Council committee approves transfer of historic-zoning staff to Planning with amendments

Council Member Benedict proposed and the Planning & Zoning Committee approved changes to how Nashville organizes historic‑preservation staff and processes, voting to transfer Metro Historic Zoning staff to the Planning Department and to create a new historic zoning administrator position.

The change, filed as BL 20 25 7 42, passed in committee after adoption of a substitute and three amendments. The final committee vote on the substituted, amended ordinance was 10 in favor, 1 opposed and 1 abstention.

The ordinance moves the staff who provide administrative support to the Metro Historic Zoning Commission into the Planning Department, creates an official historic zoning administrator who would report to the director of planning, and specifies that the historic zoning administrator — not the Metro Historical Commission director — would have authority under the code to place and clear holds related to demolition‑permit reviews. The sponsor also set a target effective date for the staff transfer of July 1 to align with the budget cycle.

Council Member Benedict, the bill sponsor, said the substitute “does not make any immediate changes” to historic overlays or to the Metro Historical Commission’s programming and described the move as intended to “provide a clean break in the budget process” and to smooth personnel transitions. Benedict also said the new historic zoning administrator must meet qualifications “relative to zoning” similar to those required for the Metro Historical Commission director.

Lucy Kemp, director of the Planning Department, told the committee the change is intended to scale preservation work and improve cross‑department…