A bill that limits environmental lawsuits filed against childcare centers proposed for California’s residential neighborhoods, which emerged after Napa’s Le Petit Elephant Nursery and Preschool faced such a challenge in 2024, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month.
Senate Bill 299, authored by state Sen. Chris Cabaldon, adds to 2025 reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act by making childcare center projects in residential areas largely exempt from challenge under that environmental law.
“This is a big win for parents,” Cabaldon said in a Sept. 23 news release. “Nobody should have to fight a lawsuit just to open a daycare down the street. We fixed a broken part of the law, and now more families across California will have childcare closer to home.”
The bill grew directly out of a 2024 battle between Le Petit owners and neighbors in Napa’s Alta Heights neighborhood over plans to open a new, expanded childcare center in a 20,000-square-foot former church. While Le Petit owners received approval for the center in April 2024 from the Napa Planning Commission and successfully opened the new location in August, that was only after grappling with a lawsuit from the Alta Heights Neighborhood Coalition that effectively blocked the project for nine months, among other challenges.
That lawsuit, filed in June 2024, alleged potential violations of state environmental law by the city — for finding the project exempt from review — along with possible impacts on air quality, safety and traffic. Le Petit settled the lawsuit with neighbors in March 2025, with owners agreeing to terms including gradual enrollment increases and limitations on events, among others.
But, according to Le Petit founder Milli Pintacsi, she’s still grappling with the lawsuit’s toll. She said the direct and indirect costs of the lawsuit added up to around $791,000, not counting other damages she said were “immeasurable.”
That experience, she said, was exactly why she worked with Cabaldon’s office on SB 299. Pintacsi added that Le Petit won’t benefit from the legislation, but she wanted to make sure “we as a society grew from our experience so that no other childcare provider, family, or community would have to go through what we went through.”
“What happened to us should never have been possible,” Pintacsi said in a statement. “CEQA was originally created for an important and noble purpose, to protect our environment from significant harms caused by heavy industries and developers. Unfortunately in practice we mostly see it used in the wealthiest zip codes across California to block projects that benefit the broader community. In our case the process was misused in a way that nearly put our child care center out of business.”
CEQA reforms enacted in 2025 cleared hurdles for some types of housing projects — specifically urban infill housing developments of up to 20 acres — and other forms of development, including childcare facilities in commercial areas.
The new law effectively extends those protections for childcare facilities in residential areas.
Though an exemption for residential daycare projects previously existed, it required proponents of a project to demonstrate how they met various criteria, making their rationale for exemption subject to legal challenge. Under SB 299, such projects must only meet the required definitions of a daycare center and be located on a parcel that’s exclusively zoned residential to be exempt from CEQA.
Pintacsi said she’s extremely grateful to Napa County Supervisors Liz Alessio and Anne Cottrell, Cabaldon and others who felt there was a need for legislative change. Alessio said in a statement the new law will help to safeguard childcare providers, as well as contributing to increasing access to such centers.
“SB 299 allows CEQA to refocus on its original intent instead of being a tool for affluent communities to block projects that conflict with their personal preferences,” Pintacsi said.
You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com.