uses. An evaluation will be performed comparing projected traffic volume and type with and without adoption of the new regulations. The Land Use and Transportation Plan will directly beneficially impact Johnson City, which is a rapidly growing city of 54,000 people and is the primary service center within an SMSA of 436,000. Additionally, due to new State of Tennessee legislation which mandates urban growth boundaries, a unique opportunity exists for the Land Use and Transportation Plan to direct the location of growth within the urban growth boundaries. The results of the Land Use and Transportation will be able to be used by other communities across the State of Tennessee and nationally.
II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Through the TCSP, the City of Johnson City and its partners will develop an innovative plan integrating land use planning with transportation planning to increase the performance and efficiency of the transportation system. Involvement of non-traditional partners will occur through the creation of a Citizen Steering Committee and a number of charrettes. The final result of the Land Use and Transportation Plan will be adopted formal code changes to land use regulations based on the principles of traditional neighborhood development and transit oriented development. Code changes will create opportunities for intensified mixed-use development to occur in neighborhood nodes and permit increased accessibility for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit. These changes will lead to a decreased percentage of vehicles miles traveled. Current regulations effectively limit bicycle, pedestrian, and transit access by mandating the separation of uses.
Additionally, due to new State of Tennessee legislation which mandates urban growth boundaries, a unique opportunity exists for the Land Use and Transportation Plan to direct the location of growth within the urban growth boundaries. The results of the Land Use and Transportation will be able to be used by other communities across the State of Tennessee and nationally.
Geographic Scale
Johnson City is a rapidly growing city of 54,000 people located in northeast Tennessee. It is the regional medical, educational, and retail center and the largest city within the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol SMSA (population 436,000). Projected population in Johnson City and the SMSA for 2020 is 72,000 and 518,000 respectively. Job growth is expected to increase from 27,675 to 40,250 by 2020. Johnson City is typical of many rapidly growing communities in the United States. Being a high growth small urban area, Johnson City is like many other communities across the United States where new development and increasing populations continue to burden the transportation system. Traffic volumes and vehicle miles traveled are continuing to increase as the density of Johnson City decreases.
Short term results
The immediate result of the Land Use and Transportation Plan will be adopted code changes which will revise and update the City’s land use plan. By involving non-traditional partners and the general public through the Citizen Steering Committee and charrettes, there will be stakeholder buy-in and support of the new regulations. The adopted code changes will be part of the Land Use Plan and Transportation Plan which will be made available to the FHWA and other communities. A comparison of traffic projections under current regulations and new regulations will provide incentive for other communities to consider a similar approach. Additionally, the update to the Johnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan, scheduled for 2000, will incorporate findings from the Land Use and Transportation Plan. Due to the size and high growth rate of Johnson City, the changes to the land use plan will have an immediate, noticeable effect on development patterns within the City.
Long term results
By adopting new land use regulations which require development to occur within neighborhood nodes, development patterns will change. As new development occurs within neighborhood nodes, opportunities for access by bicycles, pedestrians, and transit increase. Dependency on the automobile for every trip will be reduced. The combination of these elements will reduce the percentage of vehicle miles thereby improving the efficiency of transportation system, reducing the impact of transportation on the environment, reducing the need for costly future infrastructure, and ensuring efficient access to jobs, services, and centers of trade.
Vision of the ultimate impact of the project
Formal code changes developed in the Land Use and Transportation Plan will change current development patterns to create neighborhood nodes. The creation of neighborhood nodes will lead to reduced dependency on the automobile and increased accessibility for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit.
The Land Use and Transportation Plan will link to the efforts underway through Johnson City’s ITS demonstration project. The ITS project is primarily addressing the 50% of vehicle trips in Johnson City which originate outside the city and surrounding county. The Land Use and Transportation Plan has the ability to affect the other 50% of the trips which are of local origin. Any impact on local trip generation will increase the efficiency of the regional transportation system. Additionally, the overall need for future improvements will be reduced.
