Harrisburg, PA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Harrisburg Codified Ordinances § 7-309.2(N) and (O) split home child care into two tiers in the City of Harrisburg. Both tiers apply only as an accessory use to a residential structure, in the RL, RM, CN, DC, and RF Zoning Districts, and both require the child-care provider to be a resident of the home.

Family home (subsection N): permitted by right. The number of children cannot exceed six, and that count includes the provider's own children. The facility must be licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, as the code names that agency, and must receive approval after issuance of a certificate of occupancy. It must receive building code, health, and life safety codes approval, be approved by the Codes Administrator and the Fire Bureau, and receive a mercantile license. It must also be tested for lead-based paint, with an abatement plan implemented prior to occupancy.

Group home (subsection O): permitted only by special exception, which runs through Chapter 7-323. The maximum is 12 children cared for at one time, again including the provider's own. The use must comply with the parking requirements of Chapter 7-327, and the facility must provide an on-site, secure, outdoor play area or be within 500 feet of an existing public park or playground that is accessible to the children during the hours the use is in operation. The same license, certificate of occupancy, Codes Administrator and Fire Bureau approval, mercantile license, and lead-based paint testing steps apply.

The definitions chapter draws the line above these tiers: a child-care center is a facility licensed by the Commonwealth where the provider cares for 13 or more children, including the provider's own, for less than 24 hours per day. A home operation therefore stays at 12 or fewer children, and a larger program belongs to the center rules for the districts that allow it. Section 7-309.1 also requires the applicant to demonstrate compliance with each criterion.