Madison County, IL Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

088, titled 'Nursery Schools,' is one of the use-specific standards in Chapter 93's general zoning regulations that applies wherever the underlying zoning district allows a nursery school use. It sets two per-child space minimums rather than a flat site size. Division (A) requires at least 50 square feet of floor space for each child, calculated in addition to whatever space the facility already sets aside for sleeping purposes, so nap areas cannot be counted toward the 50-square-foot activity space figure. Division (B) requires at least 100 square feet of outdoor play area per child, and specifies that the area must be enclosed, meaning fenced, which ties into the general fencing and screening standards used elsewhere in the zoning code for outdoor recreation areas.

Because both numbers scale with enrollment, a larger nursery school needs proportionally more indoor and fenced outdoor space before the Zoning Administrator will sign off on the use, whether that approval comes through a straightforward permitted use review or, in districts where nursery schools require it, a special use permit process. 088 governs only the zoning-level site and space requirements. This standard reaches only unincorporated Madison County property; a nursery school or daycare inside Edwardsville, Alton or another incorporated municipality is subject to that city's own zoning and building requirements instead.