Greenville, NC Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Greenville's zoning code treats child day care as a regulated land use only once it crosses a specific size threshold. Section 9-4-22 defines 'day care; child' as an establishment providing care and supervision of six or more children away from their homes, by people other than family, for up to 18 hours a day. Below that headcount, the zoning code's child day care rules do not apply at all, leaving smaller in-home arrangements outside this particular regulatory scheme, though state licensing requirements for family child care homes operate independently of the city's zoning code.

Once a facility meets the six-or-more threshold, § 9-4-85(E) lists 'child day care facilities' among the uses that require a special use permit from the Board of Adjustment, and § 9-4-86(E) sets the specific site standards that come with it. Accessory structures, including playground equipment and pools, must be located in the rear yard. The minimum lot size grows by 100 square feet for every child above five. Outdoor play area must total 100 square feet per child and sit inside a fence at least four feet tall, with playground equipment placed according to the bufferyard regulations.

If the facility sits in a residential district, the site must keep a residential appearance 'to the greatest possible extent,' and employee parking must be located at the rear of the structure rather than out front. Because approval runs through the special use permit process rather than an as-of-right zoning check, the Board of Adjustment can also attach its own conditions under the general special use permit criteria in § 9-4-81.