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Zoning commission approves revised SUP for Covenant Presbyterian, explicitly excluding K–12 schools
Summary
The commission adopted a resolution approving Covenant Presbyterian Church's special‑use permit for community, charitable and cultural uses but added language to exclude any school with a K–12 curriculum; staff clarified that typical community classes differ from a regulated K–12 school and would require a separate permit.
The Castle Hills Zoning Commission voted to adopt a resolution recommending a revised special‑use permit for Covenant Presbyterian Church at 1761 Northwest Loop 410, permitting community‑serving assemblies, charitable, cultural and faith‑based activities on the church campus while explicitly excluding any school that offers a K–12 curriculum.
Tommy Downing presented the request and described the church's long history on the site and its use by partner nonprofits. "We're a fairly small congregation, about 170 members," Downing said, and he described longstanding campus activity including a gym, choir uses and partner organizations. Bethany Borak, the church's director of administration and facilities, told the commission the church currently works with roughly 13 nonprofit partners and that in her 18 years on the job she has "never received a complaint" about campus activities.
Commissioners probed logistics, parking and the possibility of future school uses. Downing estimated the campus has about 250 parking spaces and stressed most partner activities are scheduled to avoid simultaneous heavy overlap. City staff and the city attorney clarified that the zoning code distinguishes routine educational or community classes from a formal K–12 school: a school with a regular curriculum and enrolled students would require a separate SUP. To resolve commissioner concerns, the motion that carried added an explicit exclusion: the SUP shall not permit a school with a curriculum equivalent to grades 1–12.
The commission's recommendation (resolution 20260804‑c, with the added exclusion) will be transmitted to City Council for final approval. Staff advised the church to return if it seeks any future change that would constitute a K–12 school.
