CCMIN100405 - Laserfiche WebLink

Doug Sutton, applicant, said Mrs. Sutton has operated her daycare center continuously for three years. During that time, she has received only one passive complaint concerning traffic. When she applied for a large daycare use permit, he circulated a letter to every house on Paseo Navarro, which invited comments and concerns about the proposed large daycare center. He received two letters and one visit all in support of a large daycare center. The Planning Commission distributed its notice to all Paseo Navarro residents as well as homes in the nearby area, which invited concerns of the proposed daycare center. Of all of the notices that were distributed, six responses were received from four households on Paseo Navarro. Four households responded negatively to the application while three responded in support. Based on these neighbors' complaints, the Planning Commission exercised its due diligence and carefully investigated each complaint; the complaints were found to be unsubstantiated and the Planning Commission approved the use permit. The appeal is primarily based on traffic, parking and safety issues. He noted that staff conducted an initial traffic study on April 6 from 7:45 to 8:30 a.m. in front of the subject site on Paseo Navarro; two vehicles arrived at 7:51 a.m. at the applicant's daycare and another vehicle arrived at 7:56 a.m. All three vehicles pulled in front of the applicant's home and parked in the right direction, and during the next half hour no other vehicles stopped at the applicant's home and few vehicles passed down the street during the 45-minute traffic study. All vehicles that passed by including those stopping by the applicant's daycare were not speeding or driving recklessly. Following the May 25 Planning Commission hearing, patrol and traffic officers monitored the subject site on five separate occasions during the morning drop off period. The officers did not find any traffic violations and indicated that the traffic volume was light. While the officers did witness drop offs, they never saw more than one car dropping off children at anyone time. The Police Department traffic report is consistent with staff's previous traffic monitoring of the site. He invited councilmembers to observe the traffic. He mentioned that a video was submitted by Paul Machi, which corroborated the other traffic reports and showed in a 20-minute period three cars approaching. The results of these reports are proof that Mrs. Sutton's daycare customers are safe and respectful drivers. He addressed the issue of the two blind corners, which he believed have not been a problem. He believed the traffic complaints were completely unsubstantiated. He noted that two small family daycare centers are currently in operation; one is located on the corner of Paseo Navarro and Hopyard Road and the patrons of this daycare have no reason to enter Paseo Navarro. The other small daycare center is located three homes down from the other side of Paseo Navarro. He was concerned about the unsubstantiated claims of traffic problems when it has not been proven. He pointed out that one of the conditions requires the daycare to operate between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. He requested a change to the wording to state, "scheduled daycare operation should be from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. " to prevent a complaint from being filed that the applicant is not operating in accordance with its use permit if one of Mrs. Sutton's customers arrives five minutes late. He pointed out that when a daycare center goes from a small to a large facility, it must hire help and economically it is not feasible for her operation unless it is allowed fourteen children due to the cost of hiring an additional employee. Sean Keef, a Paseo Navarro resident, mentioned that he worked out of his home on a daily basis and has never observed any traffic problems. Frank Nevis, a Dublin resident, mentioned that he has two grandsons that go to Patricia's Daycare. He supported the Sutton's application to expand its existing small family daycare facility for up to eight children into a large family daycare facility for up to 14 children. Pleasanton City Council 7 1 0/04/05 Minutes