Boca Raton, FL Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Sec. 28-339(a)(4) lists baby-sitting services as an accessory use permitted in single-family residential zoning districts, but it is not unrestricted. The code caps a sitter's own residence at a maximum of 5 children, counting members of the sitter's immediate family under 12 years of age toward that total, meaning a household with several young children of its own has less room to take in others. No sign advertising that the premises are used for baby-sitting is allowed, keeping the use visually indistinguishable from an ordinary home.

The city also folds in a county licensing requirement: the sitter must hold a current, valid permit from Palm Beach County for operation of a family day care facility under article II of chapter 39 of the county code, plus a valid city certificate of use and payment of a business tax as a children's nursing home category. This layered structure means a Boca Raton resident cannot rely on the zoning accessory-use allowance alone; without the county family day care permit and city certificate of use and business tax receipt, the home operation is not lawfully established even if the child count and signage rules are followed.

Larger, dedicated child care and adult care centers are treated differently: Sec. 28-340(2) requires those as a conditional use tied to an approved institutional use and subject to the supplementary regulations in Sec. , a materially heavier process than the accessory baby-sitting allowance.