Monterey, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Monterey City Code § 38-26(J) sets the supplemental regulations for large-family day care homes across all residential districts. A Use Permit issued by the Planning Commission is required to operate one, and the permit expires three years after issuance or immediately if the caregiver's state license to operate a family day care home expires or is revoked; renewal follows the same procedure as the initial application. The Planning Commission can only issue the permit after a noticed public hearing and only if it can find that the proposal meets all California Department of Social Services requirements for large-family day care centers, that the City Fire Department and the Building Safety & Inspections Division approve use of the residential structure for that purpose, and that the structure's primary use will remain a residence.

On top of state licensing standards, the city layers its own numeric requirements: a minimum lot area of 10,000 square feet, an outdoor play area enclosed by a natural barrier, wall, fence or other solid structure at least six feet high and adequately separated from driveways, streets and parking areas, one additional off-street parking space per employee beyond what the residence itself requires, and adequate off-street space for safely picking up and dropping off children. The section separately bars any large-family day care facility from generating excessive traffic on local residential streets.

A distinct, smaller category, small-family day care serving up to a handful of children, is permitted outright as an accessory residential use elsewhere in the code and does not trigger this Use Permit process.