Elyria, OH Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Section 1125.16 defines a "child care facility" as a place, licensed by the State of Ohio, where care, protection and supervision of children are provided on a regular schedule, for a fee. In the R-LD district, § 1142.04(D) lists Child Care Facilities among the conditionally permitted uses, provided eight conditions substantially exist.

The hard numbers: a minimum lot area of thirty thousand (30,000) square feet; a minimum lot frontage of one hundred seventy-five (175) feet; minimum building setbacks of fifty (50) feet from the front, side and rear property lines; and a minimum parking setback of fifty (50) feet from the front property line and thirty (30) feet from the side and rear property lines. For comparison, the ordinary R-LD single household lot minimum in § 1142.05 is eight thousand seven hundred fifty (8,750) square feet.

The safety and siting conditions: the play area shall be fenced in, so as to provide a safe and secure environment for the children. To minimize adverse impact on surrounding residential property, the facility should be placed, to the extent possible, on the extremity of a single-family district if located on a local street, or on a major arterial/collector street. Drop-off and pick-up should be located so as not to impede traffic safety, and parking should be located to avoid the necessity for the parent or children to cross streets or access driveways. Items 5, 7 and 8 are written with "should," while items 1 through 4 and 6 use "shall."

The same lot area, frontage and setback conditions are printed in the COS, R-MD, R-UD, R-TH and R-MHL chapters. The Building Department fee schedule in § 109.13(a)(11) also lists special inspections of child care, preschool, foster care, latch key, group homes and similar uses at $55.00 (per building, electrical, heating and plumbing inspections, and one reinspection for each discipline).