Mount Prospect, IL Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Childcare in the Village of Mount Prospect is sorted by size in the zoning definitions of § 14.2401. A daycare center is a nonfamily home that regularly provides daycare for less than twenty four hours per day for more than three children. A daycare home is a family home which receives more than three and up to a maximum of twelve children for less than twenty four hours per day, provided the mix of the children's ages does not require an assistant under the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services' licensing standards for daycare homes.

The twelve child ceiling in a daycare home counts the family's natural, foster or adopted children and all other persons under the age of twelve. Both definitions end with the same mandate: daycare centers and daycare homes shall meet all applicable Village, County and State regulations.

The land use tables in § 14.604 assign the approval level. Section 14.604 explains that permitted uses are identified by a P, conditional uses by a C, and a blank space means the use is not permitted in that district. In Land Use Table 1, which covers the residential and recreational districts, the row for daycare center carries C, while the row for daycare home carries P. Land Use Table 2, for the commercial and industrial districts, also lists daycare centers with C. A center therefore needs conditional use approval, and a home is a permitted use in the districts where it is marked.

Parking is set by § 14.2207. The off street parking table lists daycare center or nursery at one space per employee plus one space for each ten licensed capacity slots. Centers therefore size their parking to licensed capacity, which ties the zoning file to the State license the definition points to.