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ATTACHMENT # 5. lip-. IS MEMORANDUM FROM CHILD CARE COORDINATOR DATED 2/1/2000 Parks. Recreation and Community Services Department www.redwoodcity.org Redwood U-Itv Oalnornla funlllld 1881 ~ Red Morton Community Center 1120 Roosevelt Avenue Redwood City, CA 94061-1499 (650) 780-7311 FA.X: (650) 780-9684 MEMORANDUM To: Tom Passanisi, Senior Planner From: Kristen Anderson, Child Care Coordinator Date: February 1,2000 Re: 'Large Family Day Care Home' Permitting Requirements Background: In 1991, during updating of City zoning ordinances related to child care, Planning Staff and the City Child Care Coordinator worked on changing the zoning ordinance so that the permit for "large family day care homes" (for 7 to 12 children) was "non-discretionary." (This was around the time that the City adopted the Child Care Policy, to promote the development of needed child care services.) According to the California Health and Safety Code, the City has three options for treatment of large family day care homes: 1) Conditional use permit, which requires public noticing and a hearing if requested; 2) a non-discretionary permit where the applicant agrees in writing to certain predefined conditions; and 3) as a right so this type of use does not require a permit. Redwood City has been using a non-discretionary permit process for 9 years. This year, the Code Enforcement Review Committee, Diane Howard, Jeff Ira and Matt Leipzig, chose to look at this ordinance because of the recent conflict between a large family day care home provider and a neighbor on Canyon Road, though it was essentially a property dispute. Nonetheless, a recommendation for Redwood City to move to a conditional use permit with a $100 fee was recommended by the Code Enforcement Committee, taken before and passed by the Planning Commission. The majority view expressed by Commissioners was that neighbors have a right to know when a large family day care home is operating. Summary: From a child care development perspective, the most desirable situation is to allow the operation of large family day care homes, for 7 to 12 children, as a right (as small family day care must be). This still means that they have to be licensed by the State, which requires a fire department inspection, but no other regulation responsibility. Many cities in California and San Mateo County allow large family day care by right and have no problems as a result: Palo Alto, San Jose, San Diego, etc. Though this type of treatment is most encouraging of the development of child care resources, our Councilor Commission may not support this approach. However, we do not want to see a return to the conditional permit process, which did not work well years ago and which discourages the development of an important community service. .~------ - -T