Utah County, UT Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

UCLUO § 2.08 defines a "Commercial Day Care Center" as a building with ancillary playground facilities where care and supervision are provided to minor children in lieu of care ordinarily given by a parent at home, operating between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. only, for direct or indirect compensation. That hours cap is written directly into the definition, so it functions as an operating condition on any commercial center in the unincorporated county, not merely a description.

Zoning-wise, UCLUO § 12.32 lists "Commercial day care centers" among the Permitted Uses in the NC-1 Neighborhood Commercial Zone, alongside preschools, restaurants, grocery stores, and professional offices. That placement distinguishes a commercial center from the separately defined "Home Child Care" use, which is licensed, located inside a residence, and instead a permitted use in residential and agricultural zones. A commercial center operator in unincorporated Utah County therefore needs both a qualifying commercial zone location and compliance with the code's built-in overnight closure between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., a restriction that does not appear in the residential home-based definition. Because the center is a building-based commercial use, it is also subject to the land use ordinance's general permitted-use conditions, including the parking, loading, and plot-plan approval requirements of UCLUO §§ 4.60 and 4.64 that apply to nonresidential buildings before a building permit is approved.