A woman is suing the City of Lakeway after the city
denied her request to continue running her home daycare.
Attorneys for Bianca King say the daycare center, which is
situated behind a golf course is being threatened by the city
because of golfer complaints.
Bianca King was laid off during the pandemic, so she decided
to follow her dreams and start a home daycare business.
I enjoy watching the development of children and watching them
grow and watching them learn.
Bianca is approved by the state and has completed
all the necessary training.
Everything was fine until the city received a complaint
she was operating a home business without a city permit.
I filed for the permit and paid the fees and I was
told I would be approved.
Then a couple of days later, instead of an approval letter,
I was put on the agenda for the next city hearing.
I know most of you.
I don't really care whether she's licensed or not.
I did not move into Lakeway to live next to live in
a multi-use development.
There's going to be toys out there.
They're going to be in there right on the golf course,
which is another issue for me.
When you walk by, drive by you can see the kids out
playing, which is fine, but there is a noise issue there.
So, um, I I'm asking that you deny the permit.
When the city denied my permit, it was surreal.
It was a nightmare.
And as a single mother of two, the worry, the heartbreak
of wondering how I was going to provide for my family and
what was I going to do next?
It's heartbreaking.
Heartbreaking.
If I didn't have a home daycare, my back yard would
look exactly the same.
I have two small children under the ages of five, and
they like to play outside.
And even if I was not having a childcare here,
they would be here with their friends and family.
To be clear the golfcourse and most of the golf community
do not have a problem with Bianca's business.
We spoke to some golfers near the home who tell us they
don't see the issue .Does not affect me in the slightest.
Sometimes there's kids out there making a little noise, but I
mean there's cars going by.
There's a.
Maintenance equipment, you know, so that's nothing.
And since this has also happened, I've had an amazing
support from the golfing community who come to the
backyard and will wave, or let me know how they are in support.
In addition to a home day care, Lakeway's burdensome zoning
laws ban all types of home businesses, including incredibly
common ones like tutoring, music lessons, and home baking.
These laws have nothing to do with protecting safety
or preventing nuisance.
If I have to close my home day care.
I will be forced to move out of my house and relocate my family.
I never thought running a small day care from my house could
cause so much controversy.
Bianca's business is protected by the Texas
Supreme Court's groundbreaking decision in Patel.
In Patel, the Court held that if the government is going
to restrict a business, it needs a reason to do so.
And there has to be evidence behind that reason.
It can't just arbitrarily shut you down, but that's exactly
what the City of Lakeway is doing to Bianca .Bianca's
business is completely harmless, but the city is
trying to shut her down anyway.
That's why we sued in Texas state court.
It's been amazing how since all this has happened, how
many mothers and families have reached out to me
and said, what can we do?
Who can we call, how do we keep you open?
And they say, oh my gosh, you know, we, we need your services.
We don't know what we'll do if you close.
And it, uh, it really brings home to me how important this
is and why I'm doing this.