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Parowan planners weigh where preschools fit in the city’s land-use table
Summary
Staff will propose amending the table of uses to explicitly classify preschools as either schools (P–12) or daycares, after a developer asked whether a preschool could relocate to a strip‑mall property.
City staff told the Parowan Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 15 that a prospective operator wants to relocate a preschool to a commercial strip‑mall space next to La Via and that the city code does not explicitly list "preschool" in the commercial table of uses.
"We have somebody who is interested in doing a preschool, and...in a commercial zone...there is daycares which daycare is a specified use...and then you'll find school, but school is defined as K through 12," Kelly, a city staff member, told commissioners. "If we lump it with schools, they do an application, then it's just going to be permitted [in a commercial zone]. If we lump it with daycares, they're going to need a conditional-use permit."
Commissioners and staff discussed Head Start, current locations and zoning: a Head Start program currently operates near Lions Park in an R2 zone and the city has discussed relocating it to a commercial site near the elementary school in the future. One commissioner said he would "be fine lumping it with school" and another described preschool as preparing children for school rather than providing general child care.
Kelly said she will draft a proposed amendment to the land-use table to add "pre‑K through 12" or otherwise clarify whether preschools are treated as schools or daycares. She said she will bring the amendment to the next planning commission meeting for a public hearing and recommendation; if the commission approves, the matter would proceed to the city council. Staff also recommended adding definitions for "daycare" and "school/preschool" while the table is updated.
Why this matters: The city will need to clarify whether preschools are an as‑of‑right permitted use in commercial zones (if classified with schools) or require conditional-use review (if classified with daycare centers). That classification affects timeline and review requirements for the applicant and may determine whether an interim relocation can proceed without a conditional-use hearing.
