Tall, Skinny, And Too Wide: 85 Homes Face Fix After Codes Snafu

NASHVILLE, TN -- Eighty-five so-called tall-and-skinnies in The Nations and surrounding neighborhoods may have to have their sides sawed off following the discovery of a widespread inspection error by Metro Codes.

A single building inspector signed off on the construction of the homes - some are already completed, while others are still under construction now - verifying that the new builds were in compliance with Metro's setback requirements, which, generally, prohibit building within three feet of the property line, meaning that homes should have six feet of space between them. However, the inspector signed off after the homes' foundations were built, putting the onus on the developers to insure that the finished product didn't overstep the bounds.

One of the subtle features of the tall-and-skinny design that has become prevalent in Nashville, particularly in gentrifying neighborhoods where two of the homes are often built on to what was before a single-home lot, is a "bump-out," a wider portion of the upper floors that extends over the foundation.

Metro Codes discovered that 85 homes have bump-outs that are too close to a neighboring property line.

“It should have been caught,” said Bill Herbert, Metro Codes’ zoning administrator, told The Tennessean. “I think there’s mutual culpability on the builders themselves and on the building inspector.

Codes is unsure if the problem is confined to The Nations and environs - two of the non-compliant homes are on Annex Avenue and thus not technically in The Nations - but will check other neighborhoods where the two-on-ones -- along with "tall and skinny," the most common nickname for the style printable on a family website -- are common.

Evan Lacey filed a complaint with Codes during construction of homes neighboring his Indiana Avenue property, he told WKRN.

"They kept putting up the walls and asking if they could put up a ladder on my side of the fence," Lacey told the station. "I said ‘no, your house is so close to my property, why would I help you do that?’"

Lacey's complaint triggered a broader review of the approved construction in the area and the discovery of the oversight.

Councilmember Mary Carolyn Roberts, who represents The Nations, said the concern is that a house fire at one of the homes could quickly spread throughout the neighborhood.

“If there were a fire, God forbid, the city of Nashville would be on the hook,” she told The Tennessean. “This is a huge deal. This is not just a mistake. It’s a colossal mistake. Now that we’re aware of the problem, it’s come to a grinding halt, but I’m going to defend my constituents. They’re going to have to retrofit every single one of those houses.”

Codes is currently working on a mass appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals that would allow the completed homes to keep the too-narrow setbacks, but that wouldn't necessarily end the headache. Regardless of meeting zoning requirements, homes must comply with building codes and if inspectors find that, despite the variance, the homes are still too close to one another, the offending bump-outs will have to be - literally - sawed off.

Outgoing codes director Terry Cobb said builders themselves would be required to make those fixes because, regardless of when the inspections are conducted, developers are required to meet code edicts.

Photo by J.R. Lind, Patch staff