Washington’s City Council, during its meeting Monday, unanimously denied a request that would have opened the doors for private dormitories in single-family residential zoning districts throughout the city.

The council determined that private dormitories in those districts would not be compatible to their residential character and inconsistent with the city’s comprehensive land-use plan.

Joe Davis IV requested the city’s zoning laws be amended to allow private dormitories as a special-permitted use in the city’s R9S (single-family residential) zoning districts. Davis sought to convert some the property at 1110 N. Market St. into a prep school with a dormitory. Currently, private dormitories are allowed only in the RMF (residential multifamily) districts. If the council approved the request, the city’s Board of Adjustment would have to consider issuing a special-use permit for Davis to operate the private dormitory. A special-use permit allows for a specific exception to the zoning regulations from a list of acceptable exceptions for a particular parcel of land in a district of a particular zoning character.

Davis, who owns the NCAA-approved basketball scouting service ScoutsFocus, wants to open a post-secondary prep school that works with basketball players to improve their SAT and ACT scores and basketball skills so they can possibly get scholarships to play at the college level.

Several supporters of Davis’ proposal said such a prep school would provide certain student-athletes with opportunities for furthering their education that might not otherwise be available to them. Supporters and people involved with Davis’ proposal said the prep school would be an asset for the city.

John Cantrell, a Washington resident who coached Davis when he was a boy, supports the proposed school and its attendant dormitory.

“I don’t understand why it’s a complaint to do a good thing to help people get a scholarship,” he said.

Cantrell said similar prep schools and basketball camps bring in players who draw attention from college scouts if they are good enough to warrant offers of college scholarships.

“It works, it will work here,” Cantrell said.

Many of those who opposed Davis’ request said they can support the idea of the prep school but don’t want the private dormitory associated with it in their neighborhood.

Others voiced concerns over supervision of the players, monitoring of their academic work, increased traffic and noise and the school’s proximity to a child-development center operated by the Beaufort County Developmental Center.

Elena Cameron, children’s services manager at the child-development center at 1109 N. Respess St., opposes allowing the prep school at the Market Street site.

Cameron said that in the past she’s had to remove children from the playground because of marijuana use, public intoxication and public urination at the property in question when Davis’ father, Joe Davis III, managed it. Cameron and others also wondered if the school’s students, coaches and staff would be screened for sex offenders and those with criminal pasts.