Johnson City Commission approves first reading of Horizon 2045 comprehensive plan

The Johnson City Commission on Aug. 7 approved the first reading of Ordinance 49-20-25, which would adopt and certify Johnson City's comprehensive plan known as Horizon 2045. The measure passed on a recorded voice vote in favor during the meeting, with affirmative votes recorded for Commissioner Brock, Commissioner Fowler, Vice Mayor Cox, Mayor John Hunter and City Manager Kathy Ball.

Horizon 2045 lays out the city's planned growth strategy and a new future land-use map for the next two decades. Planning staff and the plan's consultant described two years of work that staff said included public workshops, targeted stakeholder meetings and a 30-day public review in which staff said they inventoried and incorporated comments.

Whitney Hodges, Johnson City planning manager, presented the adoption package and said the planning commission has certified and adopted the plan. Jessica Rossi, a consultant with Kimley Horn, summarized the plan's participation and technical work, saying the process produced about 1,900 public touchpoints and "more than 20,000 individual data points" gathered during engagement and that comments from the 30-day review were inventoried and integrated where appropriate.

The plan updates the city's future land-use framework with "place types" that describe desired characters for areas across the city rather than only conventional zoning categories, staff said. Hodges and Rossi said the full plan will include implementation strategies with assigned responsible entities, timeframes and resource notes, and that a parcel-level future land-use map will be published on the city's website.

Public commenters supported parts of the plan but pressed the commission for clearer implementation and accountability. Sylvan Bruni, who identified himself as a Johnson City resident, told commissioners he broadly supported the plan but asked three specific questions: how the city will "deindustrialize South Johnson City and the South Rhone Corridor," how community feedback submitted during the 30-day review would be incorporated, and whether the commission will "establish a transparent public process to track the plan's implementation." Bruni said, "This plan won't mean anything unless it's implemented with follow through." (Sylvan Bruni)

Commissioners and staff addressed those concerns during the meeting. Hodges said staff had inventoried the 30-day comments and incorporated corrections and edits "week over week" with department review. Commissioners said they expect further implementation-specific plans and follow-up work to be scheduled as individual action items; Hodges said more detailed implementation projects would be phased and that staff is preparing web tools to make parcel-level maps and implementation materials available to the public.

The ordinance received its required first reading at the Aug. 7 meeting. The planning manager said the timeline calls for a second reading and public hearing on Aug. 21 and final action on Sept. 4. The commission vote on Aug. 7 recorded affirmative votes for Commissioner Brock, Commissioner Fowler, Vice Mayor Cox, Mayor John Hunter and City Manager Kathy Ball; the motion on first reading carried.

Supporters and staff framed the plan as a roadmap to guide growth while prioritizing neighborhoods, infrastructure and implementation. Several speakers at the meeting asked the commission to ensure the plan would not remain a document on a shelf and urged explicit accountability mechanisms. Hodges and Rossi said the plan includes prioritized implementation items and that staff and departments had reviewed the action lists to align timeframes and required resources.

If adopted following the remaining readings, Horizon 2045 will replace the city's previous comprehensive guidance documents and be used by staff and commissions to guide rezoning, capital planning and development review. The commission directed staff to post the plan materials and parcel-level future land-use map for public review and to provide clearer information on how the plan's actions will be tracked.