Texas woman alleges city officials shut down her home daycare after golfers complained about noise from children

• A Texas woman alleged in a lawsuit that the city shut down her daycare following noise complaints from golfers.
• Bianca King operates the daycare from her home, which faces a golf course.

A woman is suing the city of Lakeway, Texas, and has accused the local government of shutting down her at-home daycare after receiving noise complaints from nearby golfers, including the city's former mayor.

Attorneys for Bianca King, a single mother of two, said in a complaint filed in Travis County Court that their client's at-home daycare — which faces the tee box of the eighth hole of a local country club's golf course — has faced complaints despite being inspected and approved by the state of Texas.

The lawyers allege in the lawsuit that three golfers, including former Lakeway Mayor Joe Bain, complained to the city that toys were visible in King's backyard and that noise from the daycare was distracting from their rounds of golf.

King told Insider that she never personally received any complaints about noise from her daycare.

Following the complaints to the city, however, King was told she would need to get a "home occupation" permit to continue operating, according to the lawsuit.

King, who according to her lawsuit opened the daycare to watch over her neighbors' children in January 2021 after being laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, told Insider that seeking the permit has turned into a five-month ordeal with two public hearings.

According to the lawsuit, Bain spoke out against the daycare at the first public hearing with the city's Zoning and Planning Commission.

"There are gonna be toys out there, and they're right on the golf course... When you walk by, drive by, you can see the kids out playing there, which is fine but there is a noise issue," he said, according to the lawsuit.

Following the hearing, the commission denied King's request for a permit, King's lawsuit said.

Erica Smith Ewing, King's attorney with the Institute for Justice, told Insider that Lakeway's home business ordinance is the "strictest we've seen" and gives the city 19 different reasons to deny a business.

When pressed as to why her request was rejected, the city said her business wasn't "undetectable," according to King's lawsuit.

Ewing told Insider that she felt the reasoning was too ambiguous. King said her home was always going to have toys in the yard and therefore would never be "undetectable."

The lawsuit alleges that another ruling levied against King was one that prohibits clients from coming to the home, putting King in violation by allowing parents to pick up and drop off their children.

King appealed the commission's decision to the city Board of Adjustments, which held a second public hearing where the current mayor testified in her favor.

But following the hearing, the city's Board of Adjustments denied King's appeal, according to city records.

In her lawsuit against the city filed on Tuesday, King is seeking $1 in damages and has asked the court to allow her daycare to remain open.

City ordinances state that King would normally face a $2,000 fine for every day she keeps the daycare open in violation of the city's decision, but Ewing told Insider that the city agreed not to enforce the fine until the case is heard in court, which is expected to take place in about a month.

A representative from the city of Lakeway told Insider that the city was made aware of the lawsuit on Tuesday.

"We are at an early stage of this process, therefore we will not be able to provide additional information at this time," the representative said.

Bain, meanwhile, told Insider that King's neighborhood does not have a homeowner's association and "relies on city ordinances (enacted in the 70s) to protect the neighbors rights."

He said an at-home daycare like King's "would never be allowed in any of the newer Lakeway areas protected by Home Owners Associations."

"No one wants to take away her means of support," Bain said. "She just needs to open her business in an area compatible with those types of business."

If the judge rules against King, she told Insider she may have to rent a different house away from the golf course to live out of and host her daycare.

"It's all very disheartening," King told Insider. "But I'm full of hope just knowing that I am doing the right thing. I did not just go away when certain people wanted me to just go away."

A hearing has not yet been assigned to King's case.