Cedar City Board of Adjustments approves two home-occupation daycares, denies third amid ADU and fire-code concerns

The Cedar City Board of Adjustments on Oct. 27 approved two home-occupation daycare businesses and denied a third application after extended discussion about ADU status and fire-code limits.

Board members voted to grant home-occupation permits for Imagination Creation Daycare at 257 South 700 West and Busy Bee Daycare at 309 South 1000 West after staff confirmed each met the city's home-occupation rules (including off-street parking and the 25% ground-floor-use limit for nursery schools). Both applicants were instructed to complete required building and business-license steps before opening.

City staff told the board that Imagination Creation had four off-street parking spaces, proposed a fenced rear yard, and planned to serve up to 16 children; the board moved and seconded approval and called the question. The board similarly approved Busy Bee Daycare after staff confirmed a 3,206-square-foot dwelling and a proposed 770-square-foot use area that capped enrollment in line with the 25% rule.

A separate application by Julia Chatel for Friends Childcare at 292 West 1500 North Unit A prompted a lengthy discussion and was denied. City staff and the fire department told the board that the property contains an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) under the same roof as an existing licensed daycare. Staff said the ADU status and prior approvals raised two concerns: (1) square-footage and how to calculate allowed enrollment if the property becomes two separate dwelling units, and (2) the fire marshal's reading that state fire code may limit the total number of children under a single roof to 16 regardless of separate addresses. Staff also noted a prior board approval for the same address had authorized fewer children.

After discussing options including conditioning approval on completion of a formal ADU conversion and agreements addressing the fire marshal's safety assessment, a board member moved to deny the second daycare application; the motion carried.

The board and staff repeatedly emphasized that applicants must obtain Cedar City business licenses and building-department approvals, and that nursery-school uses that include outdoor rear-yard play areas must have a fully enclosed fence at least four feet high.

The board's actions close the immediate applications but leave open the underlying policy questions about how ADUs interact with home-occupation daycare limits and how the city should interpret state fire-code guidance when multiple addresses or ADUs share the same roofline.

Ending: Applicants denied or approved at the meeting were told to follow up with the building department and to secure business licenses; staff said the denied applicant may reapply after resolving ADU and fire-code issues.