It appears a day home operator in Takhini North is finally on her way to operating a child care centre out of her Ortona Road home.

At Monday evening's city council meeting, planning manager Mike Gau brought forward a recommendation that council move forward with a zoning change to the property Leet Mueller rents at 75 Ortona Rd.

The change would enable her to operate a child care centre, though it would be limited to 12 children.

The recommendation comes after council defeated second reading of the bylaw last year amid neighbours' concerns over the possible level of noise, space issues and parking, among others.

Coun. Ranj Pillai brought the proposal back after Mueller showed him the support she now has for the project.

This time around, Mueller, who has been operating the Paintbrush Montessori Infant & Toddler Centre Family Day Home there since, has the signatures of neighbours now supporting the child care centre who a year earlier opposed her plan to operate a Montessori program for toddlers.

As both she and Gau explained in separate presentations, under the territory's Child Care Act, Mueller can operate her day home with up to 12 children enrolled.

Age restrictions, however, permit her only six kids to be in the age group she wants to aim her Montessori program at – ages 18 months to three years old.

To operate a program for 12 toddlers – the group number she suggested her program is best suited to – the designation of the property has to be changed from a day home to child care centre, a change that can happen through zoning.

"It's a beautiful location for a child care centre,” Mueller said of the property. She cited both a park and green space nearby that she already uses for her day home as she addressed several concerns that came up last year when her application was first made.

Along with the signatures of the neighbours now supporting her plan she presented to council, Mueller argued that the nearby park and green space should alleviate the concerns that her yard does not have sufficient space for a park.

She noted she understood the regulation that child care centres be on a property of at least 930 square metres (the property she is renting is 461 square metres) came out of concern over the impact on neighbours.

In this case, she said, there is only one part of the corner-lot duplex that is adjacent to a neighbour, who has signed her document supporting the zoning change. The three other sides are next to a road or greenspace, she pointed out.

Mueller added the neighbourhood doesn't have a day program for children under the age of three. Downtown Days is the only other child care centre in the area, with its programming aimed at children over the age of three.

Under questioning from council, Mueller espoused the virtues of the Montessori philosophy, which stresses individual learning where the learning environment takes a major role in teaching.

It is a program where children are honoured and given the opportunity to develop their sense of self, Mueller said.

"It really matters where they're placed,” she explained.

It is the child's first years of life that are most formative, Mueller added, and what is learned at that time carries with the child throughout his or her life.

Her goal is to provide the best learning environment she can during those formative years, council heard.

Mueller also indicated if the opportunity presents itself to expand the lot, as may be the case in the redevelopment of Takhini North, she may pursue it with her landlord.

In his report to council, Gau reiterated several of the points made by Mueller, indicating that the zoning change would not have an impact on how the site is essentially used.

"From a land use perspective, there's no change,” he said.

When Coun. Betty Irwin said making an exception for this property bothers her, Gau said this is a unique case where the site is close to a park and greenspace.

Next Monday, council members will vote on whether to move forward to second reading of the bylaw. They approved first reading last year, when it initially came forward.