BZA Denies Daycare Request Sought By Local Employer
By Maggie Kenworthy
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — A request to allow a daycare center in an R-1 zoning district was denied during the Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals meeting held Monday night, March 22.
Instrumental Machine and Development and Miriel McFarland requested a variance of use for the property located at 615 N. Parker St. The property was constructed as a single-family home and has historically been used that way. The daycare would operate from 6:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and care for up to 16 children at a time
“Historically this board has protected R-1 zoning districts from uses that may have a detrimental impact or change the character of a neighborhood,” explained City Planner Justin Taylor. “The city’s municipal code draws a distinction between home daycare uses, which are permitted within R-1 zoning districts, and daycare centers, which may have a greater impact on the character of the neighborhood and adjacent properties.”
Taylor recommended that the board deny the request. “We do understand that there is a great need for child care for working families in our community, however the highest and best use of this property is single-family residential.”
Board President Tom Allen reminded the board that similar requests have appeared before and historically been declined.
“For the record, It’s very unusual and has never happened that we would put a commercial entity into an R-1 zone,” said Allen. “This is the second zoning appeals meeting where we had a childcare center apply for a special permit and the other one was denied as well.”
McFarland, an employee of Instrumental Machine and Development, representing the request, said the request should not be referred to as a daycare center or daycare facility and instead as a “small-scale home childcare provider.”
The daycare would be open for employees of IMD, which currently employs 85 people. IMD worked with LaunchPad to conduct an employee-wide survey. It was found that 30% of the workforce have children under the age of 12 and need childcare while 100% have expressed concern about the difficulty of finding quality childcare at an affordable cost.
IMD bought the 615 N. Parker St. property and will also provide the overhead costs and a small percentage of the scholarships needed for the family’s weekly fees. Early Childhood Alliance, Fort Wayne, will provide the daycare services at half the price of other local, comparable facilities.
The board questioned why the company would want to use this particular home in this particular neighborhood. McFarland stated that the proximity to the business made this property appealing. There were also concerns regarding the number of children allowed at the facility at one time.
After McFarland’s presentation, City Attorney Scott Reust explained that the board must prove certain points in order to approve a request. Particularly, the board must prove that “the need for the variance arises from some condition peculiar to the property involved” and “the strict application for the terms of the zoning ordinance will constitute an unnecessary hardship if applied to the property for which the variance is sought.”
Rob Parker, president and CEO of Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, then approached the board and asked “If somebody tries to do a home-based childcare service, would that be denied?”
Taylor explained that to be a home-based business, someone must live in the residence full-time and other regulations would apply. This use variance request was a different scenario than brought up by Parker.
Four neighbors were present at the meeting to oppose the request.
After everyone present at the meeting had a chance to share their views, the board then discussed the matter amongst themselves.
“A lot of good intentions, but at the end of the day, Tammy (Dalton) could take this house and sell it in a nanosecond, probably have two or three bids in the process,” commented Board Vice President Rick Keeven. “There’s nothing about this property that’s going to keep it from selling … so that alone seems to be a show-stopper right there.”
The board voted unanimously to deny the request.