Hendersonville sits on Old Hickory Lake in Sumner County in Middle Tennessee and is not within a federally mapped Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) zone. Tennessee does not adopt the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) statewide; TCA 68-120-101 establishes the 2018 IBC/IRC/IFC family as the statewide minimum and the State Fire Marshal's Office administers it. Wildfire-related controls in Hendersonville therefore come from (1) the City's Controlled Burn Permit regime under Title 7 of the Hendersonville Municipal Code and the 2021 IFC, which requires constant attendance, a 50-ft setback, a 10 mph wind limit, and a 144 cf pile cap on permitted brush burns; and (2) Tennessee's statewide outdoor-burning permit season under TCA 68-102 (October 15 to May 15) for areas within 500 ft of forestland or grassland in unincorporated Sumner County. The Fire Marshal may declare local burn bans during drought (one was imposed in spring 2026).
Hendersonville's wildfire profile is shaped by Middle Tennessee's geography rather than by WUI-code adoption. The City fronts Old Hickory Lake in southern Sumner County with a mix of suburban subdivisions, lakeside parcels, and oak-hickory woodland; Middle Tennessee has a humid subtropical climate with episodic dry-fall and dry-spring fire weather but does not approach the chronic wildfire risk of the western United States. Sumner County is not within a federally mapped Wildland-Urban Interface zone. Tennessee does not adopt the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) statewide: TCA 68-120-101 establishes the 2018 IBC/IRC/IFC family as the statewide minimum building construction safety standard, administered by the State Fire Marshal's Office (SFMO) within the Department of Commerce and Insurance. The Hendersonville Fire Department locally enforces the 2021 IFC (effective July 1, 2025; the prior edition was the 2018 IFC effective June 13, 2017) and the 2018 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code under Title 7 of the Hendersonville Municipal Code, but does not separately adopt the IWUIC. Wildfire-related rules therefore operate through three channels: (1) the City's Controlled Burn Permit regime requires constant attendance by an adult, a 50-ft setback from structures, a 144 cubic foot pile cap, a 10 mph wind cap, and no Sunday burning - these limits significantly reduce ignition escape risk on permitted burns. (2) The Tennessee Department of Agriculture - Division of Forestry's statewide burn-permit program under TCA Title 68, Chapter 102, which requires a free burn permit from October 15 through May 15 for any outdoor burning of leaves, brush, or yard debris within 500 feet of forestland or grassland - applicable in unincorporated Sumner County around Hendersonville. (3) The Hendersonville Fire Marshal's authority to declare adverse-weather burn bans invalidating all permits; a city-wide ban was issued in spring 2026 for extreme drought conditions. There is no Hendersonville defensible-space ordinance; vegetation control around homes runs through the IPMC and Code Enforcement.
Because Tennessee has no statewide WUI code and Hendersonville has not adopted one, wildfire-related enforcement runs through (1) the Hendersonville Fire Prevention Bureau's Controlled Burn Permit rules under Title 7 of the Hendersonville Municipal Code (615-822-1119), with a $250 fine for malicious burning without a permit; (2) the Tennessee Division of Forestry's statewide burn-permit program under TCA Title 68, Chapter 102 - violations are a Class C misdemeanor under TCA 68-102-148; (3) TDEC Rule 1200-03-04 air-pollution-control limits on burning prohibited materials; and (4) IPMC property-maintenance enforcement for overgrown vegetation.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Hendersonville, TN
The City of Hendersonville does not have a specific ordinance prohibiting or regulating artificial turf on residential lots. Synthetic turf may be installed ...
Hendersonville, TN
Hendersonville does not mandate native landscaping on private residential property, but the City's landscape standards require that 'for each development sit...
Hendersonville, TN
Rainwater harvesting is legal and unregulated for residential non-potable use throughout Tennessee, including Hendersonville. There are no volume limits, no ...
Hendersonville, TN
Under Zoning Ordinance Chapter 10.6.3.6, Hendersonville mobile vendors are permitted in all commercial districts only. The Planning Department enforces speci...
Hendersonville, TN
Mobile food vendors in Hendersonville are regulated under Chapter 10.6.3.6 of the Zoning Ordinance, administered by the Planning Department (615-264-5316). M...
Hendersonville, TN
Federal law governs the airspace over Hendersonville — the FAA's Part 107 covers commercial flight and 49 U.S.C. § 44809 covers recreational flight (400 ft A...
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