Nashville Historic Overlays: What Needs a Preservation Permit

Many older Nashville neighborhoods, from Edgefield and Germantown to Belmont-Hillsboro, sit inside a historic zoning overlay. If yours is one of them, some exterior projects need a preservation permit from the Metro Historic Zoning Commission (MHZC) before Codes will issue a building permit. Which projects depends on the type of overlay. Here's how it works, from the MHZC handbook (revised 2023) and Metro Planning's application pages.

Two kinds of neighborhood overlay

Metro Planning describes historic zoning as an overlay that sits "over top" of base zoning and doesn't change how a property can be used. It only adds design review. For homeowners, two types matter.

Historic Preservation Zoning Overlay. The handbook says this type "provides for a great deal of protection" by regulating the majority of exterior alterations: porches, windows, siding, roofing materials, additions, outbuildings and more.

Neighborhood Conservation Zoning Overlay (NCZO). The handbook calls it the least restrictive type. It only guides new construction, additions, demolition and moving of structures. In an NCZO, swapping windows or re-siding usually isn't reviewed. A rear addition, a new garage or tearing down a porch is.

History matters here. The handbook says Metro's first historic district, Edgefield, was designated in 1978, and the less-restrictive conservation zoning type was added in January 1985. Many Nashville neighborhoods have the conservation type.

Find yours with Metro's Historic Zoning Lookup or Parcel Viewer. The map links to the design guidelines for each district. Read them before you design anything.

What the commission does and doesn't review

Some common questions, answered from the handbook:

• Paint color: not reviewed. But painting masonry is reviewed, and so is the inherent color of materials like roofing, brick and stone.
• Roof color: the handbook steers new roofing toward natural hues like black, gray, dark green and brown.
• Siding: for new construction, smooth fiber cement siding is considered appropriate because, once painted, it looks like and can be repaired like historic wood siding. Embossed (fake wood-grain) siding is called out as a mistake.
• Solar panels, skylights and dormers: appropriate on new and historic buildings when placed in appropriate locations. In practice that usually means away from the street-facing roof.
• Interior work: the handbook's permit table reviews interiors only for interior landmarks, not neighborhood overlays.

How long it takes

Metro Planning's application page says projects that are pre-approved by the commission and meet the design guidelines generally get a permit within four days of a complete application, with no commission hearing. Bigger projects, including infill, large additions, demolition of primary historic buildings and setback determinations, are likely to be scheduled for review at a commission meeting.

A pre-application review is optional but encouraged for infill, additions with a footprint over 1,500 sq ft, and large or unusual requests. It's worth doing, because Metro says applications can't be revised after the deadline once they're submitted.

A complete application includes the signed cover sheet (the property owner must sign), drawings that fully describe the project, and proof the project doesn't conflict with zoning and building codes. Metro says most projects also need a Codes building permit, which you can apply for at the same time.

Mistakes the handbook warns about

The handbook has a list of avoidable, costly errors. Most happen when the approved drawings aren't passed along to the contractor:

• installing embossed siding;
• using brick-mold trim on windows in lap-sided walls;
• leaving out the required 4- to 6-inch mullion between paired or triple windows;
• installing vinyl windows;
• putting HVAC and mechanical equipment in the wrong place;
• ignoring the rise in grade, which leaves the foundation much higher at the front than approved and stops the job.

Give your contractor the stamped, approved drawings and the permit conditions, and make them part of the contract. Projects with new construction also need sign-offs during construction, such as at the foundation. Those are the applicant's job to request.

A sensible order of operations

1. Confirm your overlay type on the Historic Zoning Lookup and download the district's design guidelines.
2. Call MHZC staff to ask whether your project needs review at all. Metro's application page lists the phone number and encourages that first contact.
3. For a big addition or new outbuilding, request a pre-application review.
4. Have your designer prepare drawings that follow the guidelines: dimensions, roof pitch, materials, and window and door makers and models.
5. Submit the preservation permit and the Codes building permit together.
6. Give the approved drawings to your contractor and schedule the required sign-offs.

If you disagree with a decision

The handbook says MHZC decisions can be appealed to the Chancery Court or Circuit Court of Davidson County by statutory writ of certiorari. It also advises getting your own legal counsel. Most homeowners never get that far. A pre-application meeting and drawings that follow the guidelines are the practical route.

Project-by-project pointers

• Windows: in a preservation overlay, replacement is reviewed, so ask staff before ordering. See windows.
• Siding: check the guidelines before covering original wood. See siding.
• Additions and DADUs: reviewed in both overlay types. See home additions and our DADU guide.
• Painting: color is your choice, but painting unpainted brick isn't. See exterior painting.

Neighborhood pages: East Nashville, Germantown, Belmont-Hillsboro.