The ultimate vision for the Land Use and Transportation Plan is for the plan to be used as a model for other cities across the State of Tennessee and throughout the United States.
III. PURPOSE and CRITERIA:
1. Improve the efficiency of the transportation system.
As a rapidly growing community, the burden on the existing transportation system is increasing with every new development. Current land use and zoning regulations for Johnson City are typical of many cities and dictate the separation of uses. The Land Use and Transportation Plan will establish the development of neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development. These neighborhood nodes will facilitate increased pedestrian and bicycle movement, as well as increased transit ridership, while decreasing the percentage of automobile trips. Existing infrastructure will benefit from a reduction in vehicle miles traveled.
2. Reduce the impacts of transportation on the environment.
The Land Use and Transportation Plan will provide the opportunity for many short trips to be made on foot or by bicycle which were previously made by automobile. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency report, Pollution Prevention, The Clean Air Act And Motor Vehicles:
"Bicycling, however, provides the freedom of a car without the harmful emissions. Bicycling is ideal for these short trips, and it is often as quick as motor vehicle travel due to increasing levels of traffic congestion Moreover, short (vehicle) trips tend to be the most polluting because emission control systems do not work well until they have warmed up. Therefore, there is a disproportionately high level of emission reductions when short trips are eliminated." |
3. Reduce the need for costly future investments in public infrastructure.
The Land Use and Transportation Plan will reduce the number of short, local trips being made on the regional transportation system by providing the opportunity for many short trips to be completed by bicycle or on foot. By reducing the number of local tips on the regional system, the system is capable of handling additional regional traffic.
4. Ensure efficient access to jobs, services, and centers of trade.
The Land Use and Transportation Plan will establish neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development. By providing the ability to live, work, and shop within a neighborhood node, people will be able to access daily needs by foot or bicycle. People who live or work outside a neighborhood node will be able to access it via public transit.
5. Examine development patterns and identify strategies to encourage private sector development patterns which achieve the goals of the TCSP.
The Land Use and Transportation Plan will create new regulations to provide for intensified mixed-use neighborhood nodes resulting in changes to land development patterns. Due to the size and high growth rate of Johnson City, the changes to the land use plan will have an immediate, noticeable effect on development patterns within the City. These changes will be a result of private development. Specific partners will be identified which are suitable to develop in neighborhood nodes.
IV. COORDINATION
Recent legislation by the State of Tennessee mandates all 95 counties, and the municipalities within those counties, develop urban growth boundaries. The State law requires three types of areas (urban growth, planned growth, and rural) to be defined in each county; however, it contains no provisions regarding how development should occur within the urban areas. The Land Use and Transportation Plan will be the first plan which considers how and where growth occurs within the urban growth boundaries. It will provide a model for the other counties and cities to utilize after urban growth boundaries are established. The model developed will also be applicable to other cities and counties throughout the United States in the revision of their land use plans.
The update of the Johnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan scheduled for 2000 will incorporate findings from the Land Use and Transportation Plan. When completed in 1995, it did not have a land use component. A letter of support is included from the Johnson City Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).
V. PARTNERS
The grant request is being submitted by the City of Johnson City Planning Department in cooperation with the Johnson City MPO. These agencies will be responsible for the organization, management, and successful completion of the Land Use and Transportation Plan. They are submitting the grant request on behalf of the Johnson City Regional Planning Commission which has requested a Land Use and Transportation Plan to update the existing Land Use Plan.
The first step of the Land Use and Transportation Plan will be to form the Citizen Steering Committee. The Citizen Steering Committee will act as the board of directors for the project, providing guidance and professional input. Members of the Citizen Steering Committee are anticipated from the following organizations:
Johnson City Regional Planning Commission
Johnson City Board of Commissioners
Johnson City Regional Water and Sewer System
Johnson City Transit
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City Medical Center
Sierra Club
Johnson City Area Homebuilders Association
Local Homeowners’ Association
Washington County Farm Bureau
Johnson City Bikeway and Greenway Advisory Council
Public-at-large
Involvement and education of the community will be completed through a four step charrette process. Each of following steps may consist of more than one charrette.
