The RN and RL rezoning plan explained. Is Nashville ready for a lot more density?
Article by Charlotte Cooper, Green Hills Neighborhood Association • 7 minute read
Introduction
Nashville is standing at a critical juncture. The changes currently being advanced by Metro Planning, specifically the introduction of new Residential Neighborhood (RN) and Residential Limited (RL) zoning districts are far more than simple "zoning tweaks." They represent a fundamental, sweeping shift in how our city manages growth in residential zones and have the potential to drastically alter the character and feel of our existing residential neighborhoods.
Save Our Nashville Neighborhoods (SONN) is committed to ensuring resident voices are central to this discussion. The proposed changes, detailed in a 64-page Draft Standards document, are complex. In the analysis below, Charlotte Cooper, President of the Green Hills Neighborhood Association breaks down what these proposals really mean for homeowners, revealing several critical concerns that every resident needs to understand:
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Density beyond "Transition Zones": While these new zoning districts are marketed for areas near major transit corridors, Planning officials have confirmed that any property owner in existing RS (single-family) or R (two-family) zoning can request the new, denser RN or RL zoning. This is not just hypothetical; recent upzoning efforts in District 20 (The Nations) and District 16 have already reached deep into neighborhoods with the staff support of the Planning Department. The Nations Urban Design Overlay is the Missing Middle under the disguise of a UDO and providing no boundaries to the rhetoric, no ear for residents, and for all practical purposes no restraint on where “middle scale” is capped. There are currently no provisions to prevent this piecemeal approach across the county as planning by affirmations replaces planning by preparation.
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The potential for Multiplexes next door: The new standards explicitly allow for the construction of "multiplexes"—buildings ranging from 10 to 20 units and up to 4 stories high—directly adjacent to existing single or two-family homes.
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Doubling density with DADUs: Proposed changes significantly expand where Detached Accessory Dwelling Units (DADUs) are permitted and increase their allowable footprint. This means a standard R lot, which currently allows two units, could potentially jump to four.
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Infrastructure ignored: These significant increases in density are being supported by Metro Planning before comprehensive assessments of existing infrastructure (water, sewer, electricity) have been evaluated or planned for.
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Unpredictable outcomes and extreme heights: Despite claims that these standards offer "predictability," the wide variety of building types, the Metro Council's willingness to grant developer bonuses, and recent examples of "middle scale" buildings reaching 45 to 75 feet tall leave neighbors highly uncertain about what might be built next door.
The implications of these zoning changes are profound and widespread. A bill, BL2025-1005, is already moving forward and will go before the Metro Planning Commission on September 24, 2025.
We urge you to read Charlotte’s full analysis below, "RN, RL and the quiet expansion of density," to grasp the details and understand exactly what is at stake for your street and your neighborhood.
Christopher Remke, AIA [ret], President of SONN Inc.
RN, RL and the quiet expansion of density
After the Housing & Infrastructure Workshops were held in May, it was clear that increased density was coming to some, if not all, residential neighborhoods. The proposed design-based residential districts are intended to fill in the missing gap or ‘missing middle’ housing. We have been told these new districts will be considered for areas, including existing neighborhoods, in transition zones, areas within 1/8 mile or 600 feet of major corridors with mass transit.
However, at a recent August office hours meeting, when I asked if this new zoning – RN or RL – could be requested by a RS or R property owner in an area not in a transition zone, the answer was yes. Greg Claxton, Housing Division, went on to say he thought it unlikely to be requested or approved at the Metro Planning Commission or Metro Council. But the bottom line is there are no provisions to prevent it, and given the recent support and approval of a massive upzoning in The Nations by both Metro Planning Commission or Metro Council, it could happen.
In July, the Housing Division of the Planning Department released Draft Standards for New Zoning Districts, https://publicinput.com/Customer/File/Full/49b9e8c3-b1a6-4597-a40f-34d4b8ccf2d8. This is a 64-page document with detailed building types, drawings of lot layouts, frontages (including porches, dooryards, stoops, and terraces), standards and photos of examples for each type of “missing” housing options. I’m always happy to learn new words and this document did not fail; I had never heard the word dooryard, yet you will find it described with photos in the Draft Standards for new Zoning Districts.
The two proposed replacement zoning districts are Residential Neighborhood (RN) and Residential Limited (RL). I have only seen definitions for these two zoning districts on one of the charts at the May workshop. Here is how they were defined:
Residential Neighborhood (RN) – A low to medium intensity residential development to provide lower levels of density at strategic locations in urban and suburban areas, such as transitioning from corridors or close to community amenities like parks and schools.
Residential Limited (RL) – A medium intensity residential development to provide moderate levels of density at strategic locations close to transit corridors.
Both use a design-based approach to encourage and regulate ‘middle housing’, suggesting the standards create more predictability for neighbors and builders about the form, height, orientation and site layout of the buildings within these districts. With that said, the form, height, orientation and layout with the different housing options offered to developers, predictability for neighbors may be an unknown until construction actually starts.
