BELFAST – “Are we having a baby boom in Belfast that no one’s told us about,” Elizabeth Minor asked fellow Planning Board members Thursday in response to an agenda with requests from three preschools.

The board granted Toki Oshima and Jes Anthonis a permit to convert part of the Edgecomb Road farmhouse that was once the home base for the Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage development into a the Morning Glory Garden School. Anthonis founded the school in 2009 in Swanville and Oshima joined in 2012. Both have backgrounds in Waldorf education that informs the philosophy of the home-based preschool.

Oshima said the current plan is to open in Belfast by September. The school would serve up to 12 children per day. Oshima said there is no affiliation between the preschool and the neighboring Ecovillage — a 36-unit subdivision located just west of the farmhouse.

The Planning Board granted Regina Madden and Julie Schafflinger a permit to open a new preschool called New Horizons Daycare in an existing building behind the Faith Temple of God at 193 Lincolnville Avenue.

Madden is currently the director of the Bright Horizons Childrens Center located at the Bank of America complex in Belfast. The company recently announced it would be closing the daycare, which Madden said would result in the displacement of around 50 children based on current enrollment.

New Horizons Daycare will serve up to 34 children. The new venture has no affiliation with Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the national parent company of the Bank of America childcare center, or with the church from which it will lease space. Madden said the goal is to open by mid-September. For more information: (207) 446-2230.

A third preschool related request on Wednesday came from Ken Palmer of the Blue School, who was granted a permit to relocate on Spring Street to the lower level of the United Methodist Church, located at 23 Mill Lane.

Palmer described the Blue School as an "inclusive" preschool, meaning that it serves a children special needs alongside those who don't require special services. Palmer said he and his wife started the business 10 years ago. Today there are additional locations in Bangor and Ellsworth. Under the new plan, he said, the school would remain at its current capacity, serving 10-15 students on average, with a maximum of 20.

The Blue School would likely split the space in the lower level of the church with Broadreach Family & Community Services, which also offers inclusive preschool and infant care services at that location.

The Planning Board granted use permits to all three preschools, contingent upon the schools meeting all state licensing guidelines.

Asked about the idea of a baby boom in Belfast, the principals of the three preschools offered several views.

Oshima said the population in Belfast was definitely getting younger, particularly when compared with its southern neighbors Camden and Rockport.

Madden chalked the need for new preschools to the coming closure of the Bright Horizons daycare at Bank of America. Many parents she has talked to are scrambling to find preschool and daycare services and often ending up on waiting lists, she said.

But is there a baby boom?

“There’s not,” she said. “There’s just not enough quality child care in this area to meet the need.”

The relocation of the Blue School will not affect the number of openings for preschool-age children, but Palmer of the Blue School also cited the closure of the Bank of America facility as the likely reason for the surge in new preschools.

Also coming in September is The Children’s Voice preschool, according to a sign in front of the Johnson-Pratt mansion on Primrose Hill where the school is to be located. The Children's Voice was permitted by the Planning Board last September for up to 40 students. The building and property are currently undergoing renovations.

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Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com