Children need access to outdoor space to play — whether it be a city park or a small patch of grass next to a commercial building.
That’s the thought behind the city of Port Coquitlam’s plans to update its zoning bylaws to give potential caregivers more guidance when it comes to setting up daycares.
This week, council is considering a number of tweaks to the zoning bylaw that would establish clearer guidelines as to where and how new daycares should be located.
The call for such guidelines comes as the United Way’s Avenues of Change program wraps up a survey of Tri-City parents’ daycare needs.
The 20-question survey, which asks parents about their working and child care needs, concludes next Wednesday, April 5, while the city took its first look at new daycare zoning regulations at a council meeting last night.
Director of development services Laura Lee Richard said the city is paying attention to the survey outcome to see if it has a role to play in ensuring there is enough daycare to meet local needs.
“Daycare is a challenge for many parents as it is expensive,” Richard said.
But also important is making sure daycares are located in suitable places where there is adequate parking for pick-up and drop-off and places to play that are safe. Zoning changes being recommended would require daycares serving eight children or more in a commercial area to provide an outdoor space of up to 100 sq. m, separate from traffic and with access to sunlight.
Richard said some daycares use nearby parks and that is acceptable as long as they don’t have to cross a busy street, but the zoning change would still require an outdoor space for daycares in commercial areas. It’s up to Fraser Health and the daycare operator to determine what amenities would be in the space, Richard said.
“If you’re locating child care for up to 25, let’s make certain you have accessible outdoor play space for those children,” she said. “It’s a tweak, it’s not an Earth-shaking change.”
Another zoning change would permit daycares in neighbourhood commercial zones — now used for corner grocery stores — and Richard said that would be an acceptable spot for a daycare.
Many of the zoning changes are a response to inquiries made by potential daycare providers and Richard hopes their approval, after more public consultation, will make city bylaws clearer for people wishing to open daycares.
As well, PoCo has a higher-than-average need for daycare, with 8,400 children aged 12 and under in the city, resulting in a need for 23.8 spaces per 100 children; that compares to 18.5 spaces regionally and the provincial number of 18 spaces per 100 children.
Other proposed changes would include:
• limiting the number of child care facilities in commercial properties to discourage operators from leasing adjoining units;
• allowing child minding at indoor commercial gyms or even large retail stores to meet customer needs;
• limiting the size of child care facilities in a residential area located on a cul de sac or dead-end street;
• and requiring a child care facility in a residence to have a live-in operator.
POCO CHILDCARE BY THE NUMBERS
• 98 licensed child care facilities are located in Port Coquitlam, with a capacity of 2,002 children.
• 620 spaces are in houses or duplexes, 89 are in townhouses, 320 are in commercial and mixed-use properties, and 973 are in institutional settings such as school sites and church properties.
• Almost half of the child care spaces in PoCo are for toddlers from 30 months to school age while less than 10% are group child care spaces for infants.
• 64% of child care facilities are home daycares and most of these offer care to eight or fewer children.
