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Council approves Messiah Johns Creek interior preschool expansion and variance for playground fence encroachment
Summary
Johns Creek approved two special-use permits and a concurrent variance allowing Messiah Johns Creek (4765 Kimball Bridge Road) a phased interior expansion to create preschool classrooms and a limited encroachment of playground fencing into a buffer; staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval.
The Johns Creek City Council approved special-use permits SUP-240003 and SUP-240004 and concurrent variance VC-240005 for Messiah Johns Creek, allowing a phased expansion that includes an interior conversion for a private pre-K classroom and, in later phases, possible classroom and sanctuary expansion.
Director Ben Song told the council the 3.95-acre church site already contains an 11,710-square-foot building and 116 parking spaces (exceeding the required 104). Phase 1 would be interior-only work to create a roughly 1,350-square-foot interior classroom space suitable for a pre-K program and would not change the building footprint. Later phases could add up to two more pre-K classrooms and a church expansion depending on funding and board decisions.
Pastor Harmon Lewis described Phase 1 as a half-day preschool program (initially planned around 8 a.m.–noon for a single classroom), with an anticipated student–teacher ratio of about 9:1 and two teachers for the first classroom. He said the church has already hired an experienced director and intends to use a curriculum blend with STEM and other organized activities.
The requested variance would allow limited encroachment of the existing playground fence into a 50-foot understory buffer and a 10-foot improvement setback for a small linear area (maximum encroachment described in staff materials as 10 linear feet and a few hundred square feet). Staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions; council discussion focused on ingress/egress, parking and the playground fence. Staff confirmed the existing full-access curb cut and that additional stacking concerns were unlikely given roadway improvements.
A motion to approve the two SUPs and the variance with staff recommendations was made and carried; the transcript records approval but does not include a recorded roll‑call tally.
Next steps: applicant to proceed under the phased plan and obtain any required building or construction permits for interior work and future phases, and to comply with state daycare fence/regulation requirements.
