Nassau County, FL Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Approval type
- Conditional use, all residential districts
- Lot standard
- Must meet district's lot area, width, setbacks
- Enrollment cap
- Fixed by the conditional use application itself
- Site plan review
- Required under LDC § 5.07
- Exempt use
- Licensed family day care homes, § 28.14(B)(6)
- First violation fine
- Up to $1,000/day (§ 1-61)
Summary
A child care facility bigger than a licensed family day care home needs conditional use approval in unincorporated Nassau County, and Land Development Code § 28.14(B) ties that approval to zoning-district lot standards, state licensing compliance, a fixed enrollment cap, and site plan review.
(B)Child care facilities: Child care facilities as defined in state law and in this Code shall be permissible conditional uses in all residential districts subject to all the following conditions:(1)Sites for child care facilities must, at a minimum, meet the lot area, width, and setback requirements of the zoning district in which they are located. ( ... 3)All facilities, operation and maintenance shall meet all applicable county and/or state regulations and licensing requirements for such use.(4)The conditional use application shall state the maximum number of children to be accommodated and in no case shall the number of children approved in the conditional use application be exceeded.(5)All child care facilities, as defined in this Code, are subject to the site plan review standards found in section 5.07 of this Code.
Full Breakdown
14(B) makes child care facilities a permissible conditional use in every residential district, subject to conditions that go beyond a simple use approval. Condition (1) requires the site to meet, at minimum, the lot area, width and setback requirements of the zoning district it sits in, so a facility can't be squeezed onto an undersized residential parcel. Condition (3) requires the facility, its operation and its maintenance to meet all applicable county and state regulations and licensing requirements, folding the state's day care licensing rules into the county's own conditional use standard.
Condition (4) is an enrollment cap tied directly to the approval: the conditional use application must state the maximum number of children to be accommodated, and the approved facility can never exceed that stated number, meaning an operator has to seek a new or amended conditional use before expanding enrollment. 07 of the Land Development Code, layering a site engineering review on top of the conditional use approval. The subsection carves out one exception at (B)(6): licensed family day care homes, as defined in state law and the county's own code, are a permissible use in all residential districts and skip this entire conditional-use, site-plan and enrollment-cap framework.
A center that grows past a family day care home's scale but tries to operate without the conditional use, the stated enrollment cap, or site plan approval is out of compliance with (B) even if it is properly licensed by the state.
Violations & Fines
Operating a child care facility above the enrollment number stated in its conditional use application, or without the site plan review required by § 28.14(B)(5), violates the Land Development Code and is enforced through the special magistrate under § 1-54. Fines run up to $1,000 per day for a first violation and $5,000 per day for a repeat violation under § 1-61, with liens up to 35 percent of assessed value and appeal to circuit court within 30 days under § 1-65.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a child care center need site plan approval in unincorporated Nassau County?
Can a child care facility enroll more children than its permit states?
Is state day care licensing enough to operate a center in unincorporated Nassau County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Nassau County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Nassau County to another location·View the Florida building safety overview
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