Council denies Marlowe Charities' religious-exemption request for Mechanicsville property

Knoxville City Council voted unanimously to deny an appeal by Arventley Marlowe and Marlowe Charities seeking a religious-exemption from zoning requirements for 1406 Wallace Street. Law director Swanson explained the three-part test under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and the Tennessee Religious Freedom Restoration Act: the council must find the activity is religious, that the beliefs motivating it are sincerely held, and that the zoning rules substantially burden the religious exercise before considering a compelling interest defense by the City.

Marlowe told council his organization houses two elderly, disabled tenants downstairs and sought to use the upstairs as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) to help another household. He argued treating the project as a duplex would force displacement and require destructive renovations. "Requiring a full duplex conversion rather than allowing this house to be evaluated as one dwelling plus an ADU means that we must displace two disabled tenants," Marlowe said. City staff and the fire marshal countered that the request presented serious life-safety concerns without required fire separation and that alternatives exist, including middle-housing or special-use routes. "This project would present imminent and serious life safety concerns for both the occupants and responding firefighters," Captain Kevin Bost told council. After deliberation, members concluded the appellant had not met all statutory elements and voted to deny the appeal.