A proposal to remove a regulatory step for larger at-home daycare centers is scheduled to go before Arlington officials this month.
On the schedule for Planning Commission discussion this week and County Board action on Saturday, Jan. 25, a proposed zoning change would increase the number of children allowed at “family day care homes” before operators need to obtain a use permit.
Currently, up to nine children are allowed in the family daycares by right, but those that accommodate from 10 to the limit of 12 have to go through a process that requires a public hearing and Board approval. The proposed change would allow for by-right approval of daycare homes with 10 to 12 children.
In recommending the change, county staff say the current use-permit requirement — unique to Arlington among Virginia jurisdictions — results in an “unnecessary additional steps for both county staff and daycare providers”
Operators of the facilities would still have to meet all other licensing and zoning requirements.
The change, though relatively minor, could help provide additional day-care opportunities throughout the county, staff said:
“Family day care homes provide many benefits to families, childcare providers and the community as a whole. Data from the Department of Human Services indicate that the average cost of care for a family day care home is up to 30% lower than the cost of center-based care. The small, intimate setting can also potentially allow for more individualized care for children. For childcare providers, the ability to offer this important service can serve as a main source of livelihood for their own families. For communities, family day care homes may serve as a ‘selling point’ for residents who have young children and would prefer to use a childcare provider close to their own home.”
On the other hand, the use-permit requirement provides some options for neighbors to raise concerns about such home daycare facilities — and the inconveniences they may bring.
The use-permit review gives county staff the ability to review hours of operation, parking, traffic and neighborhood impacts of each facility, and offers the public an opportunity to raise concerns directly with Board members during public hearings required to acquire and renew the permits.
Pledge of Allegiance Returns to County Board Meetings: The Jan. 7 County Board organizational meeting started with something not seen at a Board meeting in a more than a decade.
The Pledge of Allegiance.
Board members for decades would open their Saturday meetings with the pledge. When that tradition got phased out by Board members about 15 years ago, civic activist Robert Molleur forced its continuation by using the public-comment period that starts meetings to say it.
Board members and others would dutifully follow his lead.
Molleur eventually moved to Prince William County, and with his departure the pledge died a second time at Board meetings. But on Jan. 7, new Board Chair Takis Karantonis asked his colleagues and the public to join him in its recitation.
“We will not always repeat it, but we will repeat it on occasion,” he told ARLnow.
“As an immigrant, I owe something to this flag,” said Karantonis, a native of Greece who was elected to the Board in 2020 and was chosen by his colleagues to chair it in 2025.
