Day-Care Center Plan Under Fire

Local homeowners are expected to voice opposition Monday to the proposed conversion of a home into a day-care center in a residential Van Nuys neighborhood.

The hearing will be held at 1 p.m. before a city zoning administrator at the Van Nuys Woman’s Club, 14836 Sylvan St.

Applicant Michelle Ventimiglia is asking the city for a conditional-use permit to operate the day-care center at the house at 17034 Keswick St.

The day-care center would accommodate up to 48 students ages 2 through 7. It would include four classrooms, two of which would be in a new modular structure outside the home. Four teachers and one administrator would operate the center from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners’ Assn., said his organization opposes the day-care center because of the increase in people and cars it would draw to the neighborhood.

“It’s right on the fringe of an existing residential neighborhood,” Schultz said. “It’s going to be a high-density use. That’s too intense a use of a residential neighborhood.”

But Ventimiglia said the center would offer a staggered schedule to reduce traffic. “The people in the community need this type of center,” said Ventimiglia, who will buy the home if the city approves the permit.