Metro Council OKs Twin Hills Overlay 29-3 Over Planning Commission

Metro Council this week approved contextual overlays for Twin Hills and Shepherd Hills, 29-3 with one abstention, and for Cumberland and North Hills, 30-3, Fox 17/WZTV reported Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. Both measures had been unanimously disapproved by the Metro Planning Commission, which raised the vote threshold. Councilmember Jennifer Frensley Webb's bills around Gallatin Pike in Madison still cleared third and final reading Tuesday. "This shouldn't be controversial," Webb said, according to the Nashville Banner.

A contextual overlay does not change base zoning. Metro Planning's published fact sheet says the tool adds design standards — setback, height, lot coverage, and access, garages, and parking — on complete residential block faces. New construction and additions need a site plan through residential building-permit review. The application fee is $1,375. Ordinance BL2014-771 created the overlay in the first place. Tuesday's votes put two more maps on that list. They did not rezone a single lot to a denser district, and they did not cap how many units the base zone already allows.

What did Metro Council actually pass?

Fox 17 put the Twin Hills and Shepherd Hills overlay at 29-3 with one abstention and the Cumberland and North Hills overlay at 30-3. The Nashville Banner, writing Tuesday, said Webb's contextual-overlay legislation around Gallatin Pike in Madison passed third and final votes after Metro Planning had unanimously disapproved both. That disapproval is why the bills needed a higher threshold than a routine zone change.

MyTownView's July 7 Metropolitan Council notes identify the two files that later came back in August: BL2026-1416, a contextual overlay on 137.6 acres along Shepard Hills Drive and Twin Hills Drive, and BL2026-1420, a contextual overlay on 68.2 acres along Cumberland Hills Drive and Northside Drive. Both were deferred on July 7 to the first August meeting. Fox 17's Friday story uses "Shepherd Hills" and "Cumberland and North Hills" for the adopted maps. This desk copies both: the July acreage and street names from the council docket, and the Friday vote counts from Fox 17.

Twin Hills resident Chip Ellis told council during public comment that he did not want investors tearing down houses to put "tall and skinnies" on the lots. Fox 17 quoted him: "We're the ones that pay our taxes, improve our homes, try and keep the neighborhood up, and we don't want to take a backseat to investors." Planning commissioners who voted no, Fox 17 reported, worried that extra design rules could make housing harder or more expensive to build. Council passed the overlays anyway.

What does a contextual overlay actually restrict?

Height. How far a new house sits from the street. How much of the lot it can cover. Where the garage and driveway go. That is the published list. It is not a historic overlay. Metro says a contextual overlay cannot be stacked on an adopted historic overlay district, and it has to cover the residential portion of a complete block face. A councilmember can request one. A neighborhood can request one if every property owner signs the application.

If you own in Twin Hills, Shepherd Hills, Cumberland Hills, or North Hills, the next teardown-and-rebuild on your block will have to match those design standards. Your tax bill does not change because of Tuesday's vote. Your base zone does not change. A buyer who wants to scrape a ranch and put two skinny houses on the lot now has a design fight that did not exist last week. A buyer who wants the ranch as it sits still prices off closed comps.

Does an overlay reprice a Madison house?

No. Greater Nashville REALTORS' July tape, copied from the live Mill Ridge desk and the "how much is my Nashville home worth" desk, is the number that still governs a list price: residential median $520,000 on 2,627 closings; condo median $334,900 on 456 closings; 3,269 total closings; 15,636 inventory; 54 days on market; 2,454 pendings. That is a nine-county RealTracs board. Your house in Madison, Goodlettsville-adjacent, or RiverGate is not the middle of 2,627 closings. It is the last three solds a buyer's appraiser will use.

An overlay can change what a spec builder will pay for a teardown. It does not add $40,000 to a well-kept ranch because council voted 29-3. If you list this week, disclose the overlay. Price the house. Freddie Mac's Aug. 20 survey put the 30-year at 6.65%, down from 6.67% on Aug. 13. Two basis points will not reprice Gallatin Pike. Waiting for a full point off will. Other Madison sellers will list into that dip.

Can I buy the next Nashville house before this one sells?

You can write the offer. A contingent contract in a 54-day, 15,636-listing market is a maybe. The next seller in East Nashville or Madison often has a buyer who is not waiting on your overlay story. Our proven system puts a written sale date under this house so the next offer is a real buyer.* If you need a date certain, ask about a cash offer. The two-house trap did not change Tuesday: you cannot honor the next address until this one is settled, and you will not list until you know where you are going.

What should Madison and North Nashville owners do this week?

1. If you own inside BL2026-1416 or BL2026-1420, keep the Fox 17 vote counts and the nashville.gov overlay fact sheet in the listing file. Buyers will ask whether they can rebuild.
2. Price off July closed comps, not off a "neighborhood character" speech. The $520,000 median is the board middle, not your ask.
3. If a buyer wants to scrape the house, write the contract to today's overlay, not to last year's teardown math.
4. Start with a home evaluation. Ask about a cash offer if the 54-day clock is the problem.

Call Kings of Real Estate at 865-365-2280. Nashville/Brentwood office: 214 Overlook Circle. Licensed agents: $250/mo desk fee.

Webb's fight with Planning showed up before Tuesday. The Banner noted she criticized the commission and its Metro Council representative, Rollin Horton, at the Aug. 4 meeting after the unanimous disapproval. Overlay bills that Planning rejects need more yes votes than a routine zone change. Council still had the votes. Chip Ellis's "tall and skinnies" comment is the neighbor's fear. Planning's no is the housing-supply argument. Neither one is your CMA. Closed July comps on your street still are.

What's happening in Nashville this week

• Fox 17 overlay story — published Fri., Aug. 21, 5:38 a.m. CT (updated 6:11 a.m.)
• Metro Council third readings on Webb overlays — Tuesday, Aug. 18
• Nashville Farmers Market pop-ups — Fri. Sticky Rice; Sat.–Sun. Bawse Dawgs

Sources: Fox 17/WZTV, Aug. 21, 2026; Nashville Banner, Aug. 18, 2026; MyTownView Metropolitan Council July 7, 2026 (BL2026-1416, BL2026-1420); nashville.gov Contextual Overlays; Greater Nashville REALTORS July 2026 as published on news.kingsofrealestate.com; Freddie Mac PMMS, Aug. 20, 2026.

Get a home evaluation →
Ask about a cash offer →

*Tracy and seller must agree upon price and possession date. Kings of Real Estate, LLC DBA "Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty"