The Town’s Land Development Ordinance (LDO) was adopted in 2015, with an extensive comprehensive update in 2024, and includes the Town’s Subdivision Regulations and Zoning Ordinance. This comprehensive update was an extension of the All Aboard Planning Process that will worked within the existing LDO regulatory framework and result in a turn-key LDO that is clear, predicable, and establishes standards and regulations to enact the guiding principles of the General Plan, Major Thoroughfare Plan, and Parks Master Plan. Updates and modifications can be tracked within the LDO section of this site.
LDO Effective December 18, 2025
For Development Approved
Between July 1, 2024 - December 17, 2025
For Development Approved
Prior to July 1, 2024
Comprehensive List of Land Development Ordinance Modifications
| Updated Ordinance | Purpose | Approval | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Town of Thompson's Station Staff updated the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) in 2025 to include updated Transportation Study Guidelines.
The Transportation Study Guidelines serve as an update to the previous Traffic Impact Study Guidelines, and are effective as of September 18, 2025. The Transportation Study Guidelines include: the scoping meeting and Scoping Action Memo (SAM) requirements, clarification of the types of applications requiring a Transportation Assessment vs. a Transportation Impact Study, the establishment of Preexisting Substandard Conditions Requirements and Substantial Impact Requirements, refined content and form required for each Transportation Assessment and Transportation Impact Study, and the creation of transportation impact mitigatory offsets and transportation impact mitigation measures.
Town of Thompson's Station Staff updated the Land Development Ordinance (LDO) in 2024 with public input and presented the updated comprehensive draft for vote in June 2024 for a July 1, 2024 Effective Date.
Town Staff identified the following LDO updates to include: updated and simplified thoroughfare standards; the creation of a PUD process that ensures the Town accrues benefits from any PUD developments; simplified and clarified permitting processes; simplified signage standards; and creation of comprehensive development standards as part of the zoning process, with an emphasis on commercial and mixed use standards. Town Staff fully expects other LDO changes to be identified as part of the All Aboard Comprehensive Planning process.
These updates to the LDO allow the Town to implement the policies and vision of the All Aboard Plans to ensure that Thompson's Station remains "Where the Town meets the Country."
The Town of Thompson's Station developed the prior Land Development Ordinance (LDO) in 2015 with public input and assistance from the Placemakers LLC.
The document establishes the zoning standards that guide future residential and commercial developments in the Town.
The LDO is separated into 5 Articles or Sections:
- General Provisions - Authority, Intent and Definitions
- Sector Plan - Adopted Sector Plan and Community Types, etc..
- Subdivision Regulations - Subdivision Standards, Floodplain Regulations, Access, Drainage, Sewage, Utilities, etc..
- Zoning - Lot Standards, Use Restrictions, Parking/Lighting/Fencing/Buffering/Landscaping /Signage Standards, etc..
- Administration and Process - Subdivision and Zoning Process, Plans and Applications, Approval Authority, etc.
In 2025, the Town of Thompson's Station wins second TAPA award.
Susan Steffenhagen (Community Development Planner), Micah Sullivan (Community Development Director), and Micah Wood (Town Administrator and Town Planner) represented the Town of Thompson's Station at the 2025 Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association's Fall Conference in Franklin, where the Town was presented with the Best Planning Project or Tool for a Small Jurisdiction award for the newly adopted Transportation Study Guidelines. These guidelines are an appendix within the Land Development Ordinance, and clarify transportation study requirements while establishing key substantial impact and preexisting substandard conditions requirements.
In 2023, the Town of Thompson's Station won the Outstanding Plan for a Small Jurisdiction award.
Micah Wood, Community and Economic Development Director, represented the Town of Thompson's Station at the Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association's Fall Conference in Memphis, where the Town received the Outstanding Plan for a Small Jurisdiction Award for the All Aboard Plans. The plans, which were adopted in March 2023, informed the Land Development Ordinance effective July 1, 2024. The All Aboard Plans include the General Plan, Major Thoroughfare Plan, Parks Master Plan, and the Land Development Ordinance.
In 2016, the Town of Thompson's Station won two (2) awards for the LDO that was enacted in 2015.
Alderman Brandon Bell represented the Town of Thompson’s Station at the Tennessee Municipal Leagues' annual conference in Gatlinburg, where the town received the Small Town Progress Award for the work done on the new Land Development Ordinance.
“My understanding is that’s a state award,” said Mayor Corey Napier. “It represents the collaborative and consensus-building process we went through last year to look at our Land Development Ordinance and the intended code that went with it.”
The Town also received a national award, the Driehaus Prize, national recognition from the Form-Based Codes Institute located in Detroit.
“What they were patting us on the back for is we’re looking out 20, 30, 40 years down the road and saying, ‘We know growth is going to happen here, and this is how we are going to address it,'” Napier said. “What this was acknowledging was that we are still considered a somewhat rural, agrarian area, but we know that’s changing with 840 and with the popularity of Williamson County and Middle Tennessee."