Meriden, CT Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Meriden's zoning definitions section, § 213-7, adopts the state's own thresholds for home-based child care: a 'family child care home' is a private home meeting C.G.S. § 19a-77(a)(3), generally covering up to six children without a state-approved staff assistant or up to nine children with one, while a 'group child care home' covers seven to 12 children and must be separately licensed by the state under C.G.S. § 19a-80. The zoning code then places 'family child care home' on the accessory-use list at § 213-16C(6) in the R-R Rural Residential District and repeats the identical listing at § 213-17C(6) for S-R, § 213-18C(6) for R-1, and § 213-19C(6) for R-2, alongside 'group child care home' at item (7) in each district.

Because these are accessory uses rather than uses requiring a special exception permit, a family running a state-qualifying family child care home in an owner-occupied single-family dwelling does not need to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals or obtain the zoning permit that backyard poultry keeping requires; the zoning code simply defers to whatever license, if any, the state Office of Early Childhood requires for that scale of operation. Group child care homes carry the same accessory-use status in Meriden's zoning table but remain subject to the state license under C.G.S. § 19a-80 referenced in the definition itself.