Nashville.gov

The Downtown Code (DTC)

Final draft of Downtown Code posted

The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the Downtown Code and its related amendments at the regular Commission meeting on Thursday, November 12; the Code is on the Metro Council's January 5, 2010 agenda.

Final Draft of the Code, posted November 6

Edits to the draft

Draft Ordinance

Community Plan Amendments

Downtown neighborhoods

Downtown neighborhoods: Central

Downtown neighborhoods: Gulches

Downtown neighborhoods: North

Downtown neighborhoods: South

Attachment to resolution document

If you have comments or questions regarding the DTC, contact Joni Priest by email or at 862-7165.

Proposed amendments to the Downtown Community Plan would provide closer connection with Downtown Code

Planners held a community meeting September 3 to review proposed amendments to the Downtown Community Plan. Those amendments would better focus the Downtown Plan on broader intent and vision language which will be implemented in large part through the draft Downtown Code, a new zoning code which would promote development of the new neighborhoods envisioned in the Downtown Plan inside the I-40 loop; planners' presentation from that meeting and an updated draft of the Downtown Code are posted below.

Presentation from the Sept. 3 meeting

Summary of proposed updates to the Downtown Community Plan

Contact project manager Joni Priest to schedule an informational presentation for your business, community, or neighborhood organization.

Who is proposing the Community Plan amendments and why are they being proposed?

The Metropolitan Planning Department is proposing the amendments, and their purpose is:

To maintain consistency between the Downtown Plan and the new DTC that will be used to implement it;
To reflect the results of further analysis that went into developing the DTC and that revealed the need for refinements to the Downtown Plan; and
To better focus the Downtown Plan on intent rather than regulation and allow the new DTC to address the more quantitative elements.

The proposed amendments to the Downtown Plan fall into two categories: changes to the policy and its regulatory subdistrict maps, and changes to the text of the Downtown Community Plan.

The map changes would align boundaries in the Community Plan with boundaries in the proposed DTC; the text changes would ensure that the guidance contained in the Plan is consistent with the regulatory standards used to implement the Plan, and that the Plan focuses more heavily on intent language than it does on quantitative standards. All of these proposed changes are refinements resulting from the further analysis that went into developing the proposed DTC.

Summary of Proposed Amendments to the Downtown Community Plan: 2007 Update

View The Downtown Community Plan: 2007 Update
Download the DTC Information Sheet for an overview of the proposed Downtown Code
Frequently Asked Questions
Comments and Questions

In 2006, Planning staff held community meetings with Downtown stakeholders – property owners, business owners, and residents – to update the Downtown Community Plan. Through this process, a collective vision for the future of Downtown was reached. The Plan envisions multiple distinct neighborhoods within Downtown, each with its own character and scale, which contribute to the vitality of Downtown as the center of the city and the region. The Plan was adopted by the Planning Commission in February, 2007.

The adoption of the Plan expanded opportunities for investment in Downtown, and the DTC will codify these opportunities so that they can happen by-right. The proposed DTC will make the process of developing in Downtown easier. Many recent projects in Downtown have sought rezoning or variances to existing zoning. The DTC will alleviate this need by custom-tailoring the zoning for each neighborhood. The DTC will provide clear direction on minimum development and maximum development. This ensures certainty about the character and scale of development in each neighborhood.