To be heard September 11, 2025Agenda Item No. 35

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Staff Recommendation

Approve the expansion of a place of worship's preschool and kindergarten classrooms because it is consistent with adopted plans and complements surrounding development.

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This request is for a 4,000 sq ft addition to the existing 9,000 sq ft Grace Covenant Baptist Academy, which is a private Christian school offering elementary, preschool, afterschool, and summercamp programming. The addition will be for two preschool/kindergarten classrooms accommodating up to 37 children and utilized from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday through Friday. The applicant has indicated that Grace Covenant Baptist Academy operates under the guidelines of the Department of Education of Tennessee and meets teacher-student ratios as well as square footage requirements.

STANDARDS FOR EVALUATING A SPECIAL USE (ARTICLE 16.2.F.2)

1) THE USE IS CONSISTENT WITH ADOPTED PLANS AND POLICIES, INCLUDING THE GENERAL PLAN AND THE ONE-YEAR PLAN.
A. This proposed classroom expansion of an established preschool and kindergarten program is consistent with the One Year Plan location criteria for educational facilities. The One Year Plan stipulates that "nursery schools" should be located within or adjacent to residential areas and on sites which are easily and safely accessible to through traffic. This Christian school campus is accessed from Dutchtown Road, which is a minor arterial street with sidewalks on both sides. The property abuts a large lot to the west that is actively under construction for a 271-unit apartment community called Novare Knoxville. This property is also easily accessed by numerous single-family detached subdivisions in the Cedar Bluff area.
B. This development is also consistent with the General Plan's Development Policy 9.12, to locate day care centers and other neighborhood services at the edges of neighborhoods or in village centers along arterial or collector streets, and in a manner which will not adversely affect surrounding properties. This property is not integrated within a residential area, but it is easily accessible to many neighborhoods, including the influx of new residents in the Novare apartment development once completed.

2) THE USE IS IN HARMONY WITH THE GENERAL PURPOSE AND INTENT OF THIS ZONING CODE.
A. The subject property is zoned RN-6 (Multi-Family Residential Neighborhood), which is intended for a mixture of all housing types and permits certain non-residential uses that are compatible with the character of the area. A place of worship and a preschool/kindergarten are both designated as Special Uses within this zoning district. This church academy has been in operation since 1993, and a minor expansion of its classroom capacity, especially in light of adjacent RN-6 multifamily development, is appropriate here.
B. The development plans meet the Principal Use Standards for a preschool/kindergarten per Article 9.3.W, which include a requirement that a pickup/drop off area be provided that does not interfere with vehicle circulation. A covered drive-through pick up/drop off area already exists adjacent to the main building and works with traffic flows within the parking lot. With the classroom expansion, the parking lot is also being brought up to current standards, and there will be direct parking and sidewalk access to the new classrooms along with ADA compliant parking spaces.
C. An Alternative Landscape Design is in review now with the City per Article 12.2.D, and the plan provides much more vegetation than currently exists.

3) THE USE IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE CHARACTER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE IT IS PROPOSED, AND WITH THE SIZE AND LOCATION OF BUILDINGS IN THE VICINITY.
A. The classroom addition will provide the building with a more complete and symmetrical appearance, as exhibited in the attached architectural elevations. This balance of the building, along with the enhanced landscaping and parking lot improvements, will provide an aesthetic enhancement to the area. The use provides educational and childcare services that are compatible with the surrounding residential context.

4) THE USE WILL NOT SIGNIFICANTLY INJURE THE VALUE OF ADJACENT PROPERTY OR BY NOISE, LIGHTS, FUMES, ODORS, VIBRATION, TRAFFIC, CONGESTION, OR OTHER IMPACTS DETRACT FROM THE IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT.
A. The expansion of a preschool and kindergarten provides a neighborhood service, and it is not anticipated to have any adverse effects on surrounding properties.

5) THE USE IS NOT OF A NATURE OR SO LOCATED AS TO DRAW SUBSTANTIAL ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC THROUGH RESIDENTIAL STREETS.
A. Dutchtown Road is a throughfare that has a center turn lane where the subject property accesses it. Student pickup and drop off is not anticipated to slow traffic, and will not draw additional traffic through residential streets.