Bianca King, a single mother of two, lost her job during the pandemic and decided to open an in-home daycare in Lakeway, Texas, watching neighbors' kids alongside her own. She registered with the state, passed inspection, and launched Rainbow's Edge Childcare on January 1, 2021 — the kind of small, personal, affordable option she says was hard to find, since many daycares are either prohibitively expensive or understaffed. Her home happened to back up to the local golf course's eighth hole, and when she applied for the additional home-business permit Lakeway required on top of her state license, a group of golfers — including former Lakeway mayor Joe Bain, who lived more than 30 houses away — showed up to the zoning hearing to object that they could see her kids' toys and hear them playing while golfing. The city's zoning commission denied her permit. King appealed to the Board of Adjustment, where Bain again spoke against her; the board upheld the denial 4-2, and the city shut her business down, citing an ordinance requiring home businesses to be "undetectable" — one of 19 separate criteria the Institute for Justice called nearly impossible for any home business to satisfy. King partnered with IJ to sue the city, arguing the ordinance violated the Texas Constitution. After more than a year of litigation and public pressure, Lakeway's city council granted her a permit in June 2023 and revised its home-business ordinance to remove the most restrictive provisions.
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Commentary: A single mom spent over a year and thousands of dollars fighting city hall because a former mayor didn't like seeing pool toys from the fairway — that's not zoning, that's a country club with a badge.
Source: https://ij.org/case/texas-home-daycare/
AI disclosure: ⚠️ This content was researched and written with AI assistance and may be fully AI-generated. All facts are sourced from the linked article and corroborating sources.
