Longmont, CO Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)
Key Facts
- Max capacity
- 12 children (under 18) or 8 adults
- Location requirement
- Provider's own permanent residence
- Zoning status
- Permitted in all residential zoning districts
- Governing section
- § 15.04.030.C.5
- Licensing
- All federal, state and local regulations apply
- Commercial day care center
- Different, more restrictive use category
Summary
Longmont allows residential day care as a permitted accessory use in every zoning district that allows household living, but caps it at 12 children under 18 or eight adults, and requires the provider to run it out of their own permanent residence.
5.Day care, residential.a.Day care facilities shall be operated in the permanent residence of the provider.b.Day care facilities shall provide care for no more than 12 children under the age of 18 years or eight adults. All residents of the home and all children and adults on the premises who receive care in the facility are included in the total number of children allowed.c.Day care facilities shall comply with all federal, state and local regulations.
Full Breakdown
5. Those standards require that day care facilities 'be operated in the permanent residence of the provider,' meaning the business cannot run out of a separate accessory structure or a rented unit where the operator doesn't live. Capacity is capped at 'no more than 12 children under the age of 18 years or eight adults,' and the code counts every child and adult on the premises who receives care toward that ceiling, including the provider's own children and any other household residents who are there to receive care rather than provide it.
c also requires compliance with 'all federal, state and local regulations,' which brings in the state's separate child care licensing requirements on top of the zoning rule. 2, so a resident who wants to expand beyond the 12-child/eight-adult residential threshold has to reclassify the operation and go through a separate commercial siting review rather than simply growing the home-based business.
Violations & Fines
Operating a home day care above the 12-child/eight-adult cap, or running it from a location other than the provider's own permanent residence, takes the use outside the permitted 'day care, residential' classification and exposes the operator to the code's general use-and-zoning enforcement, since the use is only permitted by right when it matches what the table of allowed uses describes. A provider who wants to grow beyond the residential threshold must reclassify as a commercial day care center and satisfy the accessory-to-nonresidential-use standards that apply to that separate use category instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many kids can I legally watch in my Longmont home?
Can I run a home day care out of a rental property I don't live in, in Longmont?
Is home day care allowed in every Longmont zoning district?
Do I still need a state license to run a home day care in Longmont?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Longmont
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