Planning Department

Community Character Manual

The Community Character Manual (CCM), approved unanimously by the Planning Commission in August 2008 and last amended on October 25, 2012, is the dictionary of all Community Character Policies to be used in future planning in Nashville and Davidson County. The CCM is gradually replacing a 2004 land use policy document, the Land Use Policy Application (LUPA), as community plans are updated. Currently,the Madison, North Nashville, West Nashville, Bellevue, and Antioch-Priest Lake Community Plans are based on the CCM's Community Character policies, with other plans to follow. The certified copies below were posted January 4, 2013.

The "Community Character" approach to policy is based on the "look and feel" of neighborhoods, centers, corridors and open spaces. It sets general guidelines for the form of the built environment in seven different classifications, or "transect categories," ranging from untouched natural land to intense urban centers.

The "CCM" has three main functions:

To explain and institute the Community Character Policies that will be applied in each Community Plan;
To provide direction for the creation of implementation tools such as zoning; and
To help shape the form and character of open space, neighborhoods, centers, corridors and districts within a community.

The Community Character Manual is a living document, and can be amended to reflect the community's changing needs and goals. Details of that process are found in the CCM Fact Sheet.