Local childcare provider approved to add one slot after New Hampshire reduces per‑child space rule

A Place to Grow, a local childcare operator, received Planning Board approval Aug. 21 to increase its licensed capacity from 52 to 53 children after New Hampshire reduced the required indoor space per child from 40 square feet to 35, the operator told the board. The board voted in favor of an expedited site review and the chair preliminarily signed the paperwork during the meeting.

The capacity change matters because the provider said demand far outstrips supply. “We have several 100 children in our waitlist,” said Jen Leger of A Place to Grow, who told the board that adding one slot would help one family and “go a little bit further.”

State licensing rules prompted the request: Leger said the New Hampshire licensing inspector notified the center that the new square‑footage standard increases the approved licensed figure to 53. She gave board members the state correspondence and a layout of the building and asked the board to record the higher approved number in the site‑plan record so the town roll does not continue to show 52.

Board members and staff discussed an expedited administrative process rather than a full formal application at this meeting. Planning staff said they would put the signed application on file and attach the updated capacity number to the site plan record.

Leger also raised recent state legislation she said affects local regulation of small child‑care operations, identified in materials as HB 1567. She said HB 1567 created a separate category for “small group childcare” and removed some site‑plan review requirements for family childcare in certain circumstances, and she offered to assist the town in updating local zoning to reflect the new law. “Only eight towns in the state are in compliance with this piece of legislation,” she said, and urged the planning board to amend local ordinances to reduce time and cost barriers for family child‑care providers.

Planning staff committed to scanning the legislation and the state materials Leger provided and circulating them to the board and the town website. No additional formal conditions or changes to licensing were imposed at the meeting; the board approved the single‑slot capacity increase and continued administrative follow‑up with staff to finalize the record.

Next steps: staff will file the signed application and the state inspector’s correspondence with the site plan and post the updated records. Leger said she will make herself available to help the town interpret and implement the state changes for future zoning amendments.