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Rivertown Child Development is one step closer to expanding its daycare facility at 1911 N. Main Street in Conway.

The Conway Planning Commission voted 5-0 on Thursday, Oct. 3 to recommend that the city council approve a zoning change and land use map amendment necessary for the project to proceed.

The daycare purchased a .32 acre lot at 1926 Fulmer Street, tore down an uninhabitable house, and is seeking an unorthodox zoning change for the now-vacant lot from R-1 鈥� low-to-medium density residential 鈥� to Highway Commercial. The lot is directly behind the daycare, which fronts the Highway Commercial zone on North Main Street, and the owners seek to combine the two lots into a single parcel zoned Highway Commercial.

David Schwerd of Diamond Shores, who was representing the daycare owners, said the facility has been in business for about 20 years and currently serves more than 70 children. The owner, Lewis Boys LLC, hopes to expand the building so it can expand its summer daycare program.

A 1,733 square-foot addition would be added to the rear of the building, displacing the daycare鈥檚 current playground. The Fulmer Street lot, which would be combined with the lot fronting Main Street, would be used for a new playground and employee parking.

Schwerd said that would free up space at the front for parents dropping off and picking up children. 鈥淛ust trying to make it safe,鈥� he said.

He also noted that the large live oak and willow oak trees on the lot would be preserved.

Schwerd said child care is an 鈥渆ssential service鈥� for working parents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e doing this so we can put a new McDonald鈥檚 in; we鈥檙e doing this to provide childcare for the workers in the community,鈥� he said.

Commissioners acknowledged that the change would amount to commercial encroachment on Fulmer Street, which is still primarily residential with small, single-family homes and several duplexes.

But extenuating circumstances played a role in the decision regarding Fulmer Street, a short connector between Oak and Session streets that runs parallel to N. Main Street one block to the west.

The Fulmer Street lot is across the road from a church that was already built when zoning was instituted, which made it an existing but nonconforming use in the R1 zone. When the church was sold, the city approved a zoning change to professional that allowed it, too, to become a daycare facility.

And next door to the Fulmer Street lot is a maintenance shop building that was also an existing non-conforming use in R1. When that building was vacated and a new commercial use was proposed, the zoning was changed to Highway Commercial.

Hucks said the concern with rezoning to Highway Commercial isn鈥檛 so much what the daycare has planned, but instead what could happen to the property if the daycare someday closes. For example, a new owner might seek a more intensive commercial use than parking and a playground.

Conway planning & development director Jessica Hucks reported that the planning department presented the proposal to city council on Sept. 16, and concerns were raised about commercial creep into residential areas. The council has the final say on all zoning changes, after the planning commission studies proposals and makes a recommendation.

Hucks said that the council asked if the combined parcel could be rezoned to something more restrictive than highway commercial, that would still permit a daycare facility.

However, that move would go against the city鈥檚 future land use map, which calls for primarily commercial highway zoning for properties that front Main Street.

If the property were changed to the professional zoning district, the footprint of the building can鈥檛 exceed more than 30% of the lot size, which may rule out the expansion.

And if the property remained split with highway commercial at the front and professional in the rear, it would be nonconforming because properties with two different zoning designations would be part of the same operation.

鈥淥ur problem is, last month we denied Dr. Vaught doing the same thing,鈥� said planning commission member George Ulrich.

Ulrich was referring to the planning commission鈥檚 decision not to rezone several lots on residential Laurel Street to allow Vaught Eye Associates to solve a parking problem at its building at 1409 North Main Street by combining the rear portion of the three Laurel Street parcels and converting them into a parking lot. The move would have required changing the Laurel Street lots from R-1 Residential to Professional to match the zoning of the building.

But Commission Member David Sligh noted an 鈥渋mportant distinction鈥� between the two proposals.

In the Vaught case, he said there had been no prior commercial encroachment on Laurel Street. 鈥淭he hard thing was looking at how clean those several blocks (of Laurel) were. That was gonna be the initial foray back.鈥�

But on Fulmer Street, lots across the street and adjacent to the Rivertown Child Development鈥檚 lot have already been rezoned for commercial uses.

鈥淭his is kind of just a continuation of something that was started previously,鈥� Sligh said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a different area of the city that鈥檚 experiencing different things and the situation is distinguishable (from the Laurel Street recommendation), and I don鈥檛 see an inequity.鈥