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Applicant and planning staff seek to allow 'education' as conditional use in B-2 downtown zone
Summary
The planning commission opened a public hearing on amending Chapter 110 to allow "education" as a conditional use in the B-2 Central Business Zone; applicant Tiffany Crow said demand for local ABA-based transitional schooling is high and the commission approved considering the zoning change.
Tiffany Crow, owner and operator of Intentional Actions ABA, told the City of Lake Jackson planning body that her clinic provides applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy for people with autism and is proposing a private, transition-focused school at a downtown B-2 location.
"ABA is a therapy that works specifically with behavior," Crow said, describing the clinic’s work and testimonials from families. She said Intentional Actions currently serves about 22 clients, has a waiting list of roughly 184 people countywide, and proposed a school with a maximum of 15–20 children to practice behavioral and academic tasks in a small, controlled setting.
A planning commission representative advised the commission that staff recommends treating "education" as a conditional use in the B-2 Central Business Zone rather than allowing it outright. "When we thought the best course of action…was to look at B-2s as a conditional use, in the B-2 zone, similar to churches," the representative said, pointing to variable downtown parking and site-specific considerations.
Commissioners asked whether current therapy clients would automatically become students, how many additional vehicles the downtown location would generate, and whether expanding to occupy the entire building would require further approvals. Crow said the proposed school footprint would likely host about 10 students under typical operations and that any future expansion would return as a separate conditional-use application.
After public comment, a commissioner moved to approve consideration of amending Chapter 110 to permit education as a conditional use in the B-2 district; the motion was seconded and carried on an affirmative voice vote.
The commission’s action at the meeting was a procedural approval to consider the zoning amendment and does not itself grant a permit for any specific school or location. Any applicant seeking a school in B-2 would still need to apply for a conditional-use permit, which would trigger site-specific review of parking, traffic, and other conditions.
Next steps: staff will prepare the necessary ordinance language and scheduling for subsequent hearings and conditional-use review if the amendment proceeds to a formal zoning change.
