City Council Passes Daycare Ordinance
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Pine Bluff`s City Council passed a measure Monday governing the way daycare centers operate.
Under the new guidelines home-based centers must be in a single-family home instead of an apartment. They can`t exceed ten children and must have 200 square feet of space per child.
Commercial centers must be licensed by the Department of Human Services and meet state and local fire code regulations. The facility must also have adequate parking for employees and parents.
The measures, proposed six months ago by 3rd Ward Alderman Derwood Smith, passed last night after shocking pictures of a center showed children wandering around near open electric sockets, a messy kitchen and a dirty bathroom.
"If the day care centers don`t provide that safety, then we have to take measures to do so," said Smith.
The ordinance also gives the City Planning Commission the right to decide where day care centers should operate.
