Shawnee County, KS Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Article XXVI, Sec. 00 of the Shawnee County Zoning Regulations applies its additional-use standards only when a district's use table specifically cross-references the article, and it states that wherever the district's own regulations are stricter than these added rules, the district regulations control. The article separates two kinds of day care: "type I," a dwelling unit where care is provided in the resident's home for up to 12 people, and "type II," a structure or portion of a structure operated for profit or not for profit as a primary use or as a secondary use ancillary to a place of worship, community center, library, or private business, which is the classification covering a purpose-built child care center.

Numerous district use tables list "day care facility, type II" as a provisional or conditional use subject to Article XXVI, for example Sec. 02(b)(4) in the M-2 multiple-family dwelling district. Sec. 00(f) sets the site-safety condition itself: a facility with street frontage only on a road the county's transportation plan designates a major traffic thoroughfare must provide an on-site automobile drop-off and pickup area sized for a minimum of two vehicles, laid out to match the transportation plan's access provisions. By contrast, Sec. 00(e) adds a second, separate condition for type I home day cares only: playground equipment or structures cannot sit in a yard facing a public street on a continuous or permanent basis, a rule the code does not repeat for type II centers.