Attachment 1 Report to SGC dated May 4 2017
Report to Committee
DATE:
May 4, 2017
TO:
Smart Growth Committee (SGC)
FROM:
Laura Lee Richard, Director of Development Services
SUBJECT:
Child Care Policies & Regulations
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the Public Hearing held in consideration of proposed amendments to child care regulations, several speakers described the challenges they experienced in trying to find suitable sites for child care facilities and expressed concern that adding a requirement for outdoor play space for larger child care facilities located within commercial zones would further limit their siting options. Council determined that it would hold open the Public Hearing and requested Smart Growth Committee consider the concerns raised by the speakers. Staff continue to recommend that outdoor play space be a requirement for larger daycares in its commercial areas to ensure that children in care have an opportunity to play outside. However, we also acknowledge that some commercial sites may be located next to parks, schools or churches with outdoor play areas. These sites would not have the same requirement for an on-site play area as compared to a facility where children would need to cross busy roads or travel some distance in order to be able to play outside. To recognize these potential situations, a change to the Zoning Bylaw amendment is proposed to exempt a child care facility in a commercial zone from the on-site outdoor play space requirement if the site is adjacent to a park, school, place of worship or other institutional use with an outdoor play area. RECOMMENDATION SGC recommends to Council that Zoning Amendment Bylaw, 2017, No. 4008, be amended to exempt child care facilities located in commercial zones from the on-site outdoor play space requirement if the site is adjacent to an institutional zone.
May 4, 2017 Child Care Policies & Regulations Page 2
1. BACKGROUND At the public hearing held on April 25th, 2017 several members of the public provided input to Council, including a concern with the proposed bylaw amendment to require onsite outdoor play space for facilities in commercial zones. The speakers indicated that this requirement would exacerbate a situation of too few sites being available to meet the community’s child care needs, especially since the School District recently announced it would not be renewing space used for child care purposes at a number of school sites in the City of Coquitlam. Council resolved to suspend the public hearing until May 23rd to provide for review of the concerns and requested that they be addressed by the Smart Growth Committee for report back to Council at a reconvened Public Hearing. COMMENTS & ANALYSIS (1) Change in Child Care Availability: Concern was expressed about the availability of child care spaces in the City and a loss of spaces. The data included in the previous report to Council was taken from a May 2016 Fraser Health publication and at that time, there were 98 licensed child care facilities in Port Coquitlam with a total capacity of 2002 spaces. As of February 2017, we still had 98 licensed facilities but their capacity had slightly declined to 1960 spaces, probably due to a temporary closure of a church facility and a change in operator at an elementary school, with the decline associated with these facilities being offset by the opening of two new facilities. The School District advises that none of the child care facility leases being terminated are within the City of Port Coquitlam. Staff regularly monitor child care availability in the City and note that a number of operators continue to advise that they have capacity for additional children. (2) Outdoor Play Space: Concern was expressed that the requirement for an outdoor play space in a commercial area would eliminate some siting options for child care facilities, increase costs to operators, and that it was not necessary to be required by the City due to Fraser Health licencing requirements. The proposed requirement for an on-site outdoor play area in commercial zones is intended to ensure child care operators offer convenient and regular outdoor play opportunities to meet the children’s needs in keeping with established best practices. Children accommodated in facilities within residential zones have access to the backyards and are often close to neighbourhood parks and schools whereas children accommodated in commercial zones can be isolated from access to the outdoors. A recent study (7 Cs: An Informational Guide to Young Children’s Outdoor Play Spaces, by the Consortium for Health, Intervention, Learning and Development) found that centres with direct physical and visual connection to their outdoor play space from inside used the outdoors more frequently than those centres that lacked this connection. Furthermore, staff at Fraser Health advise that they support the bylaw amendment as it is seen to be more effective in ensuring directly accessible outdoor space than its guidelines and licencing procedures. For these reasons, staff do not recommend that the proposed requirement be removed from the amending bylaw.
May 4, 2017 Child Care Policies & Regulations Page 3
Some commercial sites are located next to a park, school, place of worship or other institutional use where there is outdoor play opportunities. This was acknowledged in the site-specific zoning for the mixed-use high rise development at Shaughnessy Street and Lions Way, as child care facilities were included as a permitted use due to the site’s proximity to Lions Park. To recognize this circumstance and increase potentially suitable sites for daycares in the City, a minor amendment to the bylaw currently before Council is proposed that would allow for child care facilities in commercial zones to be exempt from the outdoor space requirement if the child care premises is located in a building next to a site with an institutional zoning. (3) Policy Update: The Official Community Plan currently includes policies in support of child care facilities. In updating this plan, further consideration can be given not only to setting guidelines for appropriate locations to be considered in a zoning bylaw amendment but also to criteria to guide applications for variances to regulations pertaining to child care facilities, including the outdoor space requirement. 4. OPTIONS SGC may: 1. Recommend to Council that Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 4008 be amended to provide for an exemption to the outdoor play area requirement for sites next to an institutional use (recommended); 2. Advise Council that it does not recommend any change to Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 4008 (maintaining its previous recommendation that the Amendment Bylaw be approved); or 3. Advise Council that it does not recommend proceeding with Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 4008.
