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Published on 02/24/1997 All articles from this issue

Planning commission OKs day care project for 93 kids

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Parents may rejoice. Day care, a precious, scarce commodity in Los Altos, received a boost last Thursday night from the city's planning commission.

Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend to the city council the application of a 93-child day care center for Foothill Plaza Shopping Center at 2310 Homestead Road.

"Not only will this be an asset to the shopping center," said Planning Commission Chairman Chet Frankenfield, "but it is also a desperately needed facility in the town. This (day care) will be a marvelous use of the facility."

The applicants, Rosa and Jawed Sayed, a couple in their 30s and Sunnyvale residents, plan to open a franchise of Kiddie Academy, which would be a state-licensed child care center in two existing tenant spaces totaling about 6,000 square feet.

Jawed Sayed said that they planned to hire a director and that they would be taking care of the back office administration.

The proposed center would accommodate up to 93 children under the age of 5 and would also have 11 teachers and three administrators, said Los Altos senior planner James Mackenzie in a Feb. 14 staff report.

The facility would be open from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Kiddie Academy, which offers "education-based child care," is a 16-year-old company based in Bel Air, Md., said Alex Krowzow, vice president of real estate with Kiddie Academy.

Currently there are 52 Kiddie Academies operating in 15 states. There are 22 under construction and 42 more in the pipeline, Krowzow said.

In California, there are two open Kiddie Academies, one in Mountain View and one in southern California in Oceanside. Another is under construction in Claremont and a fourth, in San Jose, is under contract.

About one-third of the Kiddie Academies operate in shopping centers. Krowzow said that parents love it.

"Time is very dear to the parents, and this way they can combine their trip to day care with shopping."

Merchants like it too, Krowzow said, because the day care brings parents into the shopping centers.

Two concerns that the planning commissioners have with the project concern landscaping and parking.

"Some felt the play area would be extremely hot," Frankenfield said, and wondered if there was some way to tone it down.

Pending council approvals, applicant will be coming back to the planning commission with a landscaping and parking plan.

Frankenfield said that no one from the public came to the meeting last Thursday night to speak about the Kiddie Academy application. The commission did receive a letter of support from a neighboring apartment building, he said.

"We look forward to having a high quality, education-based child care center so close to our community," wrote Christina Beasley, manager for Springwood Apartments of Los Altos.

Last night, the project went before the city council for a decision. If approved, the applicants said they hope to be open for the 1997-98 school year.