Costa Mesa, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Sec. 13-37 requires operators to submit applications for large family day care homes to the planning division for development review under Chapter III, Planning Applications, before starting the use. State law defines a large family day care home as one serving 7 to 14 children (Sec. 1-6/Article 2 definitions, citing Health & Safety Code Sec. 78); a small family day care home serving 8 or fewer children is treated differently under the city's land use tables. The code restricts large homes to single-family dwellings and imposes a 700-foot separation from any other existing large family day care home on the same street or block, a distancing standard meant to prevent clustering of high-occupancy home businesses in one residential pocket.

An applicant who cannot meet that 700-foot spacing is not automatically denied: the code allows approval through a minor conditional use permit, reviewed against the standards in Sec. 13-31 for maintaining neighborhood stability and cohesiveness. The city council may adopt general standards applied case-by-case to these applications, and the final review authority (planning staff or the planning commission on appeal) can impose conditions to further those neighborhood-compatibility purposes. Sec. 13-37 also cross-references Health & Safety Code Sec. 46, exempting large family day care homes from California Environmental Quality Act review, so the city cannot require a CEQA study before approval.

The land use matrix at Table 13-30, item 17, confirms large family day care for 7-14 children is 'subject to the requirements of section 13-37,' distinguishing it from small family day care (up to 8 children), which is permitted with fewer restrictions, and from day care facilities of 15 or more children, which fall under a separate commercial land use category.