Planning commission recommends approval of childcare center at 1112 East Wackerley

The Midland City Planning Commission voted 9–0 on March 24 to recommend approval of Conditional Use Permit (CUP) 97, clearing the way for a proposed 3,797-square-foot childcare center at 1112 East Wackerley Street.

Planning staff presented the application and recommended approval with three contingencies: compliance with the submitted application materials; compliance with fire marshal requirements, including any required fire-protection improvements and placement of a hydrant; and approval of a stormwater management permit by the city engineering department before site work begins. Mr. Smith, the staff presenter, said the site is roughly 0.72 acres, currently vacant, and zoned RA-1 (single-family residential), where childcare centers are listed as a conditional use.

The proposal calls for a single driveway, a sidewalk connection to East Wackerley, landscaping including three street trees and 24 shrubs, 36 evergreen trees along residential property lines, a 6-foot vinyl fence screening the outdoor play area, an enclosed dumpster at the southwest corner and surface detention basins for stormwater. Staff said the plan provides 18 parking spaces and noted parking requirements are calculated as one space per 10 children plus one per employee, with the application assuming 50 pupils and 10 employees.

Scott Bell of Lapham Associates, representing the owners, and applicant Logan Ricchetti described program details and site choices. Ricchetti said the business plan currently anticipates four programs—infants, toddlers, preschool and pre-K—with a nominal cap near 50 students pending state licensing and final architectural plans. “We’re gonna do everything we can to minimize their disruption,” Ricchetti said, adding that the design includes staggered plantings and privacy fencing.

Neighbors at the public hearing urged caution. Dave Savarin, who lives about 50 feet from the site, said he bought a home in a residential neighborhood and opposed placing a daycare facility adjacent to his backyard, citing concerns about noise, traffic and loss of private outdoor space. “I really don’t want the noise,” Savarin said. Tammy O’Fallon, a Midland Public Schools teacher and nearby resident, said she values schools but objected to a commercial childcare operation so close to her property.

Staff and commissioners discussed how nuisance and noise complaints are handled: staff noted the city has nuisance ordinances but said daytime child play is generally not treated as a nuisance, and that proximity to US-10 provides ambient noise mitigation. Staff also noted that state licensing sets interior and outdoor space standards per child and that building and fire codes will determine final occupancy and sprinkler requirements.

Commissioners framed the vote around discretionary criteria for a conditional use permit and broader community need: one commissioner recalled a previously discussed childcare deficit in the hundreds. After deliberation, a motion to recommend approval to City Council—subject to the three staff contingencies—passed on a roll-call vote of 9–0. The Planning Commission’s recommendation will be sent to City Council, which will set a public hearing and make the final decision.

Next steps: The Planning Commission will forward its recommendation to the City Council for a public hearing; staff noted an initial council hearing could be scheduled on April 13 with the earliest Council action in May, per the staff presentation.