Bad Neighbors? Lawsuit Says In-Home Day-Care Disturbs The Peace, Creates Traffic And Violates Subdivision Covenant

Jackie Milroy doesn’t advertise her business - she doesn’t need to. Her in-home child-care has a good record for safety and quality.

But a lawsuit that would shut her down is drawing the attention of state child-care authorities to Milroy and her tan rambler on North Washington.

The suit, filed in Superior Court last month by her neighbor, cites an obscure covenant that bans business in the most of the Country Homes neighborhood. It claims the 12-child day care is illegal.

The neighbor, Gordon Peckham is frustrated by the noise and traffic on the sleepy suburban street. He’s demanding that Milroy permanently close her business.

Milroy herself is frustrated, by the surprise suit. “If I couldn’t do it, why didn’t some one tell me before I sunk $80,000 into this?” demanded an angry Milroy last week.

Although Peckham is suing only Milroy, representatives from the child-care industry fear the suit could have far-reaching effects on the fast-growing in-home business.

A torrent of child-care closures could cause big problems, says child-care officials. Half of the children in Spokane County get care in home-based centers. Demand is expected to rise exponentially as thousands of welfare parents hunt for work this winter.

“It is absolutely critical that family child cares succeed,” said Hopkins. “There is already a critical shortage.”

Covenants can be the Svengali of neighborhood businesses, trumping all other zoning laws. Previous lawsuits in Western Washington involving neighborhood covenants resulted in the closure of in-home child cares, said Kathy Hopkins, president of Washington State Family Child Care Association.

“Providers are doing it anyway. They are just keeping a low profile,” said Hopkins.

The Legislature, at the request of the child-care industry, passed a law that banned zoning ordinances which were unfriendly to in-home business.

But that applies only within city limits. The Country Homes covenant, and dozens of others from Airway Heights to Millwood, govern neighborhoods on county land.

Because those neighborhoods are relatively old, their covenants are easily forgotten. Several child-care providers contacted for this story had no idea if covenants banned their businesses.

Some covenants in the older neighborhoods are so archaic they’re silly, like the one that makes it illegal to raise goats in parts of Millwood. Or offensive, like the ones barring non-whites from several Valley neighborhoods and in Airway Heights.

Milroy, like other providers in her neighborhood who aren’t being sued, was unaware of the covenant, passed at a time when in-home businesses were as much a nuisance as goat and pig yards.

The covenant, which covers much of the area formerly called the Spokane Terrace Addition, was drafted by a construction company which built many homes and was passed May 5, 1955.

It expired Dec. 31, 1995, but automatically renewed itself. It will continue unaltered until a majority of homeowners endorses a change.

The suit, says attorney Jerry Kagele, is about the basic rights of a homeowner. Peckham, who refused to comment, referred questions to Kagele.

Milroy’s child care is a nuisance in a way that a home computer business is not, said Kagele.

“If you are at home working on your computer, you are not going to be intrusive,” he said. “With a day care, you have screaming kids in your back yard. That’s intrusive.

“When you buy your house, you don’t expect your neighbor to draw commercial activity there on a daily basis.”

Milroy is looking for a lawyer. There’s no rush; the first available trial date is in late 1998. In the meantime, she’ll continue to operate.

Milroy, 50, opened Jackie’s Day Care two years ago, shortly after moving into the North Washington home with her husband Tom and their three kids. The family moved in to care for Tom’s ailing mother, who died last year.

The Milroys spent $80,000 to add 1,800 square feet of play space. The state licensing office approved the child care.

Milroy is regularly at capacity, caring mostly for the children of state social workers and administrators.

Peckham and Milroy feuded shortly after she opened the business. He demanded she close, citing the covenant. They’ve said little to each other since, said Milroy.

Their proximity fuels tension.

Milroy’s outside play area faces Peckham’s house, separated by a fence from his living room window. The kids make a lot of noise during the summer, Milroy admits.

And cars line the curb in the morning and afternoons. Milroy tried to appease Peckham by displaying a sign telling her parents not to park in Peckham’s driveway. But he complained to the county so often Milroy had to carve out two parking places in her backyard.

If Peckham succeeds, Milroy would be forced to close and lose the $40,000 a year she makes on the business. Milroy still owes money on the remodel, she said.

She’s getting sympathy from officials but not much encouragement. Tim Nelson, chief of the state’s child care licensing office in Spokane, said Milroy is dependable and valuable.

“I feel badly for Jackie, but who am I to deny the right of a neighbor to enforce a covenant?” said Nelson.

For Milroy and other child-care advocates, the suit is about an ordinance so obscure few residents know it exists.

“Forty years ago was a whole different story,” said Milroy, 50. “It was husbands working and wives taking care of kids. Things change.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: IN-HOME CHILD CARE FAST-GROWING INDUSTRY In-home child cares, like child care centers, are regulated by the state Office of Child Care Policy. Centers are larger, with dozens of children, and get yearly visits from state officials. In-home businesses can take up 12 children and are inspected every three years. Providers in both kinds must undergo training and criminal background checks. In-home child cares have been among the state’s fastest growing industries in the last decade. About half of Spokane’s kids in child care receive it in home-based businesses.