Smithtown, NY Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Section 322-82C(9) of the Building Zone Ordinance makes day-care centers and nursery schools a special exception use subject to Board of Appeals approval, on top of the general standards in Section 322-94G. In a residence district, the use may be located only on a lawfully existing day camp site or on at least one acre of land belonging to a hospital, nursing home, church, or school, which keeps standalone commercial day cares out of ordinary residential lots. Every site must include a passenger loading and discharge zone large enough that parents and children are not forced to cross drives or aisles to reach the entrance, addressing pickup-line safety directly in the zoning text.

Outdoor recreation areas must be set back from hazardous uses to the standards HUD applies when siting development near hazardous commercial or industrial facilities, and the building and outdoor play area cannot sit in the required front yard or within 50 feet of any residential lot line. Play areas must also be protected from traffic and set back at least 10 feet from parking areas. , unless the Board of Appeals modifies that window for a particular site. Because these are special exception conditions, the Board can add site-specific safeguards, and Section 322-82A(2) makes a violation of any Board-imposed condition a violation of the chapter in its own right, enforced the same as any other zoning breach.