Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-4-302 (2026)

Submission of subdivision plats to commission for approval - Filing and recording

✓ current as of May 2026

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(a) From and after the time when the planning commission of any municipality shall have adopted a master plan which includes at least a major street plan, or shall have progressed in its master planning to the stage of the making and adoption of a major street plan, and shall have filed a certified copy of such major street plan in the office of the county register of the county in which the municipality is located, no plat of a subdivision of land lying within the municipality shall be filed or recorded until it shall have been submitted to and approved by the planning commission and such approval entered in writing on the plat by the secretary of the commission or by another designee of the planning commission; provided, that if the plat of subdivision divides the tract into no more than twenty-five (25) lots if the development received preliminary plan approval through the municipal planning commission, or five (5) lots if the development did not require preliminary plan approval through the municipal planning commission, then the approval may be endorsed in writing on the plat by the secretary of the commission or by another designee of the planning commission without the approval of the municipal planning commission, upon certification by the municipal planning commission, or by the planning staff of the municipal planning commission if the commission has delegated this responsibility to its planning staff pursuant to subsection (d), that the subdivision complies with such regulations governing a subdivision of land as have been adopted by the municipal planning commission pursuant to § 13-4-303; and provided further, that no request for variance from such regulations has been requested.

(b) No plat shall be submitted to or approved by the planning commission unless it is submitted by the owner of the property to be subdivided by the plat, or a governmental entity. "Owner," for purposes of this section, means the legal or beneficial owner or owners of all the land proposed to be included in the proposed subdivision or the holder of a written option or contract to purchase the land, or the attorney or authorized representative of any of the aforementioned.

(c) A county register shall not file or record a plat of a subdivision of land, or an amendment, modification, or correction to a recorded plat of a subdivision, within the municipality without the approval of the municipal planning commission, or the planning staff of the municipal planning commission if this responsibility has been delegated to the staff as provided in subsection (d), as required by this part. Notwithstanding this subsection (c), an easement or survey attached to an easement granted to the state, a county, municipality, metropolitan government, or entity of the state, county, municipality or metropolitan government, shall not constitute an amendment, modification, or correction or a recorded plat of a subdivision.

(d)
- (1) A municipal planning commission may delegate the responsibility for approval of a subdivision plat to the planning staff of the municipal planning commission by a majority vote of the municipal planning commission that is taken at a public meeting after being placed on the municipal planning commission's meeting agenda and notice being provided as required for other matters before the municipal planning commission.
- (2) This delegation may only include subdivision plats that include:
  - (A) No more than twenty-five (25) lots and only if the development received preliminary plan approval through the municipal planning commission; or
  - (B) No more than five (5) lots if the development did not require preliminary plan approval through the municipal planning commission; provided, that:
    - (i) The subdivision complies with such regulations governing a subdivision of land as adopted by the municipal planning commission pursuant to § 13-4-303;
    - (ii) No request for a variance from such regulations has been requested; and
    - (iii) A division of land requiring new road or utility construction is not approved by the planning staff under this subsection (d) unless the plan received preliminary approval by the municipal planning commission.
- (3) A municipal planning commission shall not delegate to its planning staff the authority to preliminarily approve, finalize approval of, or certify a subdivision plat, regardless of the number of lots proposed for the subdivision plan, consistent with the parameters of this section, unless the municipal legislative body approves such delegation by a majority vote of the legislative body.

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 994, Secs.s4, s5, s6 eff. 5/4/2022.

Acts 1935, ch. 45, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 3407.10; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 13-602; Acts 1988, ch. 554, § 2; 1989, ch. 591, § 113; 2002, ch. 593, § 1; 2004, ch. 576, § 3; 2006, ch. 644, §§ 2, 4, 6; 2010 , ch. 625, § 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1980–2024 · leading case: William H. Thompson, Jr. v. Dep't of Codes Admin., Metro. Gov't of Nashville & Davidson Cnty., 20 S.W.3d 654 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999).

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William H. Thompson, Jr. v. Dep't of Codes Admin., Metro. Gov't of Nashville & Davidson Cnty., 20 S.W.3d 654 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999). “§ 13-4-302 (1992); see also § 13-3-402 (articulating a similar prohibition for county registers with respect to recording subdivision plats for purposes of regional planning).”

RCK Jt. Venture, (A Jt. Venture Comprised of River Road Constr., LLC, Creative Homes, LLC & Keystone Homes of TN, INC.) v. Garrison Cove Homeowners Ass'n, A Tennessee Nonprofit Corp. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 4× “-2- The Association asked the trial court for a declaratory judgment that the easement was illegal under Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-4-302 , which governs the submission and approval of subdivision plats,1 as well as for a permanent injunction against the use of the easement and to…”

Hidden Lake Resorts Homeowners Ass'n, Inc v. Charles Z. Moore (Tenn. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 2× “Tennessee Code Annotated section 13-4-308, amended in 2014, states, in pertinent part: (a)(1) From and after the time when the platting jurisdiction of any municipal planning commission has attached as provided in § 13-4-302, no building permit shall be issued and no building…”

CK Dev., LLC v. Town of Nolensville (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 2× “; see also Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-4-302 (a) (providing that no plat of subdivision shall be filed or recorded unless it is approved by the planning commission).”

B & B Enter. of Wilson Co., LLC v. City of Lebanon (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 2× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-4-303 (a) (1999). In fact, no subdivision can be constructed within their territorial jurisdiction without their approval.”

Copas v. Tidwell, 601 S.W.2d 708 (Tenn. 1980). · cites it 2× “…in the consideration of this case but his death occurred before the release of this opinion. .T.C.A. § 47-9-402. . T.C.A. § 13-4-302.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.