Mountain View, CA Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

20 sets city review standards for child-care facilities "in conformance with state law, including the limitations on the city's authority to regulate these facilities," and requires licensing by the California Department of Social Services for every child-care facility. Small- and large-family child-care homes are treated as a residential use, permitted in any dwelling unit and held to the same standards as other residential uses on the property. 48, plus four site-specific conditions: no more than one bordering residential property, an adequate on-site drop-off/pick-up area so traffic doesn't back onto public streets, no siting next to a business using, selling or storing significant hazardous materials or generating high noise, and outdoor play areas set back from adjoining residential dwellings and enclosed by a minimum six-foot fence (wood or masonry along residential boundaries).

45 is also required. Centers co-located with multifamily residential development are instead treated as a residential use and held to the multifamily project's own development standards. 45(g), repeats the same six-foot fencing and drop-off/pick-up requirements for centers sited on city-owned land.