Navajo County, AZ Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Section 502 of the Zoning Ordinance separates the R1-43 and R1-10 Single-Family Districts' permitted uses from its Special Use Permit list, and item 7 on the Special Use Permit list is day care facilities and nurseries accommodating seven or more clients. Because the ordinance only names the seven-or-more tier, a home daycare with six or fewer clients is not on either list and is not treated as a distinct zoning use requiring a hearing, though a caregiver still needs whatever state licensing track applies separate from zoning.

Once a home daycare reaches seven clients, Section 1912's General Conditions Applicable to all Special Use Permits control the process: the operator files an application with the Department, pays the fee the Board of Supervisors sets, and completes the Special Use Permit Checklist. The Director can attach conditions, including yard and open-space limits, fencing or screening, parking-surface specifications, regulation of vehicle ingress and egress for drop-off and pick-up traffic, and noise or vibration controls aimed at protecting neighboring properties, plus a time limit for the use to actually begin operating.

A Special Use Permit for a daycare may run with the land or be issued for a fixed term, and Section 1912 lets the Department extend it administratively for up to 90 days if the operator applies at least 60 days before expiration. The same seven-or-more threshold and Special Use Permit requirement repeats in Section 602 for the R Multi-Family Districts.