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Board approves conditional use permit for Tree of Life Church despite wetlands variance need
Summary
The board approved Conditional Use Permit 2025-02 allowing a 2-acre Tree of Life Church with a 100-person occupancy limit (application seats 50) and 25 parking spaces; staff noted extensive wetlands that will require a 32-foot variance and included landscaping, lighting and screening conditions in the approval.
Surry County planning staff presented Conditional Use Permit (CUP) 2025-02 for the Tree of Life Church, a proposed religious assembly on a two-acre parcel off White Marsh Road. Planning staff said the parcel sits in the rural preservation area and contains significant wetlands that will force the site layout closer to the road and require a 32-foot variance prior to site-plan submittal.
Staff summarized draft conditions covering landscaping, a planted buffer to screen the parking area, measures to limit light trespass, and a minimum dust-free surface for parking with paved entrance drives. The staff recommendation noted the current seating plan would accommodate 50 people, while the draft condition limits occupancy to 100 and the proposed plan includes 25 parking spaces—twice the ordinance requirement. "We felt that the applicant met all of these areas," staff said, and the planning commission had recommended approval.
No members of the public spoke during the hearing; a board member who had served on the planning commission noted three adjacent property owners had supported the application at the planning commission meeting. Supervisor Walter Hardy moved to approve CUP 2025-02; the motion carried by voice vote.
What happens next: the applicant must secure any required variance for wetlands impacts and submit a site plan that conforms to the conditions the board approved. The county will enforce the landscaping, lighting, occupancy and parking conditions through permit review.
