El Paso, TX Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

140(A) sets the zoning standards a home must meet to legally operate as a home child care facility: a licensed, in-home business that watches a caretaker's own children plus others in a residential setting. The operator must hold whatever license the state requires at all times, and the use must stay clearly incidental and secondary to the home's residential character, with a caregiver present. Play activity is confined to the rear yard; the front, side and side-street yards must remain open space. The code sets minimum space per child: 30 square feet of indoor area (not counting single-purpose rooms defined under the Texas Human Resources Code) and 80 square feet of rear-yard play area.

Signage is limited to a one-square-foot nameplate, and the exterior cannot be altered, decorated or painted in a way that distracts from the neighborhood's residential character. Every year, the operator must get certification from the fire chief, the building official, the director of environmental services, and the licensing supervisor for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services confirming the use and structure still comply with each department's codes. The play area itself must be enclosed by a solid masonry wall at least 4 feet high separating it from every adjacent property.

Parking is set at one off-street space plus one additional space for every six children, and that count can include garage, carport and paved driveway spaces; any curbside passenger loading needs sign-off from the traffic engineer. 270's general home-occupation standards on noise, hours, employees and traffic apply on top of these child-care-specific rules.