Yorba Linda, CA Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Yorba Linda Municipal Code § 18.20.730 splits day care uses by size and applies different review to each. A small family day care home, six or fewer children plus up to two under-10 residents of the home, is a permitted use outright in every residential zone (Table 18.20-2, marked P), subject only to the zone's ordinary development standards. A large family day care home, 9 to 14 children, instead needs a modified conditional use permit granted by the zoning administrator under § 18.38.050.G. The zoning administrator must confirm the home is at least 500 feet from any other large family day care home or child day care center, that the owner keeps two covered and two open parking stalls available on the property, and that the City Traffic Engineer signs off if the home sits on an arterial or collector street identified in the General Plan.

The operator must also provide 75 square feet of outdoor activity space per non-infant child, though that requirement can be waived if a public park or school sits nearby. Child day care centers, the commercial-scale use, are permitted in residential, commercial and industrial zones only with a conditional use permit issued by the Planning Commission and continued compliance with the zone's development standards, per subsection C. Community care facilities for seven or more individuals face a similar Planning Commission conditional use permit and a 650-foot separation from another such facility under subsection D.