District of Squamish council has given first and second reading to a proposal for a house to be used as a child care centre in the new Ravenswood subdivision near Brennan Park Recreation Centre.
The application is now headed to a public hearing on September 8 and, if successful, the rezoning would allow a home at 39319 Falcon Crescent to run a child care facility for 24 children.
The applicant currently operates Project Play Family Centre, which can legally provide care up to only eight children aged 30 months to school age. There is an average wait list of 50 children at the centre.
The zoning bylaw changes do allow the day care to expand from 8 to 16 children, but that would require a number of building modifications, which would have cost the owner $300,000.
The owner has now decided to vacate the home, which would allow the expansion of the child care centre without any major upgrades.
Although the owner will still need to upgrade the property, it would be much more financially feasible than what was earlier required.
This proposed expansion will allow for two full classroom spaces with 16 children on the first storey, and eight children upstairs.
There are concerns about parking and traffic, and the proponent has committed to address them.
Staggered drop-off and pick-up times for families to reduce congestion at peak times, priority for families within 500 m of the daycare, and new no-parking signs in the Falcon Crescent interior are being planned.
According to district staff, the rezoning proposal adds to the overall child care supply which is currently insufficient. To improve the child care access rate to 30 per cent, 72 new spaces are required each year for the next 10 years.
“The Project Play rezoning proposal advances the OCP policy directive to increase licensed child care spaces within the community,” the staff says.
