New Castle County's Land Use Committee on Oct. 7 discussed Substitute Ordinance 25063, which would amend Chapter 40 (the Unified Development Code) to revise standards for child day care centers and adult day care facilities.

The ordinance, as described by the committee chair, would remove a current asymmetric 500‑foot limitation that prevented placing a day care center within 500 feet of a gas station while allowing a gas station within 500 feet of an existing day care. The substitute would also require underground storage of petroleum products used on site (with exceptions for products needed for daily operations), impose a 1,000‑foot separation standard from marijuana retail outlets for day care centers, and remove limited use standards for adult day care centers so they can locate more broadly under the code.

Councilman Chris Smiley said the revision "corrects that inequity" in the current code that treated gas stations and day care centers inconsistently. No public commenters registered input on this ordinance at the Oct. 7 meeting. The committee did not take a final vote on the ordinance during the session and the matter remained under consideration.