Methuen, MA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

The Methuen Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance treats family day-care as an accessory use of a single-family home. Section 5.13(A)(2) lists a family day-care home, large and small, among the single-family residential accessory uses and sends the reader to Article II for the definition. Because § 5.1 prohibits any use not listed, this listing is what makes the use available at a house in the City of Methuen.

Article II sets the size line between the two categories. A small family day-care home is a private residence that, on a regular basis, receives for temporary custody and care during part or all of the day children under seven years of age, or children under 16 years of age if the children have special needs. The total number of children under 16 cannot exceed six, including participating children living in the residence. A large family day-care home adds care for school-age children for a limited number of hours, and the number of children under the age of 16 cannot exceed 10, including participating children living in the residence.

Both definitions exclude a private residence used for an informal cooperative arrangement among neighbors or relatives, or the occasional care of children, with or without compensation. Both reference the licensing definition in MGL c. 28A, § 9, which the ordinance adopts by reference. The ordinance also keeps day-care separate from the home occupation rule in § 5.6, which limits a home occupation to 25% of the existing gross floor area of the dwelling unit, not to exceed 700 square feet, and employs one nonresident. Business districts allow accessory day-care under § 5.15(D), capped at 10% of the gross floor area of the principal use.