Commission approves Goddard School daycare at Sawgrass Mills with traffic and safety conditions

Mayor Michael J. Ryan and the Sunrise City Commission approved a special exception use permit and revised site plan Jan. 27 for a Goddard School daycare at 2600 Sawgrass Mills Circle, voting 4–0 after a more than three‑hour quasi‑judicial hearing and added traffic and safety conditions.

Staff recommended approval and set a series of conditions tied to school operations and site improvements. "Staff did find a special exception to be compliant with the city's land development code, and ... receive[d] staff recommendation of approval, subject to a few conditions in the staff report," Shannon Lay, the city's director of community development, told the commission. The staff report limited enrollment to 220 children, capped on‑site staff at 29, restricted hours to Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–6 p.m., required an on‑site security guard during operating hours, and required construction of a left‑turn storage lane on Pink Flamingo Lane prior to occupancy.

The applicant and its consultants presented traffic and parking studies arguing the project would have minimal operational impact when those conditions were met. "We took the highest observed rates from three comparable Goddard locations and applied the worst‑case counts," said…