Roseburg City Council Adopts Zoning Change Allowing Day Care Facilities in Public Reserve Zones

ROSEBURG, Ore. - The Roseburg City Council has adopted a change to the city's land-use code that will allow day care facilities to operate on property zoned Public Reserve, removing a zoning restriction that previously prohibited that use.

The council adopted Ordinance No. 3628 during its Monday, Aug. 24 meeting. The ordinance amends Section 12.04.020 of the Roseburg Municipal Code, which establishes the uses allowed in the city's Public Reserve and Residential Open Space zoning districts.

While the ordinance itself is relatively short, the change is significant in how certain properties can be used. It does not approve construction of a particular child care center or authorize a specific operator to open one. Instead, it changes the underlying zoning rules so that a qualifying day care facility is now an allowed use anywhere within Roseburg's Public Reserve zone, provided the development meets other applicable city requirements.

What Changed

Roseburg's land-use code uses a table to determine which activities can occur within each zoning district.

Before Ordinance No. 3628, a "Day Care Facility" was listed as a conditional use in the Residential Open Space, or RO, zone and was marked with a dash in the Public Reserve, or PR, zone.

Under Roseburg's code, a dash means the use is expressly prohibited.

Ordinance No. 3628 changes the Public Reserve designation for a Day Care Facility from prohibited to "P," meaning permitted. The designation in the Residential Open Space zone remains unchanged as a conditional use.

In practical terms, a stand-alone child care facility could not previously be approved as a normal use of PR-zoned property. With the ordinance adopted, such a facility is now allowed under the zoning designation.

Roseburg's code says uses marked "P" are permitted "as-of-right" within the applicable zoning district, although they must still comply with other applicable development standards. A conditional use, marked "C," requires review under the city's Conditional Use Permit process, while a dash means the use is prohibited.

That distinction is important. The ordinance is not simply making the approval process easier for a use that was already possible. It changes day care facilities in the Public Reserve zone from a use the zoning code did not allow to one the code specifically permits.

What Is a Public Reserve Zone?

Despite the name, Public Reserve zoning is not limited exclusively to city-owned property.

Roseburg's municipal code describes the Public Reserve zone as an area intended to accommodate a variety of public service activities without interference from inappropriate levels of residential, commercial or industrial development. The city says the designation is intended to apply "primarily, though not exclusively," to publicly owned land.

Properties with Public Reserve zoning can already accommodate a broad range of public and community-oriented activities.

Among the uses listed as permitted in the PR zone are public and semi-public activities, parks and playgrounds, schools, botanical and zoological gardens, cemeteries, fairgrounds, fire prevention and suppression facilities, fish and wildlife management activities, golf courses, hospitals and nursing homes, children's group homes, charitable institutions and certain recreational facilities.

The new ordinance essentially adds day care facilities to that group.

The zoning designation can therefore cover property associated with public facilities and community-serving uses, but the ordinance does not mean that every piece of publicly owned property can automatically become a child care center. Ownership, existing uses, development requirements and other applicable approvals still matter.

What Does Roseburg Consider a "Day Care Facility?"

The city's definition is also narrower than the everyday use of the word "daycare."

Under the Roseburg Municipal Code, a "Day Care Facility" is a facility that provides day care for six or more children, either full time or part time, somewhere other than the home of the provider. The code separately defines day care as supervision of a child during part of a 24-hour day.

That means Ordinance No. 3628 is aimed at facilities such as child care centers rather than simply changing the rules for someone providing child care from their own home.

Roseburg has a separate land-use classification for a "Family Day Care Home," which the code defines as child care provided in the provider's home to fewer than 17 children, including the provider's own children. That classification was not changed by Ordinance No. 3628.

"Permitted" Does Not Mean Unregulated

The change also does not eliminate all city review associated with opening or constructing a child care facility.

Roseburg's zoning code says permitted uses are allowed as-of-right within their zoning district, but they remain subject to applicable development standards and other provisions of the code. PR-zone development is subject to standards addressing matters such as building setbacks, lot coverage and building height. Development in the Public Reserve zone that abuts a residential zone or residential use must also be screened by a minimum six-foot-high sight-obscuring fence or hedge.

Depending on what is proposed at a particular property, additional city building, occupancy, site development and other requirements could still apply. The ordinance removes the zoning prohibition. It does not provide blanket approval for a particular building or operation.

The difference can also be seen by looking at Roseburg's conditional-use process. Conditional uses require an application and review by the Community Development Director, and the city evaluates issues including compatibility with surrounding development, traffic capacity, impacts on neighboring property and consistency with city plans. Decisions can also be appealed.

Because Ordinance No. 3628 identifies a day care facility as a permitted use in the PR zone instead, a proposal does not have to justify the basic appropriateness of day care through that conditional-use process solely because of the property's Public Reserve zoning.

It must still comply with the rules that apply to the property and proposed development.

How the Change Reached the Council

The amendment went through the city's land-use review process before Monday's final action.

According to the ordinance, the Roseburg Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed change July 6 and made a recommendation to the City Council.

At its Aug. 10 meeting, the council adopted the Findings of Fact and Order recommended by the Planning Commission approving the amendment to RMC Section 12.04.020. The council then heard the first reading of Ordinance No. 3628.

The Aug. 24 meeting was scheduled for the second reading and consideration of final adoption.

With the ordinance now adopted, the city's zoning table will list a Day Care Facility as a permitted use in the Public Reserve zone.

The ordinance leaves the remainder of Title 12 of the Roseburg Municipal Code in effect and makes no other changes to the uses listed in that section.

The Aug. 24 council materials do not identify a particular child care provider or specific property as the subject of Ordinance No. 3628. The action presented to the council was an amendment to the zoning code itself, meaning its effect applies to properties within the Public Reserve zoning classification rather than granting land-use approval to one individual project.

In short, the council's action does not announce a new day care center. It changes where one may legally be established under Roseburg's zoning rules.

A day care facility that previously would have been prohibited simply because a property carried the Public Reserve designation is now recognized as an allowed use, putting child care facilities alongside a number of other public, educational, recreational and community-serving uses already permitted within the zone.