Dearborn Heights, MI Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Sec. 36-166 of the zoning ordinance governs where and how a child care center may operate in Dearborn Heights. Subsection (a) requires every center to be registered with or licensed by the State of Michigan and to meet the state's minimum facility standards before the city will approve it. Subsection (b) sets a site standard on top of that license: at least 150 square feet of outdoor recreation area per child at the center's licensed capacity, with a citywide floor of 5,000 square feet regardless of enrollment, and that outdoor area must be fenced, secured, and screened from any abutting residential use under subsection 36-392(e).

The planning commission may accept an off-site recreational facility instead, but only if the applicant documents that the State of Michigan has approved the substitution. Subsection (c) requires the site plan to show adequate employee parking and a pick-up and drop-off area designed to keep pedestrians and vehicles from conflicting and to avoid disrupting traffic on the public street. Subsection (d) requires frontage on, and direct vehicle access to, a street classified as a collector, arterial, or thoroughfare on the city's master plan or by county or state road authorities; access from local streets is limited to secondary access needed for health and safety.

Subsection (e) caps operating hours at sixteen hours per day for any child care center located in a residential district or run as an accessory use to a residential property.