Monterey Park, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Table 21.08(B), the city's list of permitted accessory uses in residential zones, draws a hard line at seven children: Child day care, licensed for up to 7 children is marked P, permitted, in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 zones, while Child day care, licensed for 8 to 14 children is marked L, meaning it is allowed only subject to the limitations spelled out in Section 21.08.040(B). That section states that child day care for eight to 14 children is subject to State and City regulations, including a home occupation business license, on top of whatever California license the operator holds.

The biggest siting rule is distance: the child day care facility cannot be located within 300 feet of another child day care facility, with two narrow exceptions the applicant must demonstrate, that an existing day care within 300 feet is already at capacity, or that the new location fills a particular or unique service the nearby facility does not provide. The residence must also comply with all of the property's normal development standards, meaning the setback, height, and lot-coverage rules for whichever residential zone it sits in still apply on top of the day care conditions.

Because a home occupation permit under Section 21.08.040(C) is a separate, general-purpose zoning approval for running any business from a residence, a large family day care home effectively layers two approvals, the accessory-use limitation for the day care itself and the home occupation business license, before the City will let it operate for eight or more children.