Tennessee § 6-58-107 - Approved plan required — Land use decisions to be consistent with plan.

§ 6-58-107. Approved plan required — Land use decisions to be consistent with plan.

Not later than July 1, 2001, a growth plan for each county shall be submitted to and approved by the local government planning advisory committee in accordance with § 6-58-104. After a growth plan is so approved, all land use decisions made by the legislative body and the municipality's or county's planning commission shall be consistent with the growth plan. The growth plan shall include, at a minimum, documents describing and depicting municipal corporate limits, as well as urban growth boundaries, planned growth areas, if any, and rural areas, if any, approved in conformance with § 6-58-104. The purpose of a growth plan is to direct the coordinated, efficient, and orderly development of the local government and its environs that will, based on an analysis of present and future needs, best promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare. A growth plan may address land-use, transportation, public infrastructure, housing, and economic development. The goals and objectives of a growth plan include the need to: Provide a unified physical design for the development of the local community; Encourage a pattern of compact and contiguous high density development to be guided into urban areas or planned growth areas; Establish an acceptable and consistent level of public services and community facilities and ensure timely provision of those services and facilities; Promote the adequate provision of employment opportunities and the economic health of the region; Conserve features of significant statewide or regional architectural, cultural, historical, or archaeological interest; Protect life and property from the effects of natural hazards, such as flooding, winds, and wildfires; Take into consideration such other matters that may be logically related to or form an integral part of a plan for the coordinated, efficient and orderly development of the local community; and Provide for a variety of housing choices and assure affordable housing for future population growth. Acts 1998, ch. 1101, § 8. Attorney General Opinions. Effect and enforcement of growth plan, OAG 00-022, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 22 (2/15/00). A final growth plan need not include a planned growth area and, therefore, a county commission need not include one in its proposal to the coordinating committee or in any subsequent proposals, OAG 00-184, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 187 (12/13/00). A growth plan cannot be used to nullify a previously adopted county zoning ordinance, but might be used to nullify a subsequently adopted zoning ordinance if that ordinance was inconsistent with the growth plan, OAG 00-184, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 187 (12/13/00). A growth plan may include only municipal boundaries, urban growth areas, and rural areas, OAG 00-184, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 187 (12/13/00). A growth plan may include explicit definitions of “low density” and “high density,” OAG 00-184, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 187 (12/13/00). A decision by a city department or board does not fall within T.C.A. § 6-58-107 , OAG 01-096, 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 87 (6/12/01). A decision to extend a sewer line to a rural area is probably not, per se, inconsistent with a county growth plan, OAG 01-096, 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 87 (6/12/01). The General Assembly’s amendments to Chapter 51, as well as its deletion of T.C.A. § 6-58-108 , evidence an unequivocal intent to prohibit all annexations by ordinance that are not operative and effective prior to May 16, 2015. Therefore, a municipality may no longer annex territory outside its urban growth boundary, and T.C.A. § 6-58-111(c)(1) has been impliedly repealed. Accordingly, referendum is now the only method that a municipality may use to annex territory outside its urban growth boundary. OAG 17-37, 2017 Tenn. AG LEXIS 37 (8/31/2017).