The proposed draft standards include three components which we are told work together:
Zoning District Standards – Standards for the two new zoning districts
Building Type Standards – Standards for the middle housing building types
Frontage Standards – Standards for the allowed types of frontages in the districts
In addition, according to the proposed changes to the Land Use Table below, Detached Accessory Dwelling Units (DADUs) would be permitted with condition for R, RM, RN and RL zoning districts. (For those asking where is RS? Residential-Single Family (RS) Metro planning is not
supporting the continuation of Residential Single-Family Zoning.) Now we know R zoning districts allow two-family residential units, so instead of two units, does this mean there could now be four units?
Multifamily (RM) could allow an unknown number of residential units, plus another residential dwelling unit in the form of a DADU. In the RN and RL zoning districts, depending on which housing option is built, the number of residential units could be between 1 and an unknown number of multiple units or buildings, plus an allowed separate DADU. This has the potential of cramming a lot of density onto a single property. Hopefully, the existing infrastructure (water, electricity, sewer, etc.) can handle the increased density, especially if the property is sitting in an existing residential neighborhood, whether identified as transition or not. These recommendations (as evidenced in the Nations) are being supported by Metro Planning to be upzoned (replaced by the zoning types above) before legitimate infrastructure assessments and plans are prepared and evaluated.
Summary Changes to Land Use Table
P = Permitted
A = Accessory Use
PC = Permitted with Condition
Click on chart to expand
However, on August 30, 2025, the Planning Department released ‘Recommended Changes to RS and R Districts, so the previous proposed changes to the Land Use Table are incorrect for RS properties. These changes are:
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Reduce maximum height in RS and R Districts from 3 stories to 2.5 stories*
*Changes are not proposed for zoning districts with larger lots, namely RS40, RS80, R40, and R80.
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Revise “Half Story” definition to: A conditioned space that rests primarily underneath the slope of the roof, usually having dormer windows. The half story is identified by the “.5” in the description of maximum height (Example: 2.5). This space shall be considered a full story when its top wall plates, on at least two opposite exterior walls, are greater than four (4) feet above the floor of such story.
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Allow DADUs throughout the Urban Services District (USD) – see map of USD below
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Allow with use of DADU Overlay in General Services District (GSD)
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For lots below 10,000 sf, increase maximum DADU footprint from 750 to 850 sf
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For lots 10,000 sf or greater, increase maximum DADU footprint from 1,000 to 1,200 sf
Urban Services District
Click on map to expand
After looking over the Draft Standards for Two New Zoning Districts and the charts, when I attended an in-person office hours scheduled meeting in August, I voiced that it looked more like a SP or Overlay with the specific standards. When I suggested there be some type of restrictions on where the RN or RL could be used, I was told there are no other restrictions for residential zoning, except for land use. Since its doubtful restrictions can be used, I suggested perhaps RN and RL should be overlays, not zoning districts. An overlay could have some of the same requirements found in Contextual Overlays, DADU Overlays, Historical Overlays, etc. Requirements that a neighborhood must request an overlay after 100 percent or a large majority agree. This would prevent single properties in existing residential neighborhoods from requesting to be rezoned RN or RL. I think using an overlay to create RN or RL areas would be fair. Supposedly, Planning’s intent is for the different building types to achieve the physical character of each transition zone in order to provide increased housing opportunities within residential neighborhoods.
However, will this happen if a three or four-story multiplex consisting of 10 to 20 units is built next to R or RS zoned land. The Standards document actually describes this on page 45 under multiplex (a multiplex is defined as ranging from 10-20 units up to 3 stories suburban, 4 stories urban) when it states “Applicable to parcels that share a side and/or rear property line with R and RS zoned land. Fourth floor within 30 feet of the shared side or rear property line shall step back a minimum of 10 feet from the façade below.” YIKES, the potential for a 4-story/20-unit multiplex to be built next door to an existing single or two-family house. Additionally, there is an appetite from the Metro Council to add bonus area and height for specific bedroom count designs. This remains unspecified yet was offered without regard to the adjacent neighborhood context in the Nations example. Hopefully, common sense will be used in deciding where those housing options allowing the most residential units (multiplex, courtyard flats and low-rise flats) will be allowed as Residential Limited permitted with conditions. Care should be taken to observe closely, as the “middle scale” building in the Nations example grew to 45 to 60 feet tall in the Nations and 60 to 75 feet tall on the 51st Street corridor. This example is supported unanimously by the planning commission and cited as in character with the low density neighborhood.
The proposed new zoning districts, housing options and standards, along with the latest Recommended Changes to RS and R Districts have the potential to drastically change the character and feel of our existing residential neighborhoods. We all need to contact our Council member and let them know our concerns. A bill, BL2025-1005, was introduced at the September 2, 2025, Metro Council meeting. It will go before the Metro Planning Commission on September 24, 2025.
Are we ready for this? I don't think we are!
Resources
The Infrastructure and Housing Study