This early version of Shelbyville's proposed land use plan shows where growth is expected to occur over the next 20 years, with much of it centered to the north of the city and where the bypass is to be constructed.

A preliminary working draft of Shelbyville's comprehensive growth plan lays out a list of issues and opportunities, which helps identify the city's strengths and weaknesses.

The draft plan was drawn up by the design firm of Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon (BWSC), which is also working on the county's growth plans. The plan calls for the city's Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) to be expanded northward where most, if not all, of the future growth is expected to take place.

The report is supposed to cover a 20-year period from 2005 to 2025 and, while separate documents are being prepared for the city and county, there are several areas of overlap.

"This plan focuses on the city of Shelbyville but it would be impossible to exclude or ignore the planning efforts going on in the County because they are very much related to the City in terms of tourism initiatives, future residential development and the location of community facilities," the draft reads.

According to the draft report, identifying the city's strengths, weaknesses, future opportunities and threats is useful in developing Shelbyville's goals and objectives (see related story) as well as prioritizing local projects.

Strengths or assets of Shelbyville include a close-knit community, development of community facilities, availability of land, a low cost of living, positive perception of the public school system, a number of agencies working together to improve and promote Shelbyville and easily accessible recreational venues.

The area also has strong cultural and historic resources, such as the Walking Horse industry, the area's Civil War history and nearby attractions such as Henry Horton State Park and the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma.

Other pluses for the city are the national recognition it receives from various equestrian events; the good overall shape of its housing stock; the availability of basic goods and services for the populations; and the opportunity for infill and redevelopment.

Identified as weaknesses in the draft report are limited housing choices "in terms of diversity, homesizes and availability." Some housing stock is considered in average to poor condition and the commercial area along U.S. Highway 41-A approaching Shelbyville "is in poor condition and [includes] some marginal businesses such as auto salvage."

Future threats to Shelbyville are identified as poor communication between the city and county government, the potential for conflict between lifelong residents and newcomers, along with failure to balance the needs of existing residents with attempts to attract new ones.

Other threats are shown to be an imbalance of housing types, such as the number of multi-family residential and/or manufactured houses as opposed to site-built single family housing, the decline of the local economy and the inability to attract more visitors to Shelbyville.

Opportunities are listed as airport expansion and improvement, the potential for high quality residential growth and traditional neighborhood design, expanding the tourism experience, such as extending the stay of visitors and tapping into the equestrian visitor base, obtaining the designation of a Certified Retirement Community, a Three-Star Benchmark designation and the redevelopment of the Main Street / Downtown Central Business District to bring people back to the historical downtown area.

Existing land use was also tabulated after an examination of records from the county Assessor of Property as well as interviews with Shelbyville's planner. Currently, Shelbyville has a total of 10,583 acres, with 34.4 percent representing existing residential development, which can be defined as single family, multi-family and manufactured housing.

Agricultural or vacant land use encompassed 13 percent while farms, included in the state's greenbelt program, amounted to 12.4 percent.

Commercial use within the city limits take up 10.3 percent of the land use, industrial taking up 13 percent and public / semi-public uses, such as schools, parks, and government facilities, taking up 13.5 percent. Land used for religious purposes amounts to 2.4 percent and utilities take up one percent.

However, within the existing Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), 21.7 percent is residential, 61.2 percent is considered agricultural or vacant land use, 14.5 percent is farm use. No industrial uses are in the UGB, public and semi-public uses take up 200 acres, religious use accounts for 71 acres and only 16 acres are devoted to utilities.

The report also says the relocation of the county's hospital is "significant" because the $40 million facility "is already acting as a catalyst for additional commercial and office development in the surrounding area."

The report says that the proposed northern bypass is expected to dramatically relieve traffic problems on U.S. 231 (North Main Street).

"Improving the transportation linkages between the City, Murfreesboro, Nashville and Interstate 65 would be beneficial to the entire region," adds the report.