In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Reno City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance to remove or reduce costs and other barriers for childcare centers.

According to Reno senior policy analyst Grace Mackedon, 72% of Nevadans live in a childcare desert and Nevada is the eighth-least-affordable state for infant care.

“There’s more children than there are childcare spots,” Mackedon told the RGJ. “It costs more to send an infant to infant care than it would to send a kid to university (here)."

The council in July directed staff to look at changes to the zoning code that would make it easier to open childcare centers.

Under current Reno code, in-home and workplace childcare centers must get zoning permits that cost over $4,000 and take 30 days for approval, with no guarantee of a

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