Coeur d'Alene, ID Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Section 17.06.715 of the Coeur d'Alene Municipal Code requires a home occupation certificate for every home occupation in the City. It is issued on request once the conditions of sections 17.06.720 and 17.06.725 are met. The application asks for the legal description, the building area involved, the number and residence of the people involved, anticipated traffic, and a site plan showing property lines, structures, setbacks and off-street parking. For childcare services the outdoor play areas must appear on that plan. The fee is set by resolution of the City Council.

Section 17.06.720 applies in every zoning district. The home occupation is conducted within the principal residence or a completely enclosed accessory structure, and it cannot use more than thirty percent of the dwelling unit's total floor area. Pedestrian and vehicular traffic cannot total more than twenty trips per day, averaged over five working days, where a trip is a single one-direction movement entering or leaving the property. A daycare that generates overnight or long-term parking of more than 3 hours must show that on-street parking abutting the site, or off-street parking, is adequate. Signs are limited to those the zoning district permits, and noise, smell and glare must meet the standards in sections 17.07.120B, 17.07.125B and 17.07.130B.

Residential districts add section 17.06.725. No one other than resident family members can be employed, except that a home childcare service is allowed one employee who is not a resident or family member, as Chapter 5.68 and state law require. Any other employee takes a special use permit under Chapter 17.09. Outdoor space can be used only for the required childcare play areas. The off-street parking schedule in the zoning code treats a home occupation daycare facility like the principal residential use: paved parking plus a specified area or plan for safe loading and unloading of children.

The zoning certificate does not replace the city childcare license. Under section 5.68.030 a family childcare home is a principal residence with no more than six children at one time, and a group childcare home has seven to nine children at one time.