BURBANK : City Planners Back Day-Care Center

A Toluca Lake family day-care center has received the backing of the Burbank city planning board, despite opposition from some neighbors worried about noise and traffic.

The home is licensed by the state for up to 12 children and has been run by Matilde Garcia of North Clybourn Avenue since 1984, said planning board Chairman Ed Hill.

The city received several letters and a petition with 125 signatures opposing the day-care center.

After a 2 1/2-hour meeting Monday in which 28 residents came out against the center, the board approved the administrative use permit, 5-0.

“Even if we had a choice I would have endorsed it,” Hill said.

“The adverse effects of a family day-care center are outweighed by the need.”

Mary Louise Garcia, Matilde Garcia’s daughter, said the center has always tried to keep a low profile and the opposition to the center could have more to do with a general fear about the impact of other development in surrounding areas on the neighborhood.

“People who have not noticed us before have nothing to worry about,” she said Thursday.

The center had been operating for years without a required city permit. The permit is only required for day-care centers that can take more than six children.

Garcia’s center was licensed in 1984 to care for up to six children.

It expanded and was licensed by the state for up to 12 children in 1990.

State regulations require that family day-care centers be operated in residential areas out of the operator’s home.

In a report to the board, city planning officials denied the claim by neighbors that the center lacked enough driveway or street parking for clients or employees and yard space.

“We had no idea it would create the response that we got,” Mary Louise Garcia said.