NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you want to make big changes to your home, will you need Nashville's Airport Authority Board to sign off?
That's the question after the airport authority sent a letter to Nashville's codes office earlier this year, involving an area that covers nearly all of Davidson County.
The letter from the Nashville Airport Authority was sent just days before a new law was set to go into effect, giving state officials control over the majority of the seats on the airport authority board.
The letter says according to the new law, the airport authority can require "the review and approval, conditional approval, or denial of building permits" in part to "regulate aircraft hazards."
But, according to the map the airport authority included, it would have control over the vast majority of homes in Nashville, not just the area closest to BNA.
What would that mean for you?
At a court hearing this month, attorneys for the state argued in front of a three-judge panel that the power of the airport authority isn't as broad as the law might make some think.
"All that's happening here is that the authority is being given a chance as the expert on what areas might constitute an airport hazard, to develop the map and supply that to the Metro Government that then uses that map to determine for that area we need to consider the height of structures," said George Cate, an attorney for the airport authority board.
The airport authority said it would still have to follow federal rules even if it takes power away from Metro Council.
"Yes, it reduces the role of the Metro Council in these specific discrete matters, but the idea that now you have an airport authority that's just run amok and just gobbling up territory with no FAA regulatory oversight, with respect to all the hoops you've got to go through when you try to acquire property by eminent domain, it is very supervised," Cate said.
Still, Metro Nashville is suing over the law, with a decision still to be issued by the three-judge panel.
