Cleveland County, NC Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

The Child Day Care row in Section 12-124's Table of Permitted Uses, NAICS code 62441, carries a 'Z' for permitted by right across Rural Residential, Rural Agricultural, Restricted Residential, Residential, Manufactured Homes and Parks, Neighborhood Business, General Business, and Corridor Protection. Only the Light Industrial and Heavy Industrial columns are blank, meaning a day care use isn't permitted in the county's two industrial districts.

Because the table lists Child Day Care as a single use category, without a separate row for a home-based operation, the by-right permission covers both a standalone day care center and a child care business run out of a residence in any of those eight districts, without a special use permit. A day care operator still needs a zoning permit from the administrator under Section 12-32 confirming the property's district and compliance with the ordinance's other requirements, such as parking, before opening; Section 12-142's parking table doesn't list day care as a distinct use, so the administrator classifies it by the most comparable listed use when setting the required spaces.