State sponsored growth management programs: a comparison of Tennessee to Oregon and Washington

As the realization of the costs associated with urban sprawl grows, more and more state and local governments are adopting growth management programs. Tennessee became the tenth state to enact state growth management legislation with the passage of the Growth Policy Act (Public Chapter 1101) in May 1998. This thesis compares Tennessee's growth management program under Public Chapter 1101 to those of Oregon and Washington. It does so by first presenting an overview of the history of growth management in Tennessee, Oregon, and Washington, along with summaries of the experience of each program. It then examines seven dimensions of these growth management programs in detail: 1) goals, 2) planning level 3) comprehensive plan requirements, 4) consistency requirements, 5) provisions concerning adequate facilities and concurrency, 6) type and degree of state involvement, and 7) public participation requirements. In general, the growth management programs of Oregon and Washington are found to be stronger on these seven dimensions than that of Tennessee under PC 1101. The thesis concludes by identifying some "lessons learned" from experience with the Oregon and Washington programs which might be applied to Tennessee.