Flagstaff, AZ Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)
Key Facts
- Outside employees allowed
- one full-time, non-resident
- Maximum persons in care
- eight, including qualifying adults
- Outdoor screening required
- minimum 5-foot fence or wall
- Overnight care
- not allowed, under 24 hours
- State license
- required if Arizona requires one
Summary
In the City of Flagstaff, a home day care may employ only one outside worker, must screen outdoor play areas with a five-foot fence, and is capped at eight total persons in care, counting children under 14 and any older or disabled dependent adult. A State of Arizona license is required whenever the State requires one.
A. Day Care Home. ... 1. No more than one full-time person not residing on the premises may be employed in the home day care use. 2. The home day care shall be conducted in a manner that does not create adverse impacts on the residential character of the neighborhood, including, but not limited to dust, noise, order, and traffic. ... ... 4. Outdoor activities and equipment associated with the home day care are permitted and must be screened by a minimum five-foot-high fence or wall. 5. The hours of operation shall not create adverse impacts on adjoining properties. 6. The maximum number of persons that day care services may be provided for in a dwelling or a dwelling's accessory structure shall not exceed eight persons. The maximum number of eight persons shall include children under the age of 14, and any older individual, or disabled person (14 years of age or older) that resides in the dwelling and supervision is provided for. 7. Supervision of children, older individuals, or disabled adults is limited to less than 24 hours. 8. When required by the State of Arizona, all day care homes shall maintain an active State issued license.
Full Breakdown
Flagstaff Zoning Code Section 10-40.60.150 treats Day Care Home and Day Care Center as two separate use types with different standards, and the home version is written to keep the use compatible with a residential neighborhood. Only one full-time employee who does not live on the premises may work in a home day care; anyone else providing care must be a resident of the dwelling. The operation cannot create adverse impacts on the residential character of the neighborhood, including dust, noise, order or traffic, and its hours of operation cannot create adverse impacts on adjoining properties either.
There is no cap on the floor area devoted to the day care use during active hours, but any outdoor play equipment and activity area must be screened by a minimum five-foot-high fence or wall. The maximum headcount in care is eight persons, and that count includes children under 14 plus any older individual or disabled person age 14 or older who resides in the home and is supervised there; supervision of any of these persons is limited to under 24 hours, ruling out overnight care.
When Arizona requires a facility license for the operation, the home day care must keep that State license active as a condition of the zoning approval. By contrast, a Day Care Center in a nonresidential setting must meet State and fire codes, provide public access, and enclose outdoor areas with a six-foot fence, standards the home-based use does not carry.
Violations & Fines
The section itself carries no dollar penalty; a home day care that exceeds the eight-person cap, employs more than one outside worker, skips the required outdoor screening fence, or lets its Arizona license lapse when one is required is out of compliance with its zoning approval and subject to code enforcement action by Community Development and the loss of its right to operate at that address until it corrects the violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many kids can a Flagstaff home day care legally watch?
Can a home day care in Flagstaff hire staff?
Does a Flagstaff home day care need a fence?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Flagstaff
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