JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The City of Johnson City hosted an event Thursday for people to provide feedback on its Horizon 2045 plan, a growth development plan that has a timeline of 20-plus years.
The gymnasium of the Langston Centre was filled with information about the plan, data that consultants have collected, and interactive activities.
“This will end up being a document, but we want it to be a living document and meaning that what we want from the community is what they would like to see in their own community,” said planning consultant Whitney Hodges. “What are the things that they truly value?”
Input collected will help the city make healthy growth decisions.
“The success of a plan is really based on the input the citizens give you and that’s really what we’re after here,” Director of Planning and Development Services Will Righter said.
Consultants collected data on the study area, which is the urban growth boundary. The urban growth boundary extends outside of city limits.
Interactive activities were set up for people to place dots on maps and graphs to indicate information such as where they live, work, and recreate along with where they believe development should happen within the urban growth boundary.
“Communities across the country do comprehensive plans or growth management plans and it’s just our turn to update ours,” Hodges said.
There are two other meetings the city hopes to hold, along with pop-up events as officials go through this plan development process. In the next meeting, consultants will present their findings based on the community responses from the first event. The next meeting has not been scheduled, but will likely be in the winter or spring of next year.
All information presented in the first event is linked here along with a survey to provide input.
City officials anticipate presenting the finalized plan to commissioners in September or October 2024.