1. Community-wide kick-off and visioning
Two or three charrettes will be held at different locations around Johnson City to kick-off the project, develop a vision, and get people involved.
2. Identify neighborhood nodes
A charrette will be held to bring together people from the first series of charrettes and identify locations and boundaries of neighborhood nodes.
3. Determine content of neighborhood nodes
A charrette will be held in each neighborhood node to identify opportunities and a possible mixture of uses. To accomplish this task, stakeholders from each neighborhood node will be identified and invited to a charrette.
4. Final results
A final charrette will be held to bring together the results of the neighborhood node charrettes and discuss the recommendations of the Land Use and Transportation Plan.
Community involvement and education throughout the charrette process will be maintained through traditional press releases and newspaper advertisements; a project newsletter; and the web sites of the Johnson City MPO and City of Johnson City.
VI. SCHEDULE
The project expected to take approximately one year to complete. Evaluation of the project will occur an extended time period. Major milestones include:
| April 1999 | Release RFP for consulting firms |
| May 1999 | Form Citizen Steering Committee |
| June 1999 | Selection of firm(s) by Johnson City Board of Commissioners |
| July 1999 | Charrette #1: Community-wide kick-off and visioning |
| August 1999 | Charrette #2: Identify neighborhood nodes |
| September 1999 | Charrette #3: Determine content of neighborhood nodes |
| October 1999 | Completion of analysis of existing regulations |
| November 1999 | Presentation of preliminary findings to Johnson City Regional Planning Commission |
| March 2000 | Completion of development of new regulations with Citizen Steering Committee and City staff |
| April 2000 | Charrette #4: Final results |
| April 2000 | Adoption of plan by Johnson City Regional Planning Commission |
| May 2000 | Adoption of plan by Johnson City Board of Commissioners. |
| May 2000 | Copy of final plan made available to FHWA and other communities. |
| May 2000 | First evaluation submitted to FHWA |
VII. BUDGET and RESOURCES
The amount of Federal funding requested to complete the Land Use and Transportation Plan is $275,000. The City of Johnson City has committed an additional $69,000 to the project. The contribution by Johnson City includes the cost of staffing a project manager who will be dedicated to the year-long project. Additional City funding includes GIS mapping, web site design and maintenance, in-house public relations, and evaluations to be completed after the project is complete. The charrette process will involve a significant additional time commitment from the volunteer members of the Johnson City Regional Planning Commission and City staff.
Additionally, the City of Johnson City has completed a number of activities leading up to the Land Use and Transportation Plan. These resources include the following:
Vision 2020: Johnson City, Tennessee in Perspective
Population and demographic projections for Johnson City, the surrounding county, and SMSA.
Existing Land Use Inventory of the Planning Region of Johnson City
A field inventory of the existing land use and number of units of every parcel within the Planning Region of the Johnson City Regional Planning Commission.
The Visual Preference SurveyTM
A visual survey of community preferences completed by over 2,000 Johnson City citizens. The results of this survey describe a vision our community has for Johnson City.
The project budget is on the following page.
