Modernizing Land Use Planning with GIS in Clarksville-Montgomery County

When a community experiences sustained growth, gaps in planning practices become more visible. That reality became clear in the City of Clarksville and Montgomery County, Tennessee, a region that has added nearly 26,000 new residents since 2020. The Clarksville-Montgomery County Regional Planning Commission (CMCRPC), which serves both jurisdictions, recognized that the existing land use plan from 1999 could no longer support the pace or complexity of the area’s evolution. It lacked depth, offered limited policy direction, and was created before geographic information system (GIS) technology became an essential part of planning practice. As development pressures increased and new growth areas emerged, it was clear that the community needed a new vision. 

The Clarksville-Montgomery County Comprehensive Plan, approved in early 2024, represents a shift in how the region approaches land use planning—adopting a geographic approach to bring together data, model growth scenarios, and guide long-term decisions.

It shows how a growing, midsize jurisdiction can modernize its long-range planning practice by using GIS throughout the process. The plan integrates community input and development patterns to better understand where and how growth is happening, helping leaders make more informed decisions. While the community’s growth was the catalyst, the larger motivation was the desire for a shared, data-informed narrative grounded in public values, long-term sustainability, and fiscal responsibility. 
 

The CMCRPC designed its new planning framework around three core groups. First was the project team, which included staff from the commission and outside support from Houseal Lavigne, an Esri partner known for its innovative integration of technology and planning. Second was a set of committees, including technical advisors, a steering committee, and a group of stakeholders representing a broad range of interests. Third, and just as important, were the residents themselves.

The planning team wanted a clear departure from the limited public involvement that had shaped the 1999 plan. They expanded outreach through a combination of traditional and modern tools. In-person open houses remained important, but online engagement greatly expanded participation. Residents completed more than 800 online surveys using ArcGIS Survey123. Nearly 400 specific locations were mapped through Houseal Lavigne’s Map. Social application, which allowed participants to drop points on a map to identify concerns, assets, and opportunities.

GIS was also used to map the geography of participation. Staff monitored where responses were coming from to ensure that neighborhoods across the city and county were represented. This created confidence in the feedback and helped validate the emerging themes.

Residents consistently identified seven overarching priorities. They wanted more affordable and diverse housing options. They saw a need for better access to higher-wage jobs. They described growing frustration with traffic congestion and stressed the importance of active transportation networks. They also wanted the region to manage growth more effectively while preserving agricultural land and open spaces. These priorities informed the plan’s guiding principles. The Comprehensive Plan would focus on balanced and deliberate growth, better quality of life for all residents, meaningful engagement, economic opportunity, and a planning program that considered long-term fiscal impacts.
 

The demand for a more data-driven approach led the CMCRPC and Houseal Lavigne to use ArcGIS Pro as the foundation for analysis. The team began with suitability models that evaluated where residential, commercial, and employment development made the most sense. Using ArcGIS Pro, they evaluated land characteristics, infrastructure capacity, transportation access, environmental features, and other variables.

With the suitability work complete, the team used ArcGIS Pro to study potential growth scenarios. They measured the fiscal implications of rural, suburban, and urban development patterns. This growth framework helped leaders understand not only where growth could happen, but where it should happen to support long-term public services and community goals. The new future land use map was a major improvement over its predecessor. It contained 15 clearly defined land use categories and was designed so residents, developers, and elected officials could understand it without difficulty. Transparency became a major theme throughout the plan, and GIS-based digital maps helped make the information both accessible and visually consistent.
 

Because Clarksville-Montgomery County covers a large area, the planning team worked with staff to carry forward the 13 Planning Areas previously established in the new Comprehensive Plan. Each area reflected a unique mix of geography, community character, and specific socioeconomic conditions. ArcGIS Online was used to create a full set of maps for each area, which allowed the plan to address issues with much more precision and clarity.

Each Planning Area included a narrative that described its characteristics, challenges, assets, and opportunities. The plan outlined recommendations and potential improvements that supported both local priorities and the broader goals of the Comprehensive Plan. These were then organized into an implementation matrix that assigned timelines, responsible departments, estimated costs, and priorities. This structure provided a more transparent and coordinated set of next steps than anything available in the 1999 plan.
 

The region now has a strong road map, but the plan also identified two major tasks that must follow. The first is a housing needs assessment, which shows the region will require about 15,000 additional residential units across all housing types. The second is a full rewrite of the zoning codes for both the city and the county. These updates will ensure that the regulations reflect the plan’s goals, modern development practices, and the preferences expressed by residents. The CMCRPC has already engaged Houseal Lavigne in a full update of its zoning and development regulations in the form of a new Unified Development Ordinance for both city and county. Additionally, the CMCRPC is preparing targeted, detailed neighborhood plans, building on the Comprehensive Plan’s planning areas.

The new Comprehensive Plan has already received recognition. It earned the 2024 Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association award for Outstanding Plan for a Large Jurisdiction. It also received the 2024 National Award of Excellence from APA’s County Planning Division. For other communities in a similar situation, Clarksville-Montgomery County offers a relatable and repeatable blueprint. The success of the effort did not depend on unusually large budgets or a complex structure. Instead, it came from a commitment to clear communication, collaborative engagement, and steady use of GIS from the first conversation through adoption—bringing together data and stakeholders to guide better decisions in a complex two-jurisdiction place. It is a model that any growing community can follow as it prepares for a new generation of long-range plans.