Rutherford County work session reviews Plan Rutherford draft, debates character-area maps and density ranges

At a Rutherford County planning work session, county planning staff and consultants reviewed the draft Plan Rutherford and discussed recommended character areas, density ranges and next steps for public hearings and implementation.

The meeting centered on how the draft plan would guide growth toward urban growth boundaries for Murfreesboro, Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville, slow farmland conversion and clarify the plan’s relationship to zoning and infrastructure. Consultants from GNRC (the regional planning body) and county staff presented maps that overlay “suitability” (marketability and developability) with proposed character areas and recommended policy language to accompany the map.

The draft recommends retaining higher densities inside urban growth boundaries (the plan notes the county’s RM zoning generally allows up to three residential units per acre) while identifying a rural living band and a rural preserve on the county’s outskirts. Staff described the rural preserve as a recommended area for a five-acre minimum lot size while the rural living area prompted debate: some commissioners and staff favored keeping the current one-acre standard in parts of the rural living area, others favored a graduated step-down approach (higher densities near municipal boundaries, larger minimums farther out).

County planning director Doug DeBossie stressed that…