This article was written by 海角社区app鈥檚 news partner,聽, and republished with permission.
The Arlington County Board has approved zoning rules they hope will help parents afford rising childcare costs by increasing local childcare options.
The Board voted unanimously during its Saturday meeting to change as part of a mission to the regulations on childcare centers, with the goal of聽making it possible for more providers to open up shop.
鈥淭hese carefully crafted changes will be welcomed by our hard-working Arlington families who need access to high-quality child care,鈥� said County Board Chair Christian Dorsey.
The amendments that childcare business owners and county staff have said makes it hard to run daycares or open new ones.
One change allows small, in-home daycare providers to care for up to nine kids by right, meaning providers no longer need to go through the county鈥檚 extensive use permitting process now reserved for homes caring for 10 or more kids.
Summer camps are now allowed to operate with by right process, rather than having to seek a use permit like a daycare provider, thanks to the Board鈥檚 Saturday vote.
The vote also reduces parking requirements for childcare centers after business owners complained they were expensive and county staff found parking spaces often went unused.聽Zoning ordinances previously required one parking space per employee, but the amendment will change that requirement to one space per eight children. The Board also approved a reduction in the parking requirement if the the daycare is near Metro or bus stations.
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The Planning Commission鈥檚 Zoning Committee approved the amendments in January after they had been discussed for months. Now that they have the Board鈥檚 approval, the changes are set to go into effect on July 1.
A noted there are 鈥渟ignificant gaps between supply and demand鈥� for childcare in Arlington, stating in its findings Arlington had 6,984 licensed spaces for 13,435 kids under the age of five.
Officials think the gap might be one of the reasons why the average yearly daycare bill for Arlington families is $42,705 鈥� $2,000 higher than the average bill in D.C., and one of the highest in the country.
鈥淭he District has just as much supply-demand pressure, yet we鈥檙e more expensive,鈥� Dorsey . 鈥淚鈥檓 not interested in Arlington exceptionalism when it comes to this.鈥�
More from a county press release:
The proposed changes arise from recommendations included in the Child Care Initiative Action Plan聽the Board accepted in July 2018, after a year-long community engagement process. The plan鈥檚 short-term recommendations include increasing flexibility in Zoning Ordinance provisions that regulate center-based and family-based child care programs in Arlington, and examining local child care regulations to incorporate Virginia state standards. The proposed changes are meant to eliminate perceived and actual barriers to child care in the County.
鈥淭he Child Care Initiative鈥檚 research, particularly the 鈥楻isk and Reach鈥� Study, confirmed that Arlington鈥檚聽childcare聽crunch isn鈥檛 just an anecdotal challenge for individual families, it鈥檚 a systemic problem that affects Arlington鈥檚 economic competitiveness, and our goals of achieving equitable outcomes for all our kids and families,鈥� said Board Member Katie Cristol, who proposed the initiative as the Board鈥檚 2018 Chair. 鈥淭hese proposed changes to our Zoning Ordinance and聽Childcare聽Codes represent a coordinated, comprehensive approach to the problem, and reflect nearly two years of dedication, analysis and compromise among stakeholders in the initiative.鈥�
The proposed changes are the result of a comprehensive outreach and engagement process that included parents, child care program staff, and other local stakeholders.
鈥淭he hard work of a lot of people in this community, in partnership with our Department of Human Services, has produced proposed changes to the Zoning Ordinance and County Code that, if adopted next month by this Board, will improve child care options in Arlington for all our families,鈥� Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said. 鈥淎s a father, I know how stressful the hunt for high-quality, affordable child care can be. I am so proud of the creative, can-do approach of all those who participated in the Child Care Initiative. Arlington families, for years to come, will thank you for your efforts.鈥�
