Agoura Hills tough for in-home daycare centers

By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Agoura Hills received an "F" grade from a Los Angeles-based child care law firm, Public Counsel, for the city’s noncompliance with state regulations regarding the number of children allowed in family daycare centers operating in the city.

The grade, however, will be upgraded to an "A" once the new ordinance is approved by the city council. Twenty-one other cities in Southern California received failing grades in the same category, including Santa Monica, Alhambra, Carson and Montebello. Only Long Beach got a straight-A report card from the law firm.

Health and safety codes require that the city increase the number of children from six to eight in a small home daycare and from 12 to 14 in a large family daycare setting.

Agoura Hills received a "C" for its permit process, which currently requires a conditional use permit (CUP). According to Melissa Lawton, a staff attorney for Public Counsel, a Los Angeles-based firm, the CUP process is intimidating to applicants and may discourage people from opening a home-based daycare business. Lawton said that a permitted use and non-discretionary use permit are much more child-care provider-friendly than a CUP, which requires a public hearing. A CUP is also more expensive than a permitted use or non-discretionary use processes.

"What is ideal is to have a non-discretionary permit process," Lawton said. That way, public notices and hearings aren’t required. "The CUP process is another layer of regulation that we don’t think is necessary," she said.

Agoura Hills received "A’s" on the Child Care Zoning Report Card for noise control, parking and treatment of small family child care businesses. Under the category of "traffic," Agoura Hills earned a "C" grade. A footnote was added regarding restrictions on outdoor activities for local child care businesses.

Parking requirements were also an issue. Currently, two off-street parking spaces are required by the city for dropping off and picking up of children. Traffic flow is impaired, according to Lawton, ergo the "C" grade.

Planning Commissioner Phil Ramuno said that the city council will address the parking requirements of home daycare providers.