Nashville, TN Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Metro Code Chapter 17.37 (DTC)
- Latest adopting ordinance
- Ord. BL2025-799 (2025)
- Applies to
- Property zoned DTC downtown
- Supersedes
- General bulk table § 17.12.020
- Full document held by
- Metro Planning Department
Summary
Metro Nashville adopted the Downtown Code (DTC), a separate development-standards document that sets building placement, height, and design rules for the DTC zoning district and overrides the citywide bulk-regulation tables in Chapter 17.12.
The metropolitan government adopts the DTC to be applicable throughout the metropolitan government. A copy of such DTC is attached to the ordinance codified in this section and made a part hereof, the same as if copied verbatim herein.
(Ord. BL2025-799 § 1(Exh. A), 2025; Amdt. 1 to Ord. BL2025-761 § 1(Exh. A), 2025; Ord. BL2025-761 § 1(Exh. A), 2025; Ord. BL2024-452 § 1(Exh. B), 2024; Ord. BL2022-1472 § 1, 2022; Ord. BL2022-1412 § 5, 2022; Ord. BL2022-1216 § 2, 2022; Ord. BL2021-923 §§ 1—5, 2021; Ord. BL2021-869 § 1, 2021; Ord. BL2021-868 § 1, 2021; Ord. BL2020-334 §§ 1, 2, 2020; Ord. BL2017-827 § 1, 2017; Ord. BL2016-133 § 3, 2016; Amdt. 1 to Ord. BL2015-1253 § 1, 2015; Ord. BL2015-1253 § 1, 2015; Amdt. 2 to Ord. BL2015-1053 § 2, 2015; Ord. BL2015-1053 § 2, 2015; Ord. BL2015-1048 § 2, 2015; Ord. BL2013-376 §§ 1—3, 2013; Ord. BL2012-142 § 1, 2012; Amdt. 1 to Ord. BL2011-896 § 1, 2011; Ord. BL2011-896 § 1, 2011; Ord. BL2009-586 § 1(Exh. A, § 45), 2010)
Editor's note—For ease of access, a copy of the DTC is available at the following web location: https://www.nashville.gov/departments/planning/long-range-planning/community-plans/downtown/downtown-code-dtc.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 53 | Charter: Republication 9).
Full Breakdown
Section 17.37.010 adopts the DTC as a free-standing document "attached to the ordinance...and made a part hereof, the same as if copied verbatim herein" rather than writing its standards into the numbered code itself. It governs property actually zoned DTC downtown, where district bulk table 17.12.020 states DTC uses "may have higher standards" and defers entirely to Chapter 17.37 for setbacks, height, and building placement; the district land use table likewise sends DTC parcels to "the standards and limitations in Chapter 17.37." The illustrated design document itself is kept by the Metro Planning Department rather than printed in the code book.
Violations & Fines
The zoning administrator enforces Title 17 citywide, including the DTC, and can refuse to issue a zoning permit or certificate of compliance for construction that doesn't meet the adopted DTC standards (Metro Code § 17.40.010).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Downtown Code the same as the citywide zoning bulk table?
Where can I see the actual DTC design standards?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Nashville
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