Jesse Scheckner
Miami-Dade has an overabundance of adult day care centers in some places and a shortage of them elsewhere, according to a proposed ordinance that would require them to be spaced out more across the county.
County Commissioners on Thursday will hold a first reading of the item, sponsored by René García, which if passed would limit them to one every 1,000 feet (roughly a fifth of a mile).
“While these facilities serve an important function, there is currently an over-concentration of adult day care centers in certain areas of Miami-Dade County and an under-concentration of such facilities in other areas,” a memo accompanying the ordinance says.
“These types of businesses can have a negative impact on the surrounding community when overconcentrated in a given area.”
Those problems are twofold, García’s item says. First, there’s the issue of traffic.
“In particular, adult day care centers can result in increased traffic due to drop-off and pickup of seniors at the facilities and buses and vans transporting the aging population to and from their homes, medical appointments, and adult day care centers, all of which lead to greater traffic congestion and safety concerns,” the item says.
There’s also the space required for such drop-offs and pickups to be done efficiently without negatively impacting traffic flow on adjacent roadways — something the item indicates is sometimes not present at certain facilities.
The item does not specify where in the county there are problems of either too many or too few centers. Florida Politics requested a comment from García, a former state Senator and the immediate past Chair of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade, and will update this report upon receipt of one.
Miami-Dade’s code defines adult day care centers as facilities that provide, “for a part of a day, care services to three or more persons who are 18 years of age or older, who are not related to the owner or operator by blood or marriage.”
Such a business provides “a protective and noninstitutional setting with therapeutic programs of social and health activities and services; leisure activities; self-care training; rest; nutritional services; and respite care.” Overnight stay is not permitted, and the facilities are not to offer regular physician care or treatment programs for alcohol or substance abuse addiction or impairment.
In accordance with Florida Statutes, adult care facilities must be licensed by the state and provide proof of licensure to the county before being issued a certificate of use.
If approved on first reading Thursday, the ordinance would then go to a committee, likely the Community Health Committee, for review and possible amendments before returning to the full County Commission for a final vote.
