Tampa, FL Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Sec. 27-132 splits day care regulation into two tiers. A facility serving five or fewer children is treated as a minor use and, per Table 4-1, is marked 'X', permitted principal use, in essentially every zoning district citywide, no special use review required. Once a facility reaches six or more children or adults, Table 4-1 instead marks it S-1 or S-2 depending on the district (S-2, requiring city council review, in most single-family districts; S-1, zoning-administrator review, in most multifamily and commercial districts), and Sec.

27-132's specific standards for 'Day care and nursery facilities (six (6) or more children or adults)' kick in: the Department of Public Works must approve that the site has adequate off-street pickup and delivery space, and, in the RS-60, RS-50, RM-12, RM-16 and RM-18 districts specifically, the site must have direct access to an arterial or collector street as identified on the city's Major Street Map rather than relying on a local residential street for drop-off traffic. Both standards are evaluated as part of the special use application under the general procedures of Article II, Division 5, alongside the citywide general standards in Sec. 27-129 covering ingress/egress, parking and traffic safety.