Jackson, NJ Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

The Land Use and Development Regulations define a family day-care home in § 244-6 as a private residence approved by the Division of Youth and Family Services, or an organization under contract with the Division, in which child-care services are regularly provided to no fewer than three and no more than five children for at least 15 hours a week; a child cared for by a relative or under an informal, unpaid parental cooperative does not count toward that limit. Because it is licensed at the state level rather than through a Township land-use approval, § 244-46B lists family day-care home as item (12) among the permitted accessory uses of buildings and structures in the R-2, R-3 and R-5 Residential Zones, alongside items such as fences, private garages and residential swimming pools, meaning it needs no conditional-use hearing before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

The R-1 Residential Zone extends the same treatment under its own accessory-use list. That stands in contrast to § 244-114, which classifies child-care centers, nursery schools and day-care centers as conditional uses requiring a minimum one-acre lot, accessory buildings set back at least 20 feet from side and rear lines, at least 100 square feet of fenced outdoor recreational space per rated building capacity, no basement classrooms, on-site loading and unloading, and a license from the Division of Youth and Family Services under § 244-114I.

A home business that exceeds the five-child, state-licensed family day-care threshold therefore has to move to the conditional-use standards for a center rather than operate as an accessory use.