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Tennessee Natural Areas Preservation Act — Designated Natural Areas (TN)

Tracked preemption from the Tennessee overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1971-04-19
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:TN
Other Tennessee preemptions
Tennessee State Building Code — 2021 I-Codes via State Fire Marshal SBCOTennessee Voluntary Attainable Housing Incentive Programs — IZ Ban Carve-OutTennessee Short Term Rental Unit Act — Statewide STR GrandfatheringTennessee §6-54-127 — Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning & Rent Control BanTennessee Heritage Protection Act — Memorials on Public PropertyTennessee Agricultural District and Farmland Preservation ActTennessee Industrial Development Board TIF — Economic Impact Plan DistrictsTennessee NPDES Stormwater & Riparian Buffer — Construction & MS4 Permits

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

OR
  • parcel.in_designated_natural_area == True
  • city.designated_natural_area_adjacency == True

Preempted fields

2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
base_districts[*].natural_area_development_standardsoverridetdec_natural_areas_protection_in_perpetuityDesignated natural areas (publicly owned or private under conservation easement) are protected in perpetuity
land_development.disturbance_in_designated_natural_areawaive—No disturbance, alteration, or development absent TDEC Division of Natural Areas authorization

Citation

Authority source
Tenn. Code Ann. §§11-14-101 through 11-14-407 (Natural Areas Preservation Act of 1971); §11-14-108 (designation of areas); Part 4 (Wetlands acquisition)
§ §§11-14-101 et seq.; §11-14-108
https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-11/chapter-14/

Research notes

84+ natural areas designated since 1971 — examples include Bays Mountain (~3,500 ac, Sullivan/Hawkins Cos.), Big Cypress Tree (~270 ac, Weakley Co.), Vine Cedar Glade (~35 ac, Wilson Co., habitat for federally endangered Tennessee coneflower). Administered by TDEC Division of Natural Areas. Designation is statutory — additions require legislative action.