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get insurance. She added that she believes this would be a way to address whether or <br />not certain facilities are child care facilities and suggested Parks and Recreation staff <br />might attend a future meeting and talk about co-sponsorship details. <br />Commissioner Narum then cited the Little Ivy League and Tri-Valley Martial Arts <br />applications in reference to building occupancy and inquired what the unintended <br />consequences might be that the City may not want to have. She noted that if most <br />buildings are completely built and not necessarily for a day care license, she questioned <br />if the City was unconsciously going in a direction it would not necessarily want to go. <br />Commissioner Blank asked if it was possible for staff to identify which businesses do <br />not currently have licenses that would have to obtain a license, and then determine how <br />many would be affected by an “E” occupancy and would need to relocate to a different <br />building. <br />Commissioner Narum stated that she thinks there would have been issues for Little Ivy <br />League and the martial arts facilities for Mr. Balch. She expressed absolute support for <br />a posted disclosure of a licensed or non-licensed facility. She indicated that she <br />recalled the Commission modifying a policy that allowed facilities with 20 or less <br />students to obtain their zoning permits over the counter. She noted that the City had <br />granted some by error because of where the business was going to locate and <br />suggested incorporating a 24-hour “cooling-off period” prior to granting over-the-counter <br />approvals to avoid any potential problems. <br />Commissioner O’Connor agreed with most of what has been discussed and <br />emphasized the need for the Commission to understand the unintended consequences <br />before moving forward. He added that once this is known, he believes the Commission <br />would guide the process by how it defines child care in terms of number of children, <br />hours, etc. <br />Commissioner O’Connor then referred to City liability and requested Ms. Harryman to <br />address this issue should the City impose a higher standard than the State. <br />Ms. Harryman stated that she sees this as two separate issues: (1) The City can have <br />higher standards. An applicant; however, may make the opposite argument and feel <br />they are pre-empted, as the State has occupied the field on when licensing is and is not <br />required. She stated that she was not certain if there was case law on this, but the <br />City’s position is that it can impose the requirement for health and safety reasons as has <br />been done in the past. (2) Liability is a separate issue. She stated that once the City <br />takes on a more active role in criminal background checks or those items listed in <br />Exhibit B, from an exposure standpoint, the City may get sued if a child is injured; but <br />when the case is litigated, the City has certain governmental immunities that would <br />protect it. <br />Commissioner O’Connor inquired if the exposure was due to the City processing <br />background checks as opposed to the State processing. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 8, 2009 Page 9 of 15 <br /> <br />