Madera, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

1312 governs large family day care homes, defined by reference to Cal. 78(b), operating in Madera's single-family residential zones. No one may operate one without first obtaining a use permit that meets the standards in division (B). The application goes to the Planning Department with a fee set under the Madera Planning Processing Fee Schedule, and the Planning Director must mail notice to owners within 100 feet of the site at least 10 days before deciding. If no hearing is requested, the Planning Director decides the application directly; if a hearing is requested, it goes to the Planning Commission, and either decision can be appealed up to the City Council.

To qualify, the operator must live in the home as their legal principal residence and the day care use must remain clearly incidental to the residential use. The home cannot be structurally altered in a way that changes the neighborhood's residential character. One off-street parking space is required for each non-resident employee, on top of the home's normal parking requirement, and the operator must submit a safe loading and unloading plan for children, with the driveway used instead of the street if on-street parking is insufficient.

No sign or other indicia identifying the home as a day care may be visible from the right-of-way. Spacing standards keep day cares from clustering: a minimum 300 feet must separate the parcel from the nearest other licensed large family day care home, and no more than one large family day care may operate within 500 feet of a child day care facility or elementary school. The operator must also hold a state license from the Department of Social Services, comply with Fire Department and Building Official health and safety rules, bar smoking in the home while children are present, and keep noise within the General Plan's noise element for single-family areas.