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Council discusses proposal to raise in-home licensed daycare limit from 12 to 16; safety and traffic concerns raised
Summary
Murray City planning staff proposed raising the permitted number of children in licensed in-home daycares from 12 to 16, matching a 2023 Utah state limit, but councilors requested edits after safety, square-footage and traffic concerns were raised.
MURRAY, Utah —1 Aug. 26 —1 City planning staff and the council discussed a proposed ordinance to raise the maximum number of children permitted at a licensed in-home daycare from 12 to 16. The change would align municipal code with a 2023 change in Utah state licensing rules, subject to local conditions intended to preserve safety and neighborhood compatibility.
Planning staff said the proposal responds to a local request from an in-home provider and several other providers who asked the city to lift the municipal cap to match the state's allowance of 16 children. Staff said they reviewed other municipal codes in the Salt Lake Valley and drafted language that adds eight conditions for in-home daycares that choose to operate with up to 16 children, including space and licensing requirements.
Council members and some residents raised concerns about safety, traffic and the potential intensity of daily trips. A council member noted that state licensing sets minimum indoor square footage (staff cited 35 square feet per child), but that local zoning and business licensing remain separate; the city cannot permit 16 children at a location unless the property meets the state's licensing requirements. Staff explained that some small lots where the total landscaped/front-yard area is under a threshold would be exempt from certain rules but that providers must meet state and county licensing and safety conditions.
Questions from councilors focused on: whether the requesting provider already meets the square-footage requirement (staff said she does), how many sessions per week a location could run (the draft used session-based language for preschools and required clarifying edits), and traffic impacts in narrow residential streets. Staff said the draft needs editing to separate preschool session rules from all-day daycare rules; planning staff recommended returning with clarified ordinance language and additional detail on age-breakouts and infant staffing ratios.
The council did not adopt the ordinance on Tuesday; members asked staff to correct drafting inconsistencies (for example, redlining that confused preschool session rules with daycare) and to return with a cleaned-up package (staff suggested prioritizing it for the next committee-of-the-whole).
