Avon board approves variance allowing childcare at 137 Production Drive

The Town of Avon Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to approve a variance allowing a childcare center to operate as a primary use at 137 Production Drive.

The board approved VRU‑25‑02, a variance of use from Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) 3.2, by a 5‑0 roll call vote with a condition that the approval apply only to the petitioner’s leased premises. The motion was made by Paul Guchenberger and seconded by Catherine Ransberg; the vote recorded Guchenberger, Anne Inman, Ransberg, Marci Tashler and Chair Marcus Turner as voting yes.

Staff recommended approval after concluding the five required findings for a use variance could be met, and asked the board to require substantial compliance with the site plan on file. The petitioner, Bridal Star Academy Ministry Inc., plans to occupy roughly 3,700 square feet of a 13,000 square‑foot building and operate an outdoor play area of about 600 square feet along the building’s south side.

Town staff told the board that the petitioner had relied on incorrect guidance when first inquiring about zoning for the address. According to staff, the lease space’s address did not appear correctly in the town’s Beacon GIS, and the petitioner was told to contact Hendricks County, which indicated it did not regulate the parcel. That led the operator to lease and begin preparations before the town discovered the use after a complaint about the outdoor play area. Staff advised the operator to file a variance, which they did.

Attorney for the petitioner Andy Hope, representing Bridal Star Academy Ministry Inc., told the board that zoning approval must precede final state licensing. “Best course of action here is to seek the zoning first because the state can’t approve you if you don’t have the zoning in place,” Hope said. Hope added the petitioner had been in regular contact with state licensing and had begun the fire inspection process with the Avon Washington Township Fire Department, which identified corrective items.

Faith Miller, owner and operator of Bridal Star Academy Ministry Inc., said the facility’s planned capacity is 30 children and that current operations are limited to children transferred from her prior in‑home program. “We only want a capacity of 30 kids,” Miller said. Hope said the operator has been allowed to transfer existing children from the in‑home license but is not taking new CCDF voucher children until local zoning and state licensing are complete.

The petitioner said proposed hours are 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the program plans to serve infants through about 12 years old if fully expanded; current operations serve children under 6. The petitioner noted participation in the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program, which is administered in Indiana by the Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning (part of the Family and Social Services Administration) and limits CCDF‑subsidized enrollment to county residents who meet program requirements.

Board members who spoke in discussion said they were most concerned about safety, traffic conflicts between truck and car movements, and the practical limits of a site tucked back in an industrial area. Several members, including Chair Marcus Turner and Commissioner Dan (last name in record unclear), said they did not see peak traffic conflicts at the site and that the state’s licensing, ongoing inspections and the fire department review provided additional safeguards.

The board’s approval includes the adopted findings of fact and the condition that the variance applies specifically to the petitioner's leased premises; the staff report recommended limiting the approval to the lease area to avoid ambiguity about which portion of the multi‑tenant building the variance covers.

Next steps noted by staff and the petitioner are completion of any fire department corrections, submission of a state childcare licensing application under Indiana Code 12‑17.2, and final inspections required by the state and the fire department before the facility can accept new children under CCDF.

The board’s action does not alter other permitted uses in the I‑2 district; staff explained the effect of the variance is to allow childcare as a primary use in that space rather than as an accessory use tied to an industrial employer.