Newnan council adopts shorter buffer between child-care centers, 6-1

The Newnan City Council voted 6-1 on April 15 to amend Articles 2 and 3 of the city zoning ordinance to reduce the required separation between child day-care facilities and certain other care facilities from 1,000 feet to 300 feet, while preserving a 1,000-foot buffer between child day-care facilities and juvenile detention facilities.

City staff told the council the original 1,000-foot rule was intended to reduce traffic between care locations. Councilwoman Cynthia Jenkins questioned whether reducing the distance would create traffic congestion in school zones, citing concerns about Lower Fayetteville. City staff said variances have been granted in the past and that staff did not observe increased traffic congestion in those cases; staff also said the change would allow market growth in child-care capacity and reduce repeat applications to council.

No members of the public spoke for or against the text amendment during the public hearing. The planning commission had recommended the amendments; the council approved that recommendation and adopted the ordinance change 6-1, with Jenkins the lone dissenting vote.

The amendment retains the longer 1,000-foot separation specifically for juvenile detention facilities and lists a range of facility types originally included in the ordinance: adult day care, assisted-living and retirement communities, facilities for people with developmental disabilities, patient-family homes, hospice providers, transitional shelters, mental-health and substance-use facilities, and certain personal-care homes. The council packet includes the full text of the proposed edits.