Sunny Isles Beach commissioners ask staff to draft ordinance to clarify childcare in zoning code

The Sunny Isles Beach City Commission asked city staff on Thursday to draft an ordinance to clarify where childcare facilities may operate in the city's zoning code after a 2020 ordinance removed the use from residential districts.

The issue surfaced when staff found that a commercial plaza zoned RMF-2 could not open a new childcare operation because childcare uses had been struck from the R-1 residential zoning district in 2020 and, by local code interpretation, that deletion carried through stacked zoning districts. Amy, city staff member, told the commission the change meant "childcare was effectively removed from all of the residential zoning districts" and that staff recommends reintroducing childcare only as a conditional use requiring commission review.

The change left a business in Winston Towers Commercial Plaza operating in a partial, nonconforming status. "They are not supposed to be doing business," Amy said when commissioners asked about the operator's current status. City Manager Mauricio confirmed the operator could not lawfully open the portion of the business that had changed use until the city code was altered or the operator limited the site to a single permitted use and completed county licensing steps.

Commissioners debated the scope of any code change. Some sought a narrowly tailored fix to accommodate the existing RMF-2 plaza while protecting single-family R-1 areas from day-care uses opening inside homes. Commissioner Viscara said the 2020 ordinance was adopted after unlicensed day-care and religious gatherings appeared in single-family areas and said the commission should avoid "spot zoning." Several commissioners supported a conditional-use approach that would allow review and rejection of individual proposals.

Vice Mayor Grama and others pressed staff to craft language that restricts childcare to commercial or plaza settings and mixed-use developments rather than blanket expansion into all RMF-2 locations. Amy said staff would return with a draft ordinance clarifying permitted districts and operational standards, including parking and outdoor play-area requirements used previously when licensing childcare operations.

Staff said, if directed, it would bring a draft back in July for the commission to consider and then present it for two readings. No vote was taken; the commission provided direction to draft and return with a proposed ordinance.

The commission also asked staff to include clearer references to community-facilities and town-center rules where private educational uses have been interpreted to allow some childcare services, and to identify operational standards required by the Florida Department of Children and Families that applicants must meet.

Commissioners said they wanted a balanced ordinance that would allow plazas and suitable mixed-use development to host childcare while preventing daycare uses from proliferating inside single-family homes.