To everyone that has signed, shared, and supported this cause, I am sorry to report that it was in vain. My meeting with the township this morning went poorly. They found code in lumberton bylaws that prohibits daycares in historically zoned buildings. Their minds were made up before we walked into the room, and this petition, my business plan, your comments, the letters written on my behalf, were not so much as glanced at during our 15 minute meeting. I was offered the chance to continue fighting at a second meeting but attending that meeting would cost me upwards of 5k (my lawyer, the twp lawyer, escrow account, meeting fees, planner fee, etc). I simply can't justify pouring that kind of money into a meeting that still has a high potential to fail.
I am sorry. I feel as though I failed and even though I know I did everything I could, Fire Sprouts Daycare is not able to move forward.
I genuinely hope that the current twp officials that are behind the red tape retire in the near future, and that new blood is willing to enact change that will actually help preserve historic lumberton rather than simply watch it rot under antiquated code enforcement. Good luck to the community, future business owners, and anyone else trying to do the right thing.
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