Planning Commission approves Madonna Learning Center campus expansion on Poplar Avenue

The Germantown Planning Commission approved preliminary and final site plans to expand the Madonna Learning Center campus at 7007, 7035 and 7045 Poplar Avenue, including the release of 0.102 acres of right-of-way along Poplar Avenue and multiple conditions listed in staff materials. The motion passed by roll call vote, 5-0.

The plan consolidates Madonna’s existing school campus with a proposed Monarch adult-education campus. Director Ross, presenting staff’s report, said the proposal would add a phase 1 building expansion of just under 3,200 square feet on the existing campus, a 16,000-square-foot adult program building, and a later phase with a roughly 6,000-square-foot chapel/multipurpose building. Ross said the Monarch adult program would be a special-needs adult education program with a maximum of 100 adult students and 30 staff; the existing campus would be able to accommodate about 95 school-age students and 30 staff at full occupancy. Education hours were described as 8 a.m.–3 p.m., with an extended-day option, 7 a.m.–5 p.m.

The staff report and the applicant’s drawings show a 25-foot-wide landscape buffer adjacent to the proposed parking area and a surface parking layout that extends into the front setback at 7035 and 7045. Ross told commissioners the applicant had received a Board of Zoning Appeals approval in September 2024 for a use on appeal related to the two parcels, and that the consolidated plan responds to prior BZA comments.

Greg Markham of the Reeves Firm, representing the applicant, described the Monarch program as a vocational and life-skills facility for adults and said the multipurpose building would include a kitchen area for instruction and event-serving. "We are interested in adding a — what's going to be a wonderful program for the adults," Markham said. He also noted the program’s small retail activity: "they sell a toffee product" produced by program participants.

Commission discussion centered on a staff-recommended curb-and-gutter improvement along Poplar Avenue and tradeoffs between that requirement and preserving a row of mature pine trees that form a buffer between the road and the parking area. The applicant requested the commission omit the curb-and-gutter requirement for the stretch east of the new eastern driveway, citing the presence of a city water line, fiber-optic utilities for traffic signals, and overhead telephone poles that would be disturbed by construction.

Alderman Salvaggio pressed for the curb-and-gutter improvement, saying he agreed with staff engineering that the curb would address a grade drop and improve safety. "When engineering brings up a public safety concern, I think we have to listen to that strongly," Salvaggio said. Commissioner Jacobs and Mayor Palladio (as recorded in the meeting transcript) also urged compliance with engineering’s safety recommendation; Jacobs asked whether curb-and-gutter installation would necessarily require deep excavation and concluded the commission should follow engineering guidance.

Applicant engineer Greg Bartlett said the plan tries to retain many of the large trees and that installing curb and gutter likely would require removing several mature pines. "We're actually showing many of those large trees to remain," Bartlett said, adding that curb-and-gutter construction could require tree removal in the affected area.

Neighbors were consulted before the BZA hearing; Markham summarized that attendees were reassured the campus expansion would prevent large residential redevelopment behind their properties and that a neighbor who had expressed concern about the adult program later accepted the plan. The applicant committed to the 25-foot landscape buffer being strictly landscaping and to showing the buffer in forthcoming Design Review Commission materials.

The motion approved by the commission read in part as "approval of a preliminary and final site plan for the Madonna Learning Center campus expansion at 7007, 7035 and 7045 Poplar Avenue, including the release of 0.102 acres of right of way along Poplar Avenue, subject to the conditions, general requirements and staff comments listed [in the application]." The motion was moved by Alderman Salvaggio; a second was recorded but the transcript does not identify the seconder by name. The roll-call vote recorded five yes votes (Clark, Jacobs, Salvaggio, Chairman John McCreery and Mayor Palladio) and no abstentions or no votes.

Next steps noted in the hearing: the applicant will present landscape-buffer details to the Design Review Commission, and any curb-and-gutter or right-of-way construction affecting Poplar Avenue will require state approval because Poplar is in a state-controlled corridor and is included in the MPO long-range plan discussion referenced by commissioners. The staff report also recorded prior approvals and site-history items (Madonna at 7007 since 1996; a prior campus expansion approved in 2013 and a BZA use-on-appeal in Sept. 2024).

The commission’s approval authorizes the site plan subject to the listed conditions but does not, by itself, commit the city to state-funded roadway improvements; commissioners acknowledged the state, not the city, will set standards and likely require permits for any curb-and-gutter or lane changes to Poplar Avenue.

Commissioners closed the item with public commendation of Madonna Learning Center’s community role. "You are a shining star for our city," Chairman John McCreery said to Jo Gilbert, who was present on behalf of the school.

Votes at a glance: Motion to approve preliminary and final site plan for Madonna Learning Center campus expansion (7007, 7035, 7045 Poplar Avenue) including release of 0.102 acres of right-of-way — Passed by roll call, yes: 5, no: 0, abstain: 0.