District 16 RM-20/40 Proposed Rezoning: What You Need to Know
The Basics (Reported Purpose and Details)
We'd like to acknowledge and express our gratitude to rezoningnashville2025.org for sharing this detailed summary.
Summary
In April 2025, Councilmember Ginny Welsch proposed bills to re-zone 620.23 acres in the Glencliff, Radnor, and Woodbine neighborhoods of District 16 from single family (5 units per acre of land) to 20 or 40 units per acre of land. This rezoning with a Urban Design Overlay will allow for a wider variety of housing cluster designs available to developers in order to maximize the housing availability and density of the communities. For a better idea of what this has the potential to look like, please peruse examples with this Housing Density Calculator.
Sources and UDO Bill Creators
The following information on this site is summarized from
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CM Welsch’s community presentation on 4-17 at the Coleman Center. You can listen to or read a transcript of the meeting (excuse auto-transcript errors): 04-17 Planning Meeting: Nashville Rezoning and Affordable Housing Initiative.
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The bills and presentation were informed and co-hosted by Logan Elliot and Olivia Ranseen. Both Mr.
Elliot and Ms. Ranseen are former planning commission members who now work in different
capacities to support developing companies in Nashville. Please click the links on their names to
learn more.
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The official District 16 Urban Design Overlay (“South Nashville Urban Design Overlay: 2025") document.
Rezoning Details
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Councilmember Welsch requested these changes to try to address the encroaching development that has torn down old homes and put up “tall skinnies” (2 units where there was previously 1) and single-family homes with larger square footage to meet demand. These homes, Welsch argues, are not affordable and they are not in character with the traditional smaller homes of this neighborhood.
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The large homes being built also do not maximize occupancy of the land in these neighborhoods. By contrast, the bills proposed by Councilmember Welsch allow developers to maximize the number of units, based on research and recommendations from NashvilleNext (a 2015 city vision report).
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Important clarification: these zoning bills do not prevent large single family homes OR tall skinnies
from being built. It does, however, limit the the combined maximum square footage of “tall skinnies”
and incentivize developers to build a maximum number of smaller housing units (e.g., condos,
townhomes) on a single property instead.
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These bills will use Urban Design Overlays (or, UDOs) to make this happen in a way that sets limitations to the density expansion, based on studies that have been done to determine the maximum number of units vs. green space etc. that these neighborhoods can absorb.
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RM-20-AN-S allows a maximum of 20 units per acre (blocks further from Nolensville Road)
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RM-40-AN-S allows a maximum of 40 units per acre (blocks closest to Nolensville Road).
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The UDO lets developers use up to to 70% of a lot for housing construction (i.e., 70% concrete, 30% yard)
- For multi-family properties, the UDO requires that trees be planted at a rate of 22 per acre of remaining yard space (e.g., on a 1 acre multi-family plot that maximizes allowable construction space, owners are required to plant 22 x 0.3 = 7 trees. These can include “street trees” planted on the other side of sidewalks where sidewalks are built. Trees are typically small and follow up ensuring their survival is not required. Developers are not required to protect existing trees.
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The UDO also limits the square footage and height of new homes in the neighborhood, including the multi-homes described above.
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Housing units can be no higher than 35 feet (about 3 stories), or 45 feet on corner lots.
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Please note that “tall skinnies” in the neighborhood are also typically under this height, since
they can be no taller than 1.5x their width (Reicher, 2017).
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If land is used for two units, those two units cannot be larger than 3200 square feet combined.
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If the land is used for more than two units, there is an additional 1600 feet of allowable square footage per house. So for example, if developers build 16 homes on a property, the construction can be up to a combined square footage of (16 x 1600 =) 25,600 square feet.
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The UDO does not limit the size of a new single-family home on an established lot and existing homes are grandfathered in. But if you wish to add a second unit to a lot with one grandfathered unit, the new unit can be no larger than 1600 square feet.
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The square footage does not have to be evenly distributed between units.
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There are no requirements in the UDO for parking, sidewalks, or other infrastructure. Multi-home properties will be subject to Metro Nashville’s current laws related to these matters. In last Thursday's meeting, Welsch explained that she wanted the zoning to be flexible, and that we underutilize street parking currently in the neighborhoods.
Main Point/Purpose
Councilmember Welsch claims that the UDO will allow our communities to control the way that we develop. By that, she means that she assumes we all prefer more densely populated, smaller, multi-unit properties that will sell for less money than the large dwelling new construction currently being built. The units are likely to sell or rent for more than the homes they replace, but they would provide more units for Nashville as a whole.
How These Bills Differ from Other Rezoning Bills
This kind of massive urbanization zoning shift has not been completed anywhere else in Nashville, and it has not been done, in particular, in any historic, well-established neighborhoods like that of Glencliff, Radnor, and Woodbine.
• Sylvan Park got a massive rezoning, but they’re in a historic overlay that protects them.
• WeHo got one but it was for a dilapidated neighborhood.
