Jefferson Parish, LA Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Sec. 2 governs day care centers as a distinct zoning use from the smaller accessory day care home allowed as a home occupation under Sec. 4(7). Subsection (a) requires that all state requirements be met, and in addition to the requirements of the state, that the outdoor play area be enclosed by a permanent fence or barrier with a minimum height of four feet, so the parish's fence height is a floor on top of, not a substitute for, Louisiana's own day care licensing standards.

Subsection (b) addresses centers that don't have enough room for a play area on the same lot as the building: the play area may sit on a separate lot only if it meets state requirements, the separate lot is legally dedicated and bound to the lot containing the principal structure in an act of dedication duly recorded in the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court's records, and the separate lot sits in a zoning district that permits private and public playgrounds by right. Subsection (c) covers drop-off logistics: if a center provides an off-site drop-off zone rather than on-site drop-off, that zone has to be continuously connected by a path system to the main entrance of the day care center, so children and parents are never routed through a parking lot or street crossing without a dedicated walkway.

These standards sit alongside the parish's separate accessory day care home rules, which require a minimum 75 square feet of outdoor play area per child and a 6-foot opaque fence for the smaller, in-home version of the use.