PC-2019-16 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mr. Beck continued to say that Ms. Arango uses her small business to support her family, while providing a much-needed service to the community. She follows all rules and instructs the parents to do the same, passes regular inspections, makes upgrades as requested, and continually invests in her business to ensure it is safe for children; her home is very comfortable for their kids. As working parents, they rely on Amigo's Daycare for much-needed afterschool care for their children and full daycare for their youngest. Since kindergarten ends at 12:55 p.m. and he works in the City and his wife is a teacher, the afterschool program is very important to them. He feels Ms. Arango has created a community of active and engaged parents, several of whom are teachers and district employees. He encouraged the Commission to uphold approval and allow Ms. Arango to continue to serve the community. Karen Wormuth stated she is the next door neighbor to the right and voiced opposition to the daycare. She understands parents feel this is a service that is good for the community, which is great, but they do not live in the neighborhood where this is taking the place. Currently, she must endure cars driving in and out and while there are only eight children now, she was almost hit the other day because a parent was not paying attention. She said the parent drove straight towards her in her vehicle and then realized she was coming right at her and swerved. She then drove to the end of the court, turned around and pulled in front of the house, despite the driveway being empty. Ms. Wormuth continued to say that Ms. Arango currently doesn't abide by the rules and has no respect, even parking in front of her house. She expressed her anger and said if Ms. Arango cared so much about the people in the neighborhood, she would've done her diligence before she leased the home and moved in. She questioned why the owners of the home did not hold a community meeting to ask neighbors how they felt as homeowners and stated it's because they don't care. She then cited parking problems, noise, screaming kids, and said there has been an email trail going back and forth with City staff regarding a traffic count meter. She said she noticed there was a counter meter for traffic placed in the street without permission from the City; when the City was informed of it, they removed it. Doug Vierra, Jr., said he is a Pleasanton resident and a teacher in Belmont. He had a child who attended the daycare and said the City and its residents need a daycare like this and it's an asset to the City. In response to the previous speaker, a meeting held beforehand would've been great, but he was sure that the daycare would've been opposed. He thinks this is something the City needs and is why the State has set up its regulations. Lastly, he is a high school teacher and thinks Ms. Arango is an exemplary educator; she teaches the children and it is not just a daycare but an asset to the entire community. Erica Gallegos voiced support of the daycare, said Ms. Arango has adopted more than 10 low-income families in her program, and she supports what the program gives to the children. It is easy for parents to leave their children in her care while they go off to work. She said their children are their future and Ms. Arango has given them a great opportunity to be bilingual, as well. She understands there are many regulations and rules regarding traffic, but education of their children should be something of more importance. Planning Commission Minutes Page 7 of 18 March 13, 2019 m a head start.Their two-year-old tested highly in both English and Spanish when they began kindergarten which was a huge benefit.Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 of 18 March 13, 2019