Tenn. Code Ann. § 13-4-308 (2026)

• (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 shall be erected on any lot within the municipality, unless one (1) of the following circumstances is met:
    • (A) 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;
    • (B)
      • (i) 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;
      • (ii) 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 § 13-4-303. This subdivision (a)(1)(B)(ii) 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)(1)(B)(ii) 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;
    • (C) 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 departments, divisions or agencies of the municipality and so long as the permanent easement has access to an existing highway, street, or thoroughfare, or with a street located or accepted by the chief legislative body of the municipality after submission to the planning commission and, in case of the commission's disapproval, by the favorable vote required in § 13-4-307; or
    • (D) The street corresponds in its location and lines with a street shown on a street plat made and adopted by the commission.
  • (2) The planning commission or other departments, divisions or agencies of a municipality, as approved by the planning commission, are authorized to adopt regulations to govern proposed permanent easements in proposed subdivisions as defined in § 13-4-301 and shall seek to ensure that the municipality shall not be responsible for future maintenance of such permanent easements.
  • (3) Any building erected or to be erected in violation of this section shall be deemed an unlawful structure and the building commissioner or solicitor of the municipality or other official designated by the chief legislative body may bring action to enjoin such erection or cause it to be vacated or removed.

• (b) A building permit may be issued for a building to be located on a recorded lot of record as of April 21, 1987, which lot fronts on a permanent easement with access to an existing public street or road; provided, that any future subdivision of such lot shall be subject to subsection (a). If the municipality's zoning ordinance establishes a date or procedure by which a lot of record on an easement is recognized as a lot on which a building permit can be issued, then that date or procedure shall prevail over the aforementioned April 21, 1987 date.

Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 914,s 3, eff. 5/13/2014.

Acts 1935, ch. 45, § 7; C. Supp. 1950, § 3407.16; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 13-608; Acts 1986, ch. 891, §§ 1-4; 1987, ch. 216, § 1; 1990, ch. 911, § 1.