Child care space option could be density trade-off
Cariboo Press
January 6, 2008

Developers in the City of Kelowna may soon be able to build more homes on their property than it's zoned for, provided they agree to build child care space into their development.

On Monday afternoon, Coun. Michele Rule will ask city council to begin looking at several child care related issues, including an investigation into whether developers could be given density bonuses in exchange for providing daycare space. "We need to look at child care space as an amenity to see if we can offer an incentive through the density bonusing structure," said Rule….

The advisory committee on community and women's issues, the group spearheading these initiatives, believes there is interest in taking the concept further.

In an interview early this week, Coun. Carol Gran, who has worked with the women's issues committee since its inception, said she has spoken to developers who believe it's a critical issue for Kelowna's business community, particularly for those out there trying to recruit and retain staff.

So far one housing development has already come before city council with a day care built into the concept. The plan is for the Glenmore area and would include a day care space in a condominium-style housing complex where the amenities provided are designed to keep strata fees low so families can afford to live in the building.

"It's the very first one that I've seen since I've been on council and I think it's wonderful," said Rule.

The committee is also asking city council to look at providing its own in- house day care for city employees and is pursuing plans to hold a workshop for the business community on the issue." We discovered that we have well over 100 children under the age of five associated with the city," said Rule. "We want to lead by example."

Council will be asked to let city staff track down whether or not there is vacant space available for a city-run day care. A $7,000 request for the money needed to hold a public workshop on the issue was doused during December's budget deliberations.

However, there is hope the initiative could still receive funding before budget discussions are finalized, provided the women's issues committee can develop a concrete plan of action for the day.

Rule said they are looking at bringing in businesses who already provide day care to give local businesses an idea of how this works. She was not sure, as yet, whether other municipalities are providing the service or whether there are businesses in Kelowna who include day care in their benefit plans.