Whether to allow child-care facilities in residential neighborhoods has become a source of consternation on the Denver City Council.
Councilwoman Carol Boigon is proposing to allow existing child-care facilities in neighborhood areas where they are technically forbidden. She also is proposing to change the definition of “school” to allow youngsters to attend preschool in residential neighborhoods.
Boigon said the current zoning code doesn’t match the needs of a 21st-century family.
“It’s about whether the zoning code matches what we know about child care,” Boigon told other council members at the Blueprint Denver committee meeting last week. “Many of the popular, well-established, high -quality early-childhood programs are not allowed.”
That misalignment has caused problems in some neighborhoods. The Waldorf School received a cease-and-desist order three years ago after neighbors complained about zoning violations.
Administrators are in mediation with neighbors.
But other members on the council worry that Boigon’s changes would further muddle an already-cumbersome zoning code.
“I don’t see a crisis here,” Councilman Charlie Brown said at the committee meeting. “In 1923, our zoning code was 25 pages. Today it is more than 600 pages. … What bothers me about this is, here we go again.”
Brown said that with the city poised to spend $345,000 on a study to simplify the zoning code, he would prefer to hold off.
Boigon countered that waiting for a study would not be adequate.
“Three years, when you are talking about children 3, 4 and 5, is a generation,” she said.
Residents have shown concern as well. While Boigon presented the committee with 189 letters in support of her ordinances, there were 13 letters against. Some residents reported concerns about the effects on parking and noise in their neighborhoods.
The ordinances were narrowly voted out of committee Wednesday when Councilwoman Peggy Lehmann broke a 3-3 tie after initially abstaining.
Boigon, however, agreed to wait a month before filing a bill for the full council in order to give the Waldorf School problem time to be resolved.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-820-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
