Planning meetings about Zoning Bills
Cash, Thomas (Council Member)
All- I wanted to add to the information about the 4 zoning bills in my last email (below).
First, there will be a Planning Department meeting about the bills at Hillsboro High School on Wednesday Oct 22, presentation at 6 pm, Q and A to follow. The meeting will be in the auditorium, there is garage parking off Glen Echo. If you’re interested, I hope you will attend!
Also Oct 1 there was a meeting at Howard School that addressed the bills in the context of historic overlays. It’s 30 minutes; there was Q and A after but audio was bad and not included in the video, but the staff presentation is good:
https://www.youtube.com/live/z6IVASpeZMU?si=zIKL1Ditp3UBlOr2
Let me know if you have questions about the bills.
Sent: Monday, October 6, 2025 6:39 PM
To: Cash, Thomas (Council Member) <Tom....@nashville.gov>
Subject: District 18 Council Update
Greetings D18!
Proposed Zoning Reforms
The Planning Department in the last several months has been working on Nashville’s unified housing strategy and has introduced several pieces of legislation in Council. I’m learning much about them and am looking forward to hearing comments at public hearings.
The first, BL 2025-1005, is on public hearing at this Thursday’s Council meeting. It creates two new zoning designations, RN and RL, that provide tools for creating new districts for smaller scale multifamily and a mix of housing types. Included in the zoning designations are design guidelines to make sure they fit within existing neighborhood character. This bill doesn’t re zone any property or neighborhood. It only creates two new zoning types to add tools to the dozens of zoning types we already have. I want to hear what folks say but think it can be a useful tool!
BL 2025–1006 would make adjustments for building codes to lower the maximum height in R and RS districts: currently 45 feet lowered to 35 feet. This keeps new homes from towering over shorter homes and protect smaller, more comparatively affordable homes.
BL 2025–1007: Makes changes to detached accessory dwelling units (DADUs). Currently allowed in R districts by right and allowed in RS districts with passage of an overlay. They are limiting criteria for areas eligible for DADU overlays, chiefly lot size and requiring alley access. This bill removes those limitations and allows DADUs across the urban services district in areas zoned RS and via overlays in the general services district. DADUs are not allowed to be short term rentals and the homeowner cannot rent out the home and the accessory unit in separate leases nor can it be subdivided.
Note: BL 2025-1006-7 will be on public hearing at the first Council meeting in November.
BL 2025–1008 creates an affordable housing incentive to add extra height for including affordable units. This is only eligible for the new RL districts once they are created.
Metro Planning Department has additional info including FAQ on its facebook page.
Let me know your thought and questions. Always happy to discuss.