Metro Codes require property owners to maintain vegetation, remove dead brush, and avoid creating fire hazards near structures. Nashville Fire Department can order abatement when overgrown lots threaten neighboring buildings.
Davidson County does not have a formal wildland-urban interface clearance ordinance like western states, but Metro Title 16 property maintenance and Title 10 fire provisions still require owners to keep vegetation managed. Property owners must remove dead trees, dry brush, and vegetative debris that present a fire hazard adjacent to occupied structures. Nashville Fire Department (NFD) and the Codes Department coordinate on complaints, with NFD focused on hazardous accumulations and Codes addressing tall grass, weeds, and routine blight. After dry-summer brush fires, NFD may issue voluntary clearance advisories for properties bordering greenways and wooded ravines. Owners failing to abate can be billed for Metro contractor cleanup.
Civil penalties starting around $50 per day under Metro property maintenance code, plus Metro-billed abatement costs that can run several hundred to several thousand dollars per parcel.
Nashville, TN
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Nashville, TN
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Nashville, TN
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Nashville, TN
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Nashville, TN
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Nashville, TN
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See how Nashville's brush clearance rules stack up against other locations.
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