At a Local Planning Agency meeting that began at about 6:17 p.m., members voted by voice to approve amendments to the municipality’s Land Development Regulations concerning child daycare facilities.
The change, presented by a planning staff member, removes references to adult daycare from the local definition and aligns the child daycare definition with Florida statutes; it also specifies which zoning districts may host child daycare facilities and adopts physical standards consistent with Miami-Dade County Code Chapter 33, Article XA.
Planning staff summarized three components of the proposal. First, the local definition will cover facilities that provide care to "five or more children unrelated to the operator," on a regular basis for less than 24 hours a day, and for which a fee or grant is paid to the operator, aligning the municipality’s language with state statute, the staff member said. Second, the ordinance text designates child daycare as a permitted use in the Community Facilities and Recreation/Open Space districts and as a conditional use—requiring City Commission review and approval—in the RMF-2, B-1 Business Overlay and TCD districts. Third, the proposal adopts physical requirements drawn from Miami-Dade County’s ordinance because, as staff noted, the county preempts municipalities from adopting physical standards that differ from the county’s.
Staff identified the specific elements adopted from Miami-Dade’s standards: minimum outdoor play area dimensions, minimum indoor classroom sizes, vehicular stacking requirements for drop-off and pickup, and safety barriers where property abuts a body of water. The draft also bars locating outdoor play areas in a front yard or street-side yard unless a reinforced barrier is provided, the staff member said.
No members of the public spoke during the item. After brief questions were invited and none were offered, a motion was made and seconded and the agency approved the amendments by a voice vote. One commissioner, Commissioner Riscara, was absent for the meeting.
The action updates local zoning and physical-design rules for child daycare operators; the staff presentation indicated future implementation must remain consistent with Miami-Dade County Code for physical standards. The transcript did not record a roll-call vote or individual yes/no tallies.