The Marion County Board of County Commissioners approved three planning waivers on Feb. 18 during a planning and zoning/DRC session, granting buffer and sidewalk exceptions for two churches and allowing a fee-in-lieu waiver for sidewalks.

Faith and Hope Church (Iglesia Cristiana Fe Esperanza) requested permission to use existing trees and vegetation to meet required landscaping buffers instead of installing new plantings and to waive an opaque wall requirement. Staff recommended denial of a full waiver because residential neighbors backed up to the site, but supported using existing canopy trees for tree requirements and filling understory gaps after construction. Commissioners approved the waiver with a condition that any gaps identified after construction be filled with appropriate shrubs and understory plantings; the motion was made by Commissioner Stone and seconded by Commissioner Curry and passed unanimously.

Kendrick Baptist Church requested a similar waiver for buffers along the north, west and southwest portions of its site. Staff recommended support because the property abuts a long-abandoned lime-rock mine and other heavy-vegetation buffers; a nearby property owner (D & D Kendrick) submitted a letter supporting the request. The board approved the waiver without a wall requirement after a motion from Commissioner Zalick and a second from Commissioner Curry.

Separately, the board waived the county’s fee-in-lieu requirement for a sidewalk along Kendrick Baptist Church’s frontage. County Engineer Stephen Cahoon told commissioners the typical cost estimate for constructing the required sidewalk would be roughly $15,000. The board voted unanimously to waive the fee in lieu, citing the site’s rural location and a lack of nearby pedestrian connections.