Coconut Creek, FL Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Section 13-295 of the Land Development Code defines a child care facility as any child care center or arrangement that cares for more than five children unrelated to the operator for less than twenty-four hours a day on a regular basis, supplements parental care, enrichment and health supervision, and receives a payment, fee or grant for any of the children, wherever operated and whether or not for profit. Five programs are carved out: public and non-public schools and their integral programs (except as provided in F.S. § 402.3025), summer camps with children in full-time residence, summer day camps, Bible schools normally held during vacation periods, and transient establishments serving only their own guests when all child care personnel pass level 2 screening under F.S. Ch. 435.

Zoning decides where a center can open. The RC-8 attached district (§ 13-337(c)(1)) and the RM-10 multiple-family district (§ 13-338(c)(1)) both list a child care facility under special land use approval. In the master business list of § 13-621, Child Care Facility carries an S in the B-3 and B-4 columns and is blank in B-2. The list's key defines S as a special land use under § 13-35. The RS-1 single-family district lists no child care facility among its permitted uses, and its special land use line reads Reserved.

A special land use, under § 13-35, is a use that is not appropriate throughout a district but can be permitted if limited by number, area, location or relation to the neighborhood. The development review committee reviews the application, the planning and zoning board makes a recommendation, and the City Commission then approves, approves with conditions, or denies it by resolution. Conditions can include more stringent development standards and restricted hours.

The city no longer has its own child care licensing chapter. Ordinance No. 2018-008, adopted March 8, 2018, repealed Chapter 7 (Child Care Centers). The business tax receipt schedule in § 18-37 still lists a children's day care line at $127.61 and notes that a county health permit is required.