NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two and a half years. That's how long some Davidson County families wait for a spot on a daycare waitlist.
Nashville is now formally acknowledging that struggle, proposing new zoning rules and a fast-track permitting program aimed at getting daycares built faster.
Omar Perez has a 2-year-old son and is expecting a daughter later this year, just as the city considers new legislation aimed at opening more daycare spots.
"I had heard through the grapevine that it was a little bit of a jungle out there," Omar Perez said.
"I thought at least by his second birthday, we'd have any other available options open to us. And yes, while we did get off other wait lists, I think we applied to six schools at the time. There's still 1/3rd who have not offered us a spot," Perez said.
On Friday, Mayor Freddie O'Connell, alongside members of the Metro Council, introduced two new pieces of legislation aimed at speeding up daycare openings and removing outdated restrictions on where centers can operate. Most of Nashville's daycare regulations were last updated in 1997.
"We want to enable parents to work if they choose and are able to do so while they know their child is getting excellent care at the lowest cost possible," Mayor Freddie O'Connell said.
District 20 Council Member Rollin Horton said the city's existing zoning rules treat child care centers as a nuisance rather than a necessity.
"It treats them as something that could be unpleasant, whether that's from traffic or noise or things like that. We're dealing with the effects of that today. We've imposed a self-imposed shortage on our child care services," Rollin Horton said.
Under current zoning rules, the larger a daycare's capacity, the more requirements and approvals are needed. A business owner wanting to open a center serving up to 25 children needs a lot size of at least half an acre. Centers serving up to 50 children require a full acre. Anything larger must be located near a major road.
Before a new center can open, multiple departments, including the fire marshal's office, must complete their own reviews, a process that can stretch out when competing for staff time.
The shortage has real financial consequences for families. Parents of infants and toddlers in Nashville spend an average of $13,000 per year on daycare. Sometimes significantly more.
The legislation that would expedite the permitting process would move daycare development projects to the front of the line, behind only affordable housing. The proposals would also lower the threshold for what qualifies as a large day care center — from 75 children to 50 — and update parking and lot size requirements for day care facilities across Davidson County.
Perez said the city's growth has made action on child care overdue.
"We're an extremely fast-growing city, we're not the small town I remember when I was going to grad school, and this is one of those areas where it's time for Nashville to grow up," Perez said.
Is your family sacrificing because of child care availability and/or affordability? Let me know in an email Hannah.McDonald@NewsChannel5.com.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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