Greenwood County, SC Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Greenwood County Code Sec. 6-3-221 defines a "family day care home" as one in which care is given in a family setting during the day only for one and not more than seven children, including the day care parents' own children, distinguishing it from a "group day care home" (up to 15 children) and a "day care center." Sec. 6-3-120, "Day care and child care facilities," then sets the countywide zoning standards that apply to any day care or child care facility, including a family day care home operating out of a residence.

Subsection (a) requires the facility to meet the minimum standards set by the Department of Social Services and other licensing agencies, with a DSS letter of approval required before zoning approval is granted. Subsection (b) requires the facility to conform to every applicable county and City of Greenwood ordinance, and the zoning administrator must confirm compliance before issuing a certificate of zoning compliance. Subsection (c) bars any other business enterprise from sharing the same lot with a child care center, except where the center serves the employees of that business.

Subsection (e) requires one parking space per employee and one parking space for every six children cared for at the facility, and subsection (g) requires a minimum of 75 square feet of usable, unpaved outdoor play area per child, enclosed by a fence at least four feet high. Subsection (k) requires a detailed site plan reviewed and approved by the zoning administrator, and subsection (n) requires every proposed child care center to pass a physical inspection before receiving permission to operate. Separately, in the forest/agricultural (FA) zoning district, a "family adult day care home" serving adults rather than children is treated as a conditional use requiring board of zoning appeals approval and can serve no more than six adults on-site.