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Planning commission approves amended conditional-use permit for Blue Ridge Outdoor School daycare
Summary
The commission approved an amendment allowing Blue Ridge Outdoor School to expand hours, increase enrollment to 20 children, and add staff; the applicant will continue to use Grace Episcopal Church’s Jonathan Daniels community room and an on-site van for field trips.
The Lexington Planning Commission unanimously approved an amendment to a conditional-use permit Thursday that will allow Blue Ridge Outdoor School to expand operations at Grace Episcopal Church.
Planning staff said the original permit, approved by council in July, limited enrollment to 13 students and hours to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The applicant asked to amend the permit to allow operations between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., a maximum of 20 students and four adult staff, beginning in August. “That approval was made with conditions that limited the number of students to 13 in total and limited the hours of operation to between 9AM and 3PM,” Arnie told commissioners.
The applicant, who identified herself as Rhianna Schleif and described herself as owner and director of Blue Ridge Outdoor School, told commissioners demand for part-time (two- and three-day) options motivated the change. “We have a limit of 10 kids on a given day,” Schleif said when describing how she manages class sizes and van capacity for field trips.
Commissioners questioned drop-off and pick-up logistics. Schleif said parents generally park in the church lot or on the street, that some staff walk children in from nearby employers, and that she uses a van to visit parks and local attractions including Natural Bridge State Park, the library and Boxerwood. She said the van’s capacity limits field trips to 10 children at a time.
Commissioners also raised building-occupancy questions; staff and the applicant clarified that the daycare uses two rooms in the church complex and that the proposed 20-child limit aligns with the intended classroom configuration. Commissioners requested and the motion to approve the amended conditional-use permit included minor typographical corrections to the draft conditions (removing an extraneous comma, deleting a duplicated word, and similar edits).
A commissioner moved to approve conditional-use permit CUP 2025-04 for a daycare center at 123 West Washington Street with the staff-recommended conditions and the typographical changes; a second was recorded and the motion carried unanimously.
Key permitting details in the record: amended maximum enrollment 20 students, hours of operation 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m., four adult staff, and continued use of the Jonathan Daniels community room at Grace Episcopal Church. Staff will enforce the conditions of the permit and follow up on the administrative edits recorded during the motion.
