By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
With a 7-1 vote, the Great Bend City Council voted Monday to issue a
conditional use permit to Jessica Roan to operate a group home daycare at 2206
McKinley Street.
As the property is owned by Hammond Investments, and Roan will not be living in the
house, the permit was needed. Tammy Hammond signed the application authorizing the applicant to use the property as a daycare.
At the Great Bend Planning Commission public hearing June 27, two
nearby neighbors expressed concerns on dropping off and picking up children on
McKinley. The home daycare will operate from 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday, and Roan said she will do her best to make sure everyone stays safe
during drop-offs and pick-ups.
"I want everyone to follow basic traffic laws," said Roan. "My employee and I have decided we will park on the road so parents can access the driveway. I do have it written down on how we're going to have parents drop off and pick up. Obviously, this is going to be a recommended guideline. I can't tell people how to enter and exit a vehicle, or how to take their children out of it."
Of the 12 children Roan can accept, she plans on caring for two infants.
Recently moving back to the Great Bend area, Roan wrote she struggled to find
adequate childcare for her own children and was inspired to open the daycare, which will be called The Learning Ladder. Roan has worked at multiple childcare facilities
in the past, including Children’s Learning Center in Great Bend.