Merced County, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

150 sets location, development, and operation standards for child day care facilities. 465 as serving nine to 14 children in a single-family residence, must be the provider's principal residence, comply with the zone's yard, height, setback, and lot coverage standards, and provide at least 75 square feet of outdoor activity space per ambulatory child on land the applicant owns or leases. Outdoor play equipment must sit at least five feet from the property line, and in urban residential areas the outdoor play area must be enclosed by a solid wall or barrier at least six feet high.

A large home must also be located at least 800 feet from any other large child day care home or child day care center, measured property line to property line, though the Director can approve a closer distance after finding no adverse effect on surrounding properties or traffic safety, a site design that minimizes neighbor noise, and no material reduction in neighboring residents' privacy. 46(d) fire and life safety standards is mandatory. Child day care centers, which are commercial facilities rather than home-based care, must additionally take access only from a collector or arterial street (or a business-lined local street) and separate play areas from residential yards with a six-foot solid masonry wall. 44, are not subject to these additional county siting standards.