Project Budget and Resources
FEDERAL BUDGET
$275,000
Public Involvement
$49,000
Charrette process $ 40,000
Newsletter $ 5,000
Citizen Steering Committee $ 4,000
Plan Development
$153,000
Analysis and Evaluation of Existing Regs $ 24,000
Develop Plan $103,000
Recruit Partners $ 7,000
Plan Printing $ 19,000
Evaluation
$73,000
Focus Group $ 4,000
Traffic Projections $ 65,000
Grant Evaluation Workshops $ 4,000
CITY FUNDED ACTIVITIES
$69,000
Project Manager $ 44,000
Web Site $ 2,000
Public Relations for Charrette Process $ 3,000
GIS Mapping $ 9,000
Evaluation Component after 1 year $ 10,000
Future Focus Group Evaluation $ 1,000
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
$49,000
Vision 2020 $ 10,000
Existing Land Use Inventory $ 14,000
Visual Preference SurveyTM Results $ 25,000
VIII. PROJECT EVALUATION PLAN
The intent of the evaluation of the Land Use and Transportation Plan is to determine its success or failure at meeting the goals of the TCSP and additional local goals. A unique opportunity exists for undertaking this project due to new legislation by the State of Tennessee mandating urban growth boundaries. Although the new legislation has been commended for its foresight, it does not specify how growth should occur to best limit the need for future expansion of the urban growth boundaries or how growth within the urban growth boundaries will impact the transportation system. It is the intent of the Land Use and Transportation Plan to revise land use regulations through formal code changes to create opportunities for intensified mixed-use development to occur in neighborhood nodes leading to reduced dependency on the automobile and increased accessibility for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit.
The general goals and objectives of the TCSP program along with specific additional local goals and objectives are as follows:
- Create Citizen Steering Committee to act as board of directors.
- Conduct a series of charrettes to involve the general public.
- Utilize focus group at beginning and end of program to assess impact.
- Reduce dependency on the car.
- Increase opportunities for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit.
- Revise current regulations which mandate separation of uses.
- Create neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development.
- Locate neighborhood nodes in locations where current infrastructure has excess capacity.
- Reduce vehicle trips by increasing opportunities for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit.
- Create neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development which allow for short trips to be completed by bicycle or pedestrians.
- Locate neighborhood nodes along transit corridors or provide transit between neighborhood nodes.
- Reduce dependency on the car.
- Increase opportunities for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit.
- Revise current regulations which mandate separation of uses.
- Create neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development.
- Revise current regulations which mandate separation of uses.
- Create neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development.
- Revise current regulations which mandate separation of uses.
- Seek private partners to develop within neighborhood nodes.
- Revise current regulations which mandate separation of uses.
- Create neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development.
- Seek the input of the community including the Washington County Farm Bureau, Sierra Club, and neighborhood groups in the revision of current regulations.
- Involve Johnson City MPO in the development of the Land Use and Transportation Plan.
- Develop and make available to other cities and counties in Tennessee innovative regulations to direct growth within urban growth boundaries.
- Structure plan to be incorporated into 5 year update of the Johnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan.
- Utilize neighborhood nodes to alleviate ‘problem’ areas identified in the Johnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan.
Primary goals and objectives from the list above have been selected which will best measure the results of the Land Use and Transportation Plan. Additional performance measures may be utilized as the plan is developed.
Process Evaluation
Goal/Objective
Performance Measures
Evaluation Methods
Involvement of non-traditional partners Representation on Citizen Steering Committee:
Johnson City Regional Planning Commission
Johnson City Board of Commissioners
Johnson City Regional Water and Sewer System
Johnson City Transit
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City Medical Center
Sierra Club
Johnson City Area Homebuilders Association
Local Homeowners’ Association
Washington County Farm Bureau
Johnson City Bikeway and Greenway Advisory Council
Public-at-largeQuantify number of charrettes and attendance
Utilize focus group for overall assessment of plan resultsReview minutes of Citizen Steering Committee
Interview participants
Document number of charrettes and the attendance
Record assessments of focus groupSeek private partners to develop within neighborhood nodes. Contact with developers
Review list of developers contacted.
interview with developers.Involve Johnson City MPO in the development of the Land Use and Transportation Plan. Amount of involvement of Johnson City MPO in developing the plan Review minutes and notes from meetings.
