Eagan council approves planned-development amendment for daycare at Thomas Center Drive

The Eagan City Council on July 1 approved a planned-development amendment to allow a child daycare center at 1575 and 1580 Thomas Center Drive, converting an existing two-story office building and a vacant adjacent lot into a licensed childcare facility.

City staff told the council the site comprises about 0.78 acres and that the applicant seeks to license the facility for about 128 to 138 children with roughly 25 to 30 staff. City Planner Seth Schultz said the proposal includes a 6,500-square-foot ground-level playground on the vacant lot immediately south of the building, a second-level toddler play deck, expansion of the garbage enclosure to accommodate dumpsters for trash and recycling, landscape improvements including planting about 12 trees (six replacing dead ash), curb-and-gutter work to control drainage, and retaining-wall stabilization.

The amendment was presented after the advisory planning commission recommended approval at its June 24 hearing. “Staff does want to point out that there’s actually 138 total parking stalls,” Schultz said in his presentation, and he noted the change in striping and landscape islands would leave 201 available parking stalls on the shared-parking area. He added that the daycare use reduces parking demand compared with office use: city staff cited 69 stalls required for the office use versus 36 required for daycare.

Peter Hilger of Rylar LLC, the applicant, said, “There’s really nothing to add to the report. We presented everything to the planning commission. We have no objections with the resolution as it sits today.” Hilger confirmed the applicant plans a decorative picket fence rather than chain link where fencing is proposed adjacent to the play area.

A nearby property owner had submitted correspondence requesting a fence at the top of the hill to reduce noise. Mayor (name not specified in the record) and staff explained that the requested fence location is outside the subject parcel and therefore not something the council could condition on this approval. Schultz noted existing topography and vegetation provide some noise mitigation between the homes and the proposed play areas.

Councilor Baca said she was “satisfied with the parking situation and drop off,” and other council members voiced general support. The council approved the amendment by voice vote; the record shows the motion was made and seconded and the mayor called for the ayes and nays. The motion carried and the planned-development amendment was approved.

The approval allows the applicant to move forward with site improvements described to the council; the record does not specify a construction start date, building permit status, or final licensing timeline for the daycare. The council also did not record a roll-call vote or numerical tally in the minutes included in the transcript.