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Council approves rezoning for RightSteps childcare site; vacates Hannah Street to assemble parcel, with one abstention over historic concerns
Summary
The Lafayette Common Council approved rezoning for a RightSteps nonprofit childcare center and vacated Hannah Street to assemble the development parcel; the measures passed with one councilmember abstaining, who cited concern the project erases part of Black Lafayette’s history.
The Lafayette Common Council on March 2 approved a rezoning from R-2 to NBU to accommodate a proposed RightSteps nonprofit childcare facility and separately vacated Hannah Street so the city can transfer an assembled parcel to the organization.
Michael Dean Witherburns, a RightSteps board member, told the council the planned facility would be about 2,800 square feet and provide affordable childcare services and workforce training. He said the site would include roughly 4,000 square feet of outdoor play space and estimated capacity at about 180 children. “We are respectfully asking for this council to share that support in requesting it be approved,” Witherburns said.
Mayor Brown said the city had donated the land for the project and described it as a multimillion-dollar facility that would provide a new playground and serve working families in the neighborhood. City staff said the vacate of Hannah Street will vest the full width of the right-of-way to parcels north of the street so the property can be transferred as a single assembled parcel to RightSteps.
Council members approved the rezoning ordinance 6–0 with one abstention and approved the Hannah Street vacate 6–0 with one abstention. One council member abstained during the RightSteps votes, saying they could not support what they described as the erasure of a portion of the community’s Black history while acknowledging the childcare need. The abstaining member stated, “I cannot put my hand to this… I cannot countenance the erasure of the last bit of the history of Black Lafayette,” and declined to support the measures.
The rezoning for RightSteps follows an area plan commission recommendation for approval. Council discussion included confirmation that houses developed under other recent rezonings (e.g., Habitat for Humanity) typically include at least one-car garages and driveways; RightSteps’ presentation emphasized partnerships and prior city involvement in similar neighborhood projects.
Next steps: the city will complete the parcel assembly and execute the transfer to RightSteps consistent with the vacating ordinance; staff did not specify a construction start date in the meeting record.
Actions recorded: Ordinance 20-26-O-5 (rezoning R-2 to NBU for RightSteps) — passed 6–0 with 1 abstention; Ordinance 20-26-O-7 (vacate Hannah Street to enable transfer to RightSteps) — passed 6–0 with 1 abstention.