Process Evaluation Reports and Timeline
The process evaluation will document the process by which the Land Use and Transportation Plan was completed. Additionally, the type of people involved will be reviewed along with their role in the creation of the plan. It is important to measure the amount of involvement of the Johnson City MPO to indicate any improved linkages. It will be submitted by the Project Manager at the completion of the project as part of the initial evaluation report.
Product Evaluation
Goal/Objective Performance Measures Evaluation Methods Locate neighborhood nodes along transit corridors or provide transit between neighborhood nodes. Comparison of transit routes to neighborhood nodes. Compare location of transit routes with location of neighborhood nodes. Revise current regulations which mandate separation of uses. Production of formal document titled, Land Use and Transportation Plan Submit document containing new regulations. Adoption of new regulations. Approval of regulations by:
Citizen Steering Committee
Johnson City Regional Planning
Commission
Johnson City Board of CommissionersReview minutes of meetings and identify approval of new regulations.
Product Evaluation Reports and Timeline
The product evaluation will include a copy of Land Use and Transportation Plan and include a description of how the project was adopted and implemented. Along with a copy of the plan, a review of the impact the new regulations have on the City and how they can be applied to other cities. The product evaluation report will be completed and submitted as part of the initial evaluation report to be submitted at the completion of the project. This evaluation report will be completed by the Project Manager.
Outcome Evaluation
Goal/Objective Performance Measures Evaluation Methods Reduce vehicle trips by increasing opportunities for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit;
and
Create neighborhood nodes with intensified mixed-use development.Baseline projected measures of traffic by volume and type vs. Land Use and Transportation Plan projections
Utilize focus group to determine accessibility within neighborhood nodes for pedestrians, bicycles, and transit.
Linear feet of new sidewalk within neighborhood nodes.
Increase in transit ridershipCompare traffic projections from the Johnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan to projections in Land Use and Transportation Plan.
Qualitative analysis via assessment by focus group.
Measure amount of new sidewalk within neighborhood nodes.
Compare transit ridership numbers before and after Land Use and Transportation Plan.Consistency with Statewide and MPO planning process. 5 year update of Johnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan incorporates elements of the Land Use and Transportation Plan.
New regulations are made available to other communities.Review 5 year update of Johnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan to be completed in 2000.
Interview other communities which have received a copy of the Land Use and Transportation Plan.Seek private partners to develop within neighborhood nodes. Changes in development location or density. Compare existing land use with land use after the creation of neighborhood nodes.
Outcome Evaluation Reports and Timeline
The first outcome evaluation report will contain the comparison of traffic projection before the study was completed and the new projections, based on the new regulations in the plan. Further outcome evaluation reports will occur 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years after the completion of the project. The future evaluation reports will focus on the actual traffic counts as well as a review of new development. The first outcome evaluation will be submitted by the Project Manager. The additional evaluation reports will be completed by the City of Johnson City.
Identify Data and Information Sources
The following chart identifies existing data sources and new data collection efforts which will be utilized in the evaluation of the Land Use and Transportation Plan:
Type of Data
Existing Data Sources
New Data Collection Effort
Current Projected Traffic
Current Projected Mode ChoiceJohnson City MPO Long Range Transportation Plan ¾
Projected Traffic After Development of Neighborhood Nodes ¾
Land Use and Transportation Plan Current Land Use Johnson City Existing Land Use Survey ¾
Land Use After Development ¾
Building Permit and Field Survey Transit Routes
Transit RidershipJohnson City Transit ¾
Traffic Counts,
Current Projected Traffic VolumesJohnson City Public Works Department ¾
Potential Development Partners ¾
Project Manager Meeting Minutes ¾
Project Manager Linear Feet of Sidewalk ¾
Johnson City Public Works Department
Evaluation Budget
Federal Budget Focus Group $ 4,000
Traffic Projection $ 65,000
Grant Evaluation Workshops $ 4,000
Federal Total $73,000
City Funded Activities
Evaluation Component after 1 year 10,000
Future Focus Group Evaluation $ 1,000
City Total $11,000
Total Evaluation Budget $84,000
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