Boro Planning Board Approves Day Care Parking Minimums

The Chatham Borough Planning Board passed an ordinance during their meeting Wednesday night defining minimum off-street parking requirements for child care centers.

As approved by a 4-to-3 vote among the seven present board members, the proposed ordinance requires one space for every staff member and one space for every 10 students.

The three dissenting votes came partially as a result of the decision to change the definition of a child care center to an institution where children are in the building for at least three hours a day, as opposed to the originally suggested two hours a day.

Board Attorney Anne Marie Rizzuto said she incorporated the two-hour definition into the ordinance based on what she saw in similar ordinances in other municipalities.

Board Member Matthew Wagner proposed the change to three hours, saying that a lot of borough institutions, such as St. Patrick School, offer smaller programs that last 2.5 to 2.75 hours, as opposed to the full-day length of child care centers, and that these places should not be considered in the definition.

“I have a problem going up to three hours,” Board Member H.H. Montague, who ultimately voted against passing the ordinance, said. “That’s essentially exempting everybody. Why have a parking spot rule because, if you get it up to three hours, you accept everybody?”

Rizzuto explained if a child was at a center for more than the minimum required time and matched the other minimum requirements, that center would have to meet the parking requirements.

“My understanding is we did not want to include nursery schools in the definition of child care, so they’re excluded,” Rizzuto said.

The other minimum requirements she laid out were that there had to be six or more children in the building every day under 6 years old without parents present.

Although Mayor Nelson Vaughan, who opposed the vote, said he is not necessarily against the ordinance, he stressed that more research should be done as to how it would affect other schools and prospective child care centers.

Member Joseph Mikulewicz also dissented and agreed with the mayor that more information is needed. He also suggested that the one-for-10-students rule be changed, possibly to one for every 20 students, to incorporate more children.

“I don’t know what other communities have, but we’re not a place like Parsippany,” Mikulewicz said. “Chatham Borough is very child-heavy and a family community. I think this would be a detriment the way it’s proposed.”

Councilman and Board Member Bruce Harris countered, saying if there is not adequate parking, the borough risks traffic problems.

“This is a fairly important consideration because you’ll have the neighborhood sitting out [in the audience] one night, wondering why we have all these new cars parked in front of our homes,” Board Chairman Richard Crater said.

Harris said the idea for the proposed ordinance came about after he realized the borough had not established parking regulations for child care centers. He then brought it to the attention of Board Planner Susan Blickstein.

“This is one of those gaps that you kind of trip across in our land ordinance,” Harris said.

With the ordinance passing, Rizzuto said it will now be forwarded up to the Chatham Borough Council for consideration.