Subdivision Regulations

The Metro Planning Commission adopted expanded Subdivision Regulations on March 9, 2006. Those regulations were amended in 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2016, and most recently in June 2017.

A Subdivision is: Any land, vacant or improved, which is divided or proposed to be divided into two (2) or more lots or parcels of less than five (5) acres in size. It includes resubdivision which means a change of any approved or recorded subdivision. The Land Development and Design Division reviews subdivision applications as a technical review against the adopted Subdivision Regulations. The Regulations provide for the division of land under the existing zoning entitlements. Subdivision of land does not alter or increase the allowances that a property owner has under the existing zoning.

Per Tennessee Code Annotated, the Planning Commission is charged with the adoption of Subdivision Regulations to provide for harmonious development. NashvilleNext's Community Character Manual policies identify the envisioned character of an area. That character, call a transect, includes general patterns of the built environment such as rural, suburban, urban, or downtown. The transect determines which section of the Subdivision Regulations applies to a specific application. Community Character Manual policies are not otherwise referenced during subdivision review.