Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-3-411 (2026)

Prerequisites for issuing building permits or erecting buildings - Proposed permanent easements

✓ current as of May 2026

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(a) From and after the time when the platting jurisdiction of any regional planning commission has attached as provided in § 13-3-402, no building permit shall be issued and no building shall be erected on any lot within the region, unless one (1) of the following four (4) criteria is met:
- (1) The street giving access to the lot upon which the building is proposed to be placed has been accepted or opened as, or shall have otherwise, received the legal status of, a public street prior to that time;
- (2)
  - (A) The street corresponds in its location and lines with a street shown on a subdivision plat approved by the planning commission and recorded in the register of deeds; and
  - (B) Whenever the street or other infrastructure improvements as denoted on the plat have not been completed, there shall be an adequate, valid, and enforceable bond, or an adequate, valid, and enforceable other guarantee for the completion of the improvements, which shall be held by the appropriate officials as provided in § 13-3-403. This subdivision (a)(2)(B) shall not be construed to require duplicate bonds or to require additional bonds when an adequate bond to complete the infrastructure is already in effect. This subdivision (a)(2)(B) shall not be construed as requiring a building contractor to post the bond required by § 13-3-403 on the infrastructure for the subdivision if such building contractor is not a developer of the subdivision;
- (3)
  - (A) The lot fronts upon a permanent easement which conforms to all rules, regulations and specifications applicable to the permanent easement of the planning commission or other department, division or agency of the county; provided, that such rules, regulations, and specifications governing permanent easements shall not take effect until such rules, regulations, and specifications are approved by the county legislative body in a resolution by a two-thirds (2/3) vote; and
  - (B) The permanent easement has access to an existing highway, street or thoroughfare, or with a street located or accepted by the county legislative body after submission to the planning commission, and in case of the planning commission's disapproval, by the favorable vote of the county legislative body required in § 13-3-406; or
- (4) The street corresponds in its location and lines with a street shown on a street plat made and adopted by the commission.

(b) The planning commission or other department, division or agency of a county as approved by the planning commission may recommend to the county legislative body regulations to govern a proposed permanent easement in a proposed subdivision, as defined in § 13-3-401. The purpose of the regulations is to ensure that the county is not responsible for the future maintenance of such permanent easement.

(c) Any building erected or to be erected in violation of this section is an unlawful structure, and the state building commission or the county attorney or other official designated by the county legislative body may institute a civil action to enjoin such erection or cause it to be vacated or removed.

Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 914,Secs.s1, s2, s4 eff. 5/13/2014.

Acts 1935, ch. 35, § 11, as added by Acts 1951, ch. 222, § 2 (Williams, § 3493.20); Acts 1972, ch. 681, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 7, 36; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 13-311; Acts 1994, ch. 816, § 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1988–2009 · leading case: Loftin v. Langsdon, 813 S.W.2d 475 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1991).

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Loftin v. Langsdon, 813 S.W.2d 475 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 4× “§ 13-3-401(4)(B) was “a little bit too imprecise” to grant Langsdon the relief she was seeking, the court issued a declaratory judgment in favor of Loftin that the statute was not applicable to Loftin’s property and that the requirements of Tenn.Code Ann. § 13-3-411 5 had been…”

Lake Cnty. v. Truett, 758 S.W.2d 529 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 5× “Finally, T.C.A. § 13-3-411 states in substance that no building permit or certificate of compliance shall be issued for or no building or structure shall be erected on any lot within the planning commission’s jurisdiction unless the street providing access to the lot has been…”

Donnie Vaught v. Alan Jakes, Sr. & wife Deborah Jakes (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 8× “Davis was closely questioned under cross-examination about the requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-3-411 , which deals with permitting of structures that do not adjoin public roads, and about the subdivision zoning requirements enacted by the County pursuant to that statute.”

Bobby King v. City of Gatlinburg (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “f the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s Local Planning Assistance Office, addressed to defendant’s City Manager, which advised that the City of Gatlinburg should stop issuing building permits for lots which did not front on a public road, unless the…”

Joseph Anthony Gannon & Gloria C. Gannon v. Robert Koch & Deborah Koch (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 2× “TCA § 13-3-411. This record does not show that the plot of Hassell Heights Subdivision has been approved or registered or that any public authority has accepted any dedication of Debra Drive.”

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