CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WTVR)--On Tuesday, Chesterfield County’s Planning Commission adopted new guidelines for family or in-home daycare providers.
County leaders, concerned about the health, safety and welfare of children, say the recommendations are for providers applying for a conditional use permit to run a daycare facility inside their home.
The guidelines include:
- Non-Transferable Ownership
- Restricting exterior additions or alterations to the existing structure to accommodate the use of a daycare
- Restricting signs identifying daycare
- Limits home to 12 children, other than applicant’s own children, at any one time.
- Limits hours of operation Monday-Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Limits conditional use permit to five years
- Requires outdoor play areas and/or recreational areas be fenced in
- Forbids other employees, other than family, from working inside the home
Chesterfield home daycare provider, Teresa Herrington, says she strictly adheres to state and county guidelines.
Herrington runs Terry’s Tots out of her Walton Park Home.
“When I started this three years ago, I didn’t have little kids,” Herrington says, “so safety is always on your mind.”
While Herrington says the new regulations are a good idea, she says the state’s department of social services already has similar regulations in place.
“Anyone who is caring for more than five children has to be licensed, so they’re being inspected by the state already,” Herrington says.
Herrington argues that she would like to see the county monitoring unlicensed home daycare centers. She says some providers try to accommodate more children than they can safely handle.
