Colorado Springs, CO Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

H of the Unified Development Code, in-home adult or child day care may operate as an accessory use inside a dwelling, but only if the activity complies with all applicable state and City licensing requirements, the code does not permit an unlicensed operation. 301, splits the use into two tiers: Home Adult or Child Day Care Center, Accessory, Small, which serves up to six full-time and two part-time children or adults, and the Large tier, which serves more than six and fewer than twelve full-time and part-time children or adults.

The facility must be located in a dwelling unit occupied by one or more of the operators, and it must be accessory to the structure's primary purpose as a residence, it cannot become the primary use of the property. Regular overnight occupancy is not allowed, though the definition expressly permits occasional 24-hour emergency care. H also carries the same site standards applied to the larger, non-home Adult or Child Day Care Center use: the accessory use must provide whatever minimum indoor and outdoor square footage state law and regulation mandate, no part of any required outdoor play space may sit within the front yard setback, and the Planning Manager can require screening of that outdoor space from adjacent residential properties when needed to reduce play-area noise.

Because the standard cross-references state licensing rather than setting its own numeric footage requirement, an operator has to confirm the applicable square-footage figure with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood alongside the zoning review.