City approves expansion of day-care center in home

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- An expanding day-care center at a Surf City home

has drawn fire from neighbors who claim it threatens the value of their

property.

The Planning Commission agreed last month to allow Gosset Day-Care, a

licensed care and education program for preschoolers at 8741 Adams Ave.,

to double the amount of children who attend.

The decision allows Toni Gosset, who lives in the modified house, and

an assistant to care for up to 12 children in accordance to rules set by

the state Department of Social Services.

Gosset said her center was full with six children, and the expansion

is needed because some of the children now have siblings who need day

care.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Gossets provide the best

possible care for her children,” said Patricia Borden, who lives near the

center. “But we have seen our property values go down about $10,000 lower

than homes in surrounding neighborhoods already because of our proximity

to the day-care center.”

Having a business in the neighborhood hurts the resale price of a

home, she added.

Other neighbors said noise levels, parking and traffic are all

increased because of the center, and allowing the increased capacity

would only worsen the problems.

“Those concerns were brought up at our first meeting, and were the

first complaints voiced by the residents in the center’s 20-year

lifetime,” Gosset said, referring to a meeting with the city’s zoning

administrator, who initially denied the expansion in August. “Since then,

we did our best to curb them.”

To lessen the noise of children playing outdoors, Gosset now limits

them to groups of two or three and only lets them out during suitable

hours. She also paved part of her frontyard to create extra parking and

made parents keep track of where they park so she can monitor the

situation.

The commissioners -- who voted 6 to 1 Oct. 10, with Commissioner

Connie Mandic dissenting -- said the day-care facility meets zoning

requirements set for residential neighborhoods, and property value loss

alone could not be grounds for denial. Furthermore, almost all of

Gosset’s neighbors moved into the neighborhood after the day-care center

was running and knew it was there.

“I think it’s always a lose-lose situation when neighbors start

fighting,” Mandic said. “It’s obvious that these neighbors accepted a

small care center when they moved into the neighborhood. . . . It’s

logical they’re reluctant to see it grow.”