Public Chapter 1101, the new Tennessee growth management law, requires city and county governments to prepare a 20 year Growth Plan for each county. At a minimum, a growth plan must identify three classifications of land:

Rural areas: Rural areas are to include land to be preserved for farming, recreation, and other non-urban uses.

Urban growth boundaries (UGBs): UGBs must be drawn around all cities and towns. The land within the UGB must be reasonably compact but adequate to accommodate all of the city's expected growth for the next 20 years.

Planned growth areas (PGAs): PGAs must be reasonably compact but large enough to accommodate medium and high intensity growth expected to occur in unincorporated areas over the next 20 years.

A Growth Policy Coordinating Committee has been formed pursuant to the new law. The Committee is responsible for putting together a plan for adoption by the governing bodies of Knoxville, Knox County, and Farragut. Several public hearings will be required to obtain the views of citizens. The law encourages cities and counties to cooperate in the preparation of the plan and directs the Coordinating Committee to give due consideration to any proposals submitted in a timely manner by the county and cities.

MPC's Land Capability report has been prepared to assist the Growth Policy Coordinating Committee, Knox County, the City of Knoxville, and the Town of Farragut in complying with the requirements of Public Chapter 1101. It addresses the land use, population, and environmental factors that the new law requires localities to consider in designating rural areas, urban growth boundaries, and planned growth areas.

The Land Capability report contains maps and tables that show the remaining supply of developable land and provides background information regarding land use and environmental constraints. It also summarizes recent development and population trends, and it describes a computer spreadsheet model developed by MPC to make projections of future land requirements.

All of the maps from the Land Capability Analysis are available for review at this website. They can be accessed by clicking here: MAPS

Several of the tables of land use and demographic data from the report are also available: TABLES