Carrollton, TX Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Article 35, the Definitions article of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (updated April 2026), treats a "Registered and Licensed Child-Care Home or Listed Family Home" as regulated jointly by the state and the city. Licensing itself runs through Chapter 42 of the Texas Human Resources Code and the Texas Administrative Code standards set by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, not through a separate Carrollton permit. On the zoning side, the Use Table entry C0025, "Registered and Licensed Child Care Homes or Listed Family Homes," carries an "A" (allowed) designation across the city's residential districts, so a properly state-registered or licensed home operator does not need a Special Use Permit the way a stand-alone child day care center does.

The ordinance's numeric caps are what keep the use "residential in character" and eligible for the Home Occupation label: a Registered and Licensed Child Care Home may serve up to 12 children for less than 24 hours per day at the operator's home, while a Listed Family Home is limited to three children unrelated to the home occupant. Ordinance No. 3587 (adopted December 3, 2013) added the staffing limit, capping every registered or licensed home to no more than two unrelated employees in addition to the primary caregiver.

Because the use is tied to the Certificate of Occupancy and building-use rules in Article 31, exceeding these caps or operating without the underlying state registration or license converts the home into a use the zoning ordinance no longer recognizes as by-right.