RCRC supports Senate Bill 299, authored by Senator Christopher Cabaldon (D-Yolo). On January 5, Senator Cabaldon amended Senate Bill 299 to exempt residential day care centers from the California Environmental Quality Act.
CEQA is intended to improve decision-making and mitigate a project’s significant impacts on the environment; however, it was recently used in an attempt to derail a daycare facility in Napa.
Le Petit Elephant Nursery and Preschool (LPE) in was founded in Napa December 2015 with a dream of creating a nurturing, joyful, and inclusive space where children could learn through play, explore the outdoors, and be immersed in the magic of early childhood education. Ten years later, LPE sought to expand into a new facility to accommodate additional children. LPE received the necessary local approvals and was awarded state, local, and federal grants. But then local neighbors filed a lawsuit to block the project, even complaining about the impacts that would be caused by the sounds of children in their neighborhood and youth-based activities at the center. The litigation nearly derailed the project, as the delay cost LPE a pre-approved Small Business Administration Loan that could only be replaced with a high-fee bridge loan. The experience was highlighted in the San Francisco Chronicle in an opinion submitted by Napa County Supervisors Anne Cottrell and Liz Alessio.
Last year, Senate Bill 131 (Budget, Chapter 24, Statutes of 2025) sought to exempt day care centers from CEQA, but unfortunately stopped short of addressing situations like Le Petit Elephant because that exemption does not apply to daycares located in “a residential area.” Residential areas are where the overwhelming majority of facilities are (and should be) located. SB 299 builds upon that new exemption by expanding it to day care centers in residential areas, provided the parcel on which the project is located is not zoned exclusively for residential use.
SB 299 will help providers and local communities expand daycare opportunities for our youngest residents by exempting those projects from CEQA and the risk of lengthy and costly litigation.
RCRC’s letter of support is available here and a coalition letter of support can be found here.
For more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate, John Kennedy.