• Nations got one which might be more comparable, but it specifically addressed all asbestos homes of 600-800sqft
Zoning Map & More Info
Please read the complete official District 16 Urban Design Overlay for further detail. The image below is taken directly from this UDO document and is the property of Nashville Metro government.
PUBLIC COMMENTS IN SUPPORT
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This will help with affordable housing and/or the housing supply in Nashville
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The small size but higher density of the housing developments that these bills will encourage are better suited to the
neighborhoods and Nashville-at-large than current single zonings and split lots that are most commonly constructed after tear-
downs. High density housing cuts down on commuter traffic and limits suburban sprawl, among other things (see: Rethinking Zoning to Increase Affordable Housing) that benefit a city as a whole. The UDO sufficiently protects the neighborhoods in question from unwanted other new construction. -
Its convenience to public transportation and location near downtown makes it ideal for cutting down on commuter traffic and
supplying homes to people moving to Nashville for the booming job market we have to offer. -
This will make it easier for current homeowners to expand on their own lots, adding a second dwelling for rental purposes or units like “mother-in-law suites.”
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This fulfills the recommendations of NashvilleNext, per Councilmember Welsch, while protecting their priorities, which are:
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“Ensuring opportunity for all, Expanding accessibility, Creating economic prosperity, Fostering strong neighborhoods, Improving education, Championing the environment, and being Nashville,” while also
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“Preserving our neighborhoods while building housing close to transit and jobs, Protecting rural character and natural
resources, Creating walkable centers with jobs, housing, and services in suburban and urban areas, Expanding walking, biking, and transit, and Making our city affordable for all Nashvillians.”
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This has the potential to attract new businesses, restaurants, etc. to the community and will help businesses, restaurants, etc.
already here.
PUBLIC COMMENTS IN OPPOSITION
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What is being proposed is entirely the work of a council member, with support from individuals known to have ties
with developers.-
The community was not consulted for input/adjustments/edits at any point
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Only two minimal informational meetings were held, and input/feedback was not accepted at either meeting.
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These bills do not ensure protection of the NashvilleNext priorities (see above) as they are currently written. They
do not even include corridor rezoning. The nature of these bills very obviously favors developer interest over
current neighborhood community and culture. -
These bills do nothing to address traffic concerns in the area, and they allow for a dramatic increase in cars on
the road and parked on streets (since the UDO contains no parking requirements on the property). -
These bills allow for development that will greatly increase our concrete-to-grass ratio, which may have negative
impacts on storm water problems already in existence. Indeed, Metro Water requested the original plans for this
rezoning to be “scaled back” so that they can observe what happens (Welsch, April 17). Our neighborhoods should
not be treated as guinea pigs. -
As confirmed by legal representation, it is 100% possible that developers could have the UDO altered or removed.
If the zoning allows 40 and the UDO prevents them from getting the biggest ROI (return on investment), they can
sue to have it removed. In other words, these bills open a floodgate for development that has the potential to
drastically transform the charm, community, and thriving diversity of our neighborhoods. -
One of the main tenets of these bills, to make more affordable housing, is based on assumptions, not guarantees.
Increasing density does not equal more affordable housing for those who need it (See “Do the Economics of
Density Really Create Affordable Housing?“).-
These bills encourage tear-downs, which can displace renters. Old homes are also generally more affordable
than new construction.
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These bills create more housing, which is desperately needed, and the District 16 community recognizes the value
of increasing density in our neighborhoods and other districts surrounding central Nashville as a crucial part of
addressing the housing crisis. But these bills completely disregard our community’s other needs.-
District 16 is over a century old. Our stormwater system is already not up to code (pipes are half the current
standard), and these bills cannot make developers pay for improvements to update pipes. Flooding is a huge
possibility and concern. -
Our schools are already overcrowded and getting hundreds of more students next year (“Metro Nashville
schools rezones hundreds of students”) . Alongside the traffic, the lack of parking, and the strain on an already
struggling infrastructure, the lack of discussion and planning for the community members' quality of education
and life is irresponsible and potentially disastrous. -
District 16 include 2 of the top 10 most diverse zip codes in Tennessee (niche.com). No guarantees of
affordability, and the inevitable increases in both property taxes and rent that come with this rezoning will
threaten this diversity.
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“Blanket” rezoning means that the planning commission and community will immediately lose all power/say in
what is built, where, and how. -
The city will also lose out on the revenue that comes from smaller scale rezoning requests
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with the over 2,000 lots that will be affected, that’s a city revenue potential loss of millions of dollars.
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The Planning Commission is already doing extensive research and community outreach to recommend rezoning
that best fits each district in Nashville, with new zoning codes that aim to better protect current communities.
Based on preliminary findings of the Housing and Infrastructure Study, The UDO-Zoning bill is unnecessary and
opposed to local community interest by comparison.
16th United urges Councilperson Welsch to withdraw, rather than defer, her rezoning bill, and to develop any future proposal in collaboration with her constituents.