Laura Lee Richard Director of Development Services
DATE:
May 4, 2017
TO:
Smart Growth Committee (SGC)
FROM:
Laura Lee Richard, Director of Development Services
SUBJECT:
Child Care Policies & Regulations
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At the Public Hearing held in consideration of proposed amendments to child care regulations, several speakers described the challenges they experienced in trying to find suitable sites for child care facilities and expressed concern that adding a requirement for outdoor play space for larger child care facilities located within commercial zones would further limit their siting options. Council determined that it would hold open the Public Hearing and requested Smart Growth Committee consider the concerns raised by the speakers. Staff continue to recommend that outdoor play space be a requirement for larger daycares in its commercial areas to ensure that children in care have an opportunity to play outside. However, we also acknowledge that some commercial sites may be located next to parks, schools or churches with outdoor play areas. These sites would not have the same requirement for an on-site play area as compared to a facility where children would need to cross busy roads or travel some distance in order to be able to play outside. To recognize these potential situations, a change to the Zoning Bylaw amendment is proposed to exempt a child care facility in a commercial zone from the on-site outdoor play space requirement if the site is adjacent to a park, school, place of worship or other institutional use with an outdoor play area. RECOMMENDATION SGC recommends to Council that Zoning Amendment Bylaw, 2017, No. 4008, be amended to exempt child care facilities located in commercial zones from the on-site outdoor play space requirement if the site is adjacent to an institutional zone.
May 4, 2017 Child Care Policies & Regulations Page 2
1. BACKGROUND At the public hearing held on April 25th, 2017 several members of the public provided input to Council, including a concern with the proposed bylaw amendment to require onsite outdoor play space for facilities in commercial zones. The speakers indicated that this requirement would exacerbate a situation of too few sites being available to meet the community’s child care needs, especially since the School District recently announced it would not be renewing space used for child care purposes at a number of school sites in the City of Coquitlam. Council resolved to suspend the public hearing until May 23rd to provide for review of the concerns and requested that they be addressed by the Smart Growth Committee for report back to Council at a reconvened Public Hearing. COMMENTS & ANALYSIS (1) Change in Child Care Availability: Concern was expressed about the availability of child care spaces in the City and a loss of spaces. The data included in the previous report to Council was taken from a May 2016 Fraser Health publication and at that time, there were 98 licensed child care facilities in Port Coquitlam with a total capacity of 2002 spaces. As of February 2017, we still had 98 licensed facilities but their capacity had slightly declined to 1960 spaces, probably due to a temporary closure of a church facility and a change in operator at an elementary school, with the decline associated with these facilities being offset by the opening of two new facilities. The School District advises that none of the child care facility leases being terminated are within the City of Port Coquitlam. Staff regularly monitor child care availability in the City and note that a number of operators continue to advise that they have capacity for additional children. (2) Outdoor Play Space: Concern was expressed that the requirement for an outdoor play space in a commercial area would eliminate some siting options for child care facilities, increase costs to operators, and that it was not necessary to be required by the City due to Fraser Health licencing requirements. The proposed requirement for an on-site outdoor play area in commercial zones is intended to ensure child care operators offer convenient and regular outdoor play opportunities to meet the children’s needs in keeping with established best practices. Children accommodated in facilities within residential zones have access to the backyards and are often close to neighbourhood parks and schools whereas children accommodated in commercial zones can be isolated from access to the outdoors. A recent study (7 Cs: An Informational Guide to Young Children’s Outdoor Play Spaces, by the Consortium for Health, Intervention, Learning and Development) found that centres with direct physical and visual connection to their outdoor play space from inside used the outdoors more frequently than those centres that lacked this connection. Furthermore, staff at Fraser Health advise that they support the bylaw amendment as it is seen to be more effective in ensuring directly accessible outdoor space than its guidelines and licencing procedures. For these reasons, staff do not recommend that the proposed requirement be removed from the amending bylaw.
May 4, 2017 Child Care Policies & Regulations Page 3
Some commercial sites are located next to a park, school, place of worship or other institutional use where there is outdoor play opportunities. This was acknowledged in the site-specific zoning for the mixed-use high rise development at Shaughnessy Street and Lions Way, as child care facilities were included as a permitted use due to the site’s proximity to Lions Park. To recognize this circumstance and increase potentially suitable sites for daycares in the City, a minor amendment to the bylaw currently before Council is proposed that would allow for child care facilities in commercial zones to be exempt from the outdoor space requirement if the child care premises is located in a building next to a site with an institutional zoning. (3) Policy Update: The Official Community Plan currently includes policies in support of child care facilities. In updating this plan, further consideration can be given not only to setting guidelines for appropriate locations to be considered in a zoning bylaw amendment but also to criteria to guide applications for variances to regulations pertaining to child care facilities, including the outdoor space requirement. 4. OPTIONS SGC may: 1. Recommend to Council that Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 4008 be amended to provide for an exemption to the outdoor play area requirement for sites next to an institutional use (recommended); 2. Advise Council that it does not recommend any change to Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 4008 (maintaining its previous recommendation that the Amendment Bylaw be approved); or 3. Advise Council that it does not recommend proceeding with Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 4008.
Laura Lee Richard Director of Development Services
