Eagan, MN Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

City Code Sec. 11.70, Subd. 23 regulates home occupations, and in-home daycare is listed as a permitted accessory use in residential districts under Sec. 11.60 subject to state day care licensing, meaning a home daycare must satisfy both the state license and this local performance standard. Subd. 23 requires that the occupation remain clearly incidental and secondary to the dwelling's residential use and not change its character. No more than three persons may be engaged in the home occupation at once, and only one of those three may live outside the dwelling, capping the effective staff size for a home daycare provider.

The activity cannot be run out of a detached or attached accessory building or garage; it must operate from within the principal structure, with the entrance to the home occupation gained from inside the house rather than a separate exterior door. No physical or visual evidence of the business may be visible from the street, no signs are allowed beyond what is otherwise permitted in residential districts, and over-the-counter retail sales are prohibited outright. Parking is capped at three off-street spaces for the occupant and visitors combined, which limits daycare pickup and drop-off traffic on residential streets.

Community Development enforces these standards through zoning complaints and code enforcement inspections, separate from the state's Department of Human Services licensing process that governs staffing ratios and safety inside the home.