Chattanooga, TN Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Section 38-45 defines a day care home as a residential dwelling where a permanent occupant provides care for minors, the elderly, and/or functionally-impaired adults from outside households in a protective setting for less than 24 hours per day. The final sentence of the definition matters to parents: a facility that only receives children from a single household is not a day care home. Care is not limited to children, so a resident who looks after elderly neighbors or functionally-impaired adults during the day falls in the same category.

Section 38-43(e)(11) takes day care homes out of the home occupation rules. Day care homes of any type are not considered a home occupation and are regulated separately as a principal use. That sorting decides which rulebook applies: the home occupation limits in § 38-43(e), such as the cap of two non-resident workers and the single 1.5 square foot wall sign, are written for home occupations, and the day care home standards sit in § 38-42(l) and Table 38-41.1.

Table 38-41.1 (Use Matrix) splits the use by headcount. The row for Day Care Home, 8 or Less Children/Adults carries only P, which § 38-41(b)(1) defines as permitted by right. The row for Day Care Home, 9 or More Children/Adults carries only SE, a special exception under § 38-41(b)(2). Under § 38-41(b)(3), a blank cell means the use is not allowed in that zone, so the zone column still has to list the use. The matrix prints its use-standards reference as 38-42 (j), while the standards themselves now print under subsection (l).

The standards in § 38-42(l) have two parts. Subsection (1) requires each day care home to comply with all applicable state regulations, including required indoor and outdoor space. Subsection (2) requires the operator license to be displayed publicly. Both parts apply to the 8-or-fewer home and the 9-or-more home alike.