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Enterprise TAB approves place-of-worship height waiver but denies residential adjacency waiver
Summary
A proposed Buddhist center was granted a variance to increase two limited roof/gate heights but the board denied a separate waiver tied to residential adjacency standards; neighbors had objected to scale and traffic concerns.
The Enterprise Town Advisory Board on Feb. 12 approved a variance that allows two limited height increases for the front gate and a small portion of a building for a proposed place of worship, but denied a separate waiver request related to residential adjacency standards.
Representing the applicant, an interpreter who identified himself as Quinn (for the applicant) said the height changes were limited. “We’re not asking for the whole 35 to increase to 45. The whole building, just this section right here,” Quinn said, pointing to the entry/gate element and a small roof section. The project team said the larger Buddha statue and a short section of the front elevation are the only parts seeking additional height.
Neighbors raised repeated concerns about scale and traffic. Susan Vermilion, who lives nearby on Stafford Creek Court, said the taller elements would tower over adjacent single‑story houses and called one statue-height request “a huge increase.” She told the board the proposed reductions to a 15-foot landscape buffer were insufficient. “This building will tower over the bordering homes… it would kind of feel like a four‑story behemoth,” Vermilion said. Other residents said they were concerned about traffic moving through small neighborhood streets.
A majority of the TAB agreed the limited, focused increases could be approved, but several members opposed broader waivers. One board member said residential adjacency standards in the county’s newer code exist to protect neighbors and should be strictly upheld; that member moved to deny WS250016, the waiver package that included the residential adjacency relief. The board approved VS250015 (variance to increase building height for limited elements) per staff conditions and denied WS250016 for reasons tied to residential adjacency and landscaping protections.
The TAB record shows staff and board discussion focused on whether the requested height increases were properly limited to small, decorative elements versus the whole building, and whether reduced buffers and roadway entries would affect neighborhood streets. The approvals and denial will move forward to county-level hearings for final determination.
