Apple Valley, MN Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Apple Valley splits home child care into two tracks in its zoning code. Section 155.051(D) lists, among the permitted uses in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 districts, a community-based family-care home, a day care home licensed under M.S. § 245.812, or a home for the care of the mentally or physically handicapped licensed by the state. A licensed day care home needs no conditional use permit to locate in those districts.

A day care home that is not licensed by the state under M.S. § 245.812 lands in § 155.052(A)(3) instead. No land can be used for it except by a conditional use permit, and two conditions attach. First, the facility has to meet all existing health, fire, building and housing codes. Second, a separation of one-quarter mile has to exist between the facilities. The City Council can grant an exception to the one-quarter mile rule when strong community support exists, when program effectiveness is closely tied to particular cultural resources in the community, or when an effective natural or manmade barrier exists between facilities.

Under § 155.052(B), the conditional use permit is reviewed at one-year intervals, so an unlicensed operator faces a recurring review rather than a one-time approval.

The district cross-references carry these rules further. The R-5 two-family district in § 155.066(A) allows any permitted, conditional or accessory use in the R single-family districts, and § 155.021(A) makes any R-district conditional use a conditional use in the agricultural district.

A small home-based program can also fall under the home occupation definition in § 155.003, which names child day-care centers or teaching limited to six students at any one time. A home occupation still has to stay within the principal structure and cannot use an accessory building or attached garage.