Neighbor concerns but council approves variance to expand home childcare at Sugar Plum Street

Columbus City Council on April 1 approved a council variance allowing a Type A family childcare home at 5012 Sugar Plum Street, permitting up to 12 children and reducing the required parking from three spaces to two.

City planning staff and the Northland Community Council recommended approval. The parcel is in an SR Suburban Residential District and the council variance was required because the zoning district normally permits only smaller family childcare homes in a dwelling.

At the zoning committee hearing, applicant Amin Hussein described demand on a waiting list and told council she would supervise children closely when they were outside. A neighbor, Rebecca Sands, who lives directly behind the property, said her backyard shares a four‑foot chain‑link fence with the daycare yard and raised concerns about interactions between the center’s children and the family’s large dog. "Our dog is friendly ... we typically don't have our dog on a leash in the back," Sands said, asking whether a taller privacy fence would be installed and what the facility’s hours would be.

The applicant responded that she and her staff supervise children and said they would install a taller fence if it was an issue: "Moving forward, if the fencing was an issue, we would gladly put the fence up," she told council.

Council accepted the staff report into evidence and passed the variance ordinance. The record shows city staff found the primary use would remain a single‑unit dwelling and that the childcare operation would not add an incompatible use to the area.