Watertown Board of Adjustment Approves Daycare and Preschool Uses for 5th Avenue SE Commercial Property
- Steve Jurrens
- 1 minute ago
- 3 min read
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown Board of Adjustment convened on Thursday, August 20, 2026, to deliberate on the zoning future of a property located at 1016 5th Avenue SE. The applicant, Tom Mattingly of Legacy Properties-Residential LLC, presented three conditional use requests for the C-3 Highway Commercial site to expand future leasing options.
The requests prompted a debate among board members regarding legal authority, commercial zoning safety, and municipal ordinance interpretations.
Seeking Leasing Flexibility
The property recently lost a commercial dog grooming tenant, prompting the ownership group to seek flexible leasing options for residential, daycare, or preschool uses. Mattingly addressed the board directly regarding his strategy, noting that the property sits adjacent to existing residential lots:
“We were exploring our options as this comes available and we have no lease in place moving forward... What we’re looking at is if we had to move this into a residential spot just because it might actually rent easier and because we have residential property on each side of it, would it maybe make sense?”
Vice Chairman Bill Speier summarized the applicant’s intent, asking if the goal was to “exercise as much flexibility so that you can market the property in multiple fashions,” to which Mattingly agreed.
Legal Hurdles Block Residential Reversion
The first agenda item sought to allow the property to revert to a residential use. During the hearing, a discrepancy was noted by Speier: county records classified the 639-square-foot building as commercial retail, while city staff produced a 1974 building permit for an entry on the front of the house.
Despite its history as a home, the property’s recent use as a commercial business legally complicated the request. Board member Todd Kays explained that local ordinances prevent a property from returning to a legal non-conforming residential status once it transitions to a conforming commercial use.
“The specific language of the ordinance says once you change, you can’t come back,” Kays explained to the board.
Following this legal clarification, the board unanimously voted 0-7 to deny the residential use request.
Daycare and Preschool Approvals Spark Debate
The board then reviewed the remaining two conditional use requests, which both ultimately passed with 5-2 votes following significant discussion.
· Non-Residential Daycare: The board approved a daycare facility, adding a specific amendment that the operation must meet the same regulations as an in-home daycare.
· Procedural Pushback: Board member Michelle Kakacek objected to the logic of the amendment, stating:
“If we are going to put a condition that it has to be of the same regulations as an in-home daycare, then why didn’t we just make it residential and eligible for an in-home daycare? I think it’s just disingenuous.”
· Educational Institution/Preschool: The board also approved a conditional use to allow for a preschool at the site.
The preschool approval faced strong opposition regarding safety and zoning authority. Board member Rhonda Dargatz Johnson opposed the measure, citing safety concerns in the C-3 highway district, which is surrounded by high-traffic businesses and an elevator.
“I don’t think that children belong in a commercial district period. So that would be why I would say no to this,” Dargatz Johnson firmly stated.
Kays also voted in opposition, arguing that granting a preschool exception administratively through a “similar use” clause was a procedural overreach rather than a matter for the Board of Adjustment to decide on a case-by-case basis.
“I think the better thing to do, rather than doing it administratively, would be to change the order to allow preschools as a C-3 zone,” Kays argued.
