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Town of Nashville reviews draft ordinance to limit temporary shipping containers
Summary
Town planners and an outside consultant outlined a proposed zoning text amendment to allow temporary shipping-container storage in residential and nonresidential districts with limits on duration, size, placement and screening; council members asked for changes including shortening the residential time limit and adding definition language.
Town of Nashville officials and an outside consultant reviewed a draft ordinance on temporary use of shipping containers at a council work session on Oct. 26, 2025. The proposal would allow shipping containers and similar “pods” for short-term storage on residential and nonresidential properties subject to location, size, setback and screening rules.
The change was offered as a text amendment to the town’s zoning ordinance to give residents and businesses a controlled way to use containers for activities such as home renovations or emergency cleanouts without creating long-term storage or off-site retail displays, consultant Michael Hartley told the council. “We drafted an ordinance designed to address the temporary use of a structure for storage on both residential and nonresidential properties,” Hartley said.
Hartley summarized key provisions of the draft: in residential districts containers would be treated like accessory structures, prohibited in the front yard, sited behind the principal facade, set back a minimum of 6 feet from side and rear property lines, limited to 300 square feet and removed after a set time; in nonresidential (B-1 and I-1) districts…
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