Board approves special exception for home day care at 106 Ash Court NE

The Board of Zoning Adjustment on March 31 approved a special exception allowing a home day care to operate at 106 Ash Court Northeast.

Shanika Harris, the petitioner, told the board she intends to open a home day care serving no more than six children. "I'm just wanting to open a home daycare no more than 6," Harris said when asked to describe her proposal. The city planning department recommended approval of the special exception, and the board approved the request after a motion and a second.

The board clarified how local zoning distinguishes a home day care from a group day care. Under the rules read into the record by staff, a home day care may care for up to six children and must end operations by 7 p.m.; a group day care can serve up to 12 children for after-school hours from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Planning staff also noted spacing standards in residential zones: a facility must be at least 500 feet from another day care on the same side of the street and 300 feet from a home day care on the opposite side, measured from property boundary to property boundary.

The petitioner also indicated a possibility of offering after-school care during the 2 p.m.–7 p.m. window if capacity rules required the applicant to apply for group day care status at a later time. The record does not name who moved or seconded the motion; board members voiced their approval and the chair announced that the case had been approved.

The petition lists Karen Riley as the property owner. The board had no further cases on the agenda and said it would schedule a special meeting to address other items that had been expected for this session.