Parma, OH Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

" A new day-care building, or an addition exceeding 25% of existing gross floor area, is permitted in a Single-Family House District only with a conditional use permit issued under Chapter 1126; any other public facility use not listed is prohibited outright in that district. Council and the Planning Commission must also find the site compatible with adjoining residential uses and located on a main street unless a local street can absorb the added traffic. Subsection (c) then applies fixed physical standards to every day-care building citywide, whether or not a conditional use permit was required: maximum lot coverage of 25% by all main and accessory buildings, minimum lot width of 100 feet at the front setback line, a 50-foot minimum front setback with no parking allowed in that yard, side and rear yards of at least 50 feet from a residential property line (25 feet from a nonresidential line), off-street parking meeting the ratios in Chapter 1197, landscaping over at least 30% of the lot, and a permanent five-foot fence or hedge buffer approved by the Planning Commission.

Outside Single-Family Districts, day-care centers appear directly in several zoning use tables as permitted or conditional uses, with a parking standard of one space per 400 square feet. Enforcement runs through Chapter 1123: a Building Commissioner who finds a violation issues a written correction order, and the operator has 30 days to comply before the case goes to the Law Director for prosecution.