Wheat Ridge City Council grapples with statewide child care crisis

BY JO DAVIS JDAVIS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

O cials in Wheat Ridge are taking small steps to alleviate a crisis in child care access and a ordability.

eir aim is to expand the number of child care facilities in the city.

A report late last year highlighted the problem across the metro area. It found that nearly one in 10 parents or guardians reported they could not access child care at least one week in the past 12 months. e study, by the nonpartisan Colorado Health Institute, also linked access issues to other crises.

It found, for instance, that 39.7% of parents who had issues nding childcare also reported poor mental and general health.

Wheat Ridge City Council acknowledged links like those in its plans.

Speci cally, the council voted to allow child care centers in zones that previously prohibited them. is means providers can look in areas previously marked as “restricted commercial” and “neighborhood commercial” zones.

City Planner Scott Cutler predicted that once access opens, demand will follow. He explained that the planning commission has had several requests from child care provid- ers who want to open new centers. Cutler and the commission had to decline many of these requests because zoning prohibited a daycare center in many of the locations requested. e plans, in the form of a memo that got a consensus vote on April 17, also require child care centers to comply with the stringent state standards for the welfare of kids. is meant reworking language in the current city code to align with the state requirements.

“Probably one of the biggest requests we get, maybe, over the years in terms of people wanting to open and then nding that they can’t in a certain location,” Cutler said.

Cutler went on to say “there’s a major lack of childcare” in Wheat Ridge.

Councilman Korey Stites pointed out that the state standards will cause some spaces to improve their conditions. Stites disclosed his previous experience running a daycare during the pandemic, pointing out that “It’s incredibly di cult to get and maintain (a childcare license).”

“You have to have all the sprinklers and bells and whistles on your units,” Stites said. “So, we are introducing a much safer ‘brand of retail’ in those areas.”

An example is a daycare that opens decided. is is a language change that will come with increased notice of public input sessions and the approval process. ing designations and changes to the code to make parking less restrictive

YouTube, the full memos on WheatRidgeSpeaks.org, and on the Wheat is at 6:30 p.m. April 24. e meeting can be attended at the Municipal Building, 7500 W. 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge or online.