Jupiter, FL Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Sec. 302(2)(a) through (e). Sec. 27-2100 permits child care facilities by right in the Commercial, General District (C-2) and certain Indiantown Road Overlay zones with C-2 or C-3 underlying zoning, and as a special exception in most other residential, commercial and mixed-use districts, including several Mixed Use Development District subdistricts. Office, industrial or medical buildings may add an accessory child care facility for tenants or staff, by right if under 2,500 square feet in certain institutional districts, or by special exception if larger or in industrial districts.

Sec. 27-2101 sets the physical standards: minimum lot area of 5,000 square feet; at least 35 square feet of usable indoor space per child, measured between interior walls and excluding stairways, hallways, bathrooms, fixed furniture, kitchens, offices, laundry rooms and storage; at least 75 square feet of outdoor play area per non-infant child for half the facility's licensed non-infant capacity, with a hard floor of 1,500 square feet of outdoor play area regardless of enrollment; and at least 45 square feet of outdoor play area per infant for half the licensed infant capacity.

Every outdoor play area must be enclosed by fencing, a wall, or a combination at least four feet high, maintained without gaps that would let a child climb over, crawl under, or let animals in. The town may also require a landscape buffer to protect neighboring property values, and every facility must separately meet county health department rules. Sec. 27-2102 keeps day care, preschool and school facilities at least 400 feet from any gasoline filling or service station, dropping to 100 feet inside the Mixed Use Development District, measured from the station's property line to the facility's nearest building.