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Planning commission recommends ordinance changes to reflect Idaho's new daycare licensing law
Summary
Idaho Falls staff told commissioners the state has taken over daycare licensing; the commission recommended amendments to the zoning code to remove standards the city may no longer enforce and to align definitions with state law, forwarding the recommendation to the mayor and city council by unanimous voice vote.
The Idaho Falls Planning and Zoning Commission on May 6 voted unanimously to recommend that the mayor and city council amend the zoning ordinance to reflect changes in Idaho's daycare licensing law, which moves licensing authority to the state effective July 1, 2025.
City staff told the commission that the Idaho Legislature passed changes that remove the city's ability to license daycares and prohibit local rules that are more restrictive than state law. As a result, staff proposed removing from the zoning code several operational standards for daycare centers and home daycares ' for example, local pickup-time limits and certain outdoor-area requirements ' that would conflict with the state standards. Staff also proposed changes to definitions so local code matches the state's new categories and age thresholds.
Staff said daycares will still be subject to local compliance checks for zoning, building and fire standards and that conditional-use permits remain available to apply site-specific conditions (for example, pick-up arrangements or play-area requirements) when a daycare is proposed in a residential zone. Staff recommended the code amendments and told commissioners that the city had already repealed its licensing ordinance and had notified approximately 67 locally licensed daycares of the state changes.
Commissioners asked whether the state would provide regional enforcement. Staff said the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has been coordinating a regional approach (staff referenced a regional office/district) and that the department has agreed to honor city licenses for roughly one year while providers transition to state licensing. Commissioners and staff noted the change is statutory and not discretionary for the city; staff encouraged commissioners to contact legislators if they wished to seek legislative changes.
Motion and disposition: A commissioner moved that the commission recommend approval to the mayor and city council of amendments to Section 11-2-6 (standards for allowed land uses for day care center and day care group), Section 11-7-1 (definitions), and related code sections; a second was offered and the commission approved the recommendation by unanimous voice vote.
Next steps: the commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the mayor and city council for final ordinance action. Staff said the city had already begun outreach to locally licensed providers to support the transition.
