Baldwin Park, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Child day care in homes is governed first by California state law. Under Health and Safety Code 1597.40, the Legislature occupies the field, declaring family day care homes a matter of statewide concern to the exclusion of most municipal zoning, building and fire regulation. HSC 1597.45 (as amended by SB 234 in 2019) now provides that the use of a home as a small OR large family day care home is a residential use of property and a use by right for all local ordinances, including zoning, and that a local jurisdiction cannot impose a business license, fee or tax for operating one. Baldwin Park's Zoning Code addresses 'Child Day Care Facilities and Large-Family Day Care Homes' in Part 6 of 153.120. Section 153.120.200 requires compliance with all applicable State of California use restrictions and ties day care hours to any required conditional use permit, and 153.120.210 sets development standards: child day care facilities must meet state development standards and the city's residential noise rules (153.140), and large-family day care homes must have a minimum 5,000-square-foot lot, sit at least 500 feet (1,000 feet on the same street) from another large-family day care home, and provide adequate on-street or off-street drop-off/pick-up parking. Because this 2012-era zoning text predates the 2019 state change, provisions implying a conditional use permit or treating large-family day care as more than a by-right use are now substantially preempted - a Baldwin Park large family day care home is State-licensed (Community Care Licensing) and treated as a by-right residential use. Rely on current state law where it conflicts with the older city standards.