Anderson City BZA approves 18‑foot height variance for Concord Baptist Church children’s building at 1012 Concord Road

The Anderson City Board of Zoning Appeals approved an 18‑foot variance to the 35‑foot maximum building height standard to permit a proposed 53‑foot children’s education building on the Concord Baptist Church campus at 1012 Concord Road.

City planning staff told the board the 10‑acre campus is large and institutional in a predominantly residential area but that the new building would be clustered with existing structures and set back from Reid Road and adjacent property lines. Staff said existing campus buildings already exceed the R‑20 35‑foot height limit: the sanctuary roof ridge is 57 feet, 8 inches; the adult education building is about 40 feet, and the gym is about 35 feet, 10 inches. Staff recommended approval, finding the size, use, and clustering of buildings meet the variance findings.

An applicant representative (architecture department) told the board construction documents were submitted about two weeks earlier and said the project team hopes to build in the summer. Board members discussed whether churches typically appear in an R‑20 zone; a staff speaker explained that churches can be a conditional use in residential zones and that the campus meets the two‑acre condition for that use. A board member moved to approve the variance; another seconded, and the motion passed by voice vote. The transcript does not record a numerical roll‑call.

The approved variance permits the children’s education building to rise to the proposed height within the campus cluster. Staff emphasized the proposed structure would not be the tallest on the site and that setbacks (about 43 feet from Reid Road and roughly 95 feet from the nearest property line) would help mitigate visual impacts. No conditions, permit timelines, or required follow‑up reports were specified in the record beyond the usual building‑permit process.