City will add new daycare regulations: Business licences to be approved by council
North Shore News
Benjamin Alldritt
April 29, 2009

New commercial daycares opening in the City of North Vancouver's residential areas will have to comply with a series of new regulations passed by council following a public hearing on Monday.

Daycare operators will be barred from setting up shop within 90 metres -- roughly one city block -- of an existing facility. There are currently six such daycares in the city.

New daycares will also be required to file a traffic mitigation plan with the city, consult with neighbouring residents, and appear at a public meeting in council chambers. A daycare's business licence will be granted only at the discretion of council.

Speaking to the proposed bylaws, … said the traffic mitigation and neighbourhood consultation requirements were common sense, but the public meeting would deter potential operators. "People who run childcare are usually not high-end business people and are pretty nervous to have to report before council. Make it easier for them, not harder."

Speaking as the parent of two young children, Hamish Weatherly said it was very difficult to find childcare spaces. While he said the public meeting, traffic mitigation and consultation bylaws were reasonable, Weatherly said the 90-metre buffer between daycares was not….

Couns. Rod Clark, Bob Fearnley, Guy Heywood and Pam Bookham all spoke in support of the proposed bylaws, describing them as "middle ground."

"I remember the problems with securing daycare," said Clark. "So I very much empathize with the situation. I also realize there are not anywhere near enough spaces. However, what we're asking for is not onerous in any way whatsoever."

Coun. Craig Keating said it was wrong for business licences to be granted only with council's blessing. "This becomes the only business in our entire business bylaw that requires a public meeting before council and the issuance of a license at the discretion of council.

"I'd like to remind everyone that we have tattoo parlours, we have body rub shops, we have pubs, group homes, halfway houses, we have a wide variety of things that are outright allowable uses in our community for which you don't need to come before council and go through all these steps."

All the bylaws passed by a 4-3 vote…