A proposed land-use bylaw amendment will make it easier to establish day homes in Cochrane.

On Jan. 13, town council gave first reading to the bylaw and set a public hearing for Jan. 27.

The amendment will make day homes a stand-alone permitted use in all residential districts of the community.

Town planning services manager Riley Welden says the demand for more day homes and concern over the time and cost of involved in the current application process lead to the proposed change.

The single most important change is not subjecting applicants to a possible development appeal process.

"By not requiring a development permit, it basically means they don't have to go through the development permit process, so they could start to operating right away," explained Welden. "It does not mean that they don't have to adhere to the regulations."

Those regulations include limiting day homes to a maximum of six clients. Employees of the day home would be restricted to those owning or residing in the home. They would be limited to operating only one minor home-business out of the same residents. That basically amounts to an office.

While other concerns have been identified, the single most contentious issue with day homes has centred around parking.

In part, this is addressed by limiting who operates the day home.

Councillor Susan Flowers put the motion on the floor for first reading because she believes the changes will be beneficial.

"The barriers and the red tape that people have done through has been very difficult for day home providers," she said.

The application process was at the centre of a widely-publicized dispute in 2018. The establishment of a day home in the Riversong community was stifled by a development appeal. That appeal was eventually dropped.