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

Sec. 6.2.2.B.5 of the Land Development Regulations sets Wellington's supplementary standards for child and adult day care centers. The minimum lot area is 6,000 square feet. Minimum usable floor area, exclusive of kitchen, office, storage and restroom space, is 1,500 square feet for a child day care serving up to 40 children, with 35 additional square feet required for each child above that count; an adult day care serving up to 20 adults needs the same 1,500-square-foot base with 75 additional square feet per additional adult, or the Palm Beach County Health Department's own minimum if that figure is larger.

The outdoor activity area must sit on the same lot, cannot be placed in the required front yard, and cannot sit next to any outdoor storage area of an adjacent use. Stationary play structures need a 25-foot setback from any residential property line and a ten-foot setback from any other property line. Landscaping rules require one 12-foot native canopy tree per 750 square feet of outdoor area. A six-foot fence or wall must enclose the entire outdoor area, backed by a perimeter planting of 14-foot canopy trees spaced 20 feet apart and a 24-inch hedge spaced 24 inches apart on the fence's exterior side.

Minimum outdoor play area scales by age: 45 square feet per child for those two and younger, and 1,500 square feet or 75 square feet per child, whichever is larger, for children older than two.