Council OKs zoning text change to allow "educational facilities" in multiple districts

The City Council unanimously approved a text amendment, ZOA‑1‑26, to add "educational facility" as a use on the city's permitted-use chart, a change staff said will make the ordinance clearer and help reuse vacant school properties.

Planning Director (S2) told the council private schools and some higher-education uses were no longer reflected on the permitted-use chart. "Private schools were not accounted for on the permitted use chart," the planning director said, noting the amendment would place educational facilities by right in B‑2, B‑3, B‑7 and the ONI office‑institutional district and as a special use in R‑6, R‑9, R‑12 and RC residential districts. The staff report and the planning board recommended approval based on consistency with the 2045 comprehensive plan.

Council members asked whether the change would create conflicts with existing childcare and preschool rules. The planning director explained that childcare centers and preschools are regulated under a separate "childcare center" definition and that a special‑use permit or permit conditions can address overlaps. No members of the public spoke during the hearing. Mayor Pro Tem Perkins moved to approve the amendment with the staff consistency statement; the motion carried unanimously, and the chair read the consistency statement into the record.

The approved ordinance, staff said, is intended to streamline reuse of vacant or historic school sites—including the former West Lenoir Elementary—by clarifying where public, private and vocational educational uses are allowed.