New Britain, CT Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Two separate tracks govern childcare in a New Britain house. Section 60-10-70 lists a licensed family child care home, as defined by Section 19a-77 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as a permitted use in the S-1 Residential District, and Section 60-10-80 does the same for a licensed group child care home; both provisions were approved April 4, 2024 (Item #36356-3), so a state-licensed provider does not need a special exception just to operate. Outside that licensed-provider track, Section 230-210-100 of the Zoning Ordinance separately bars home-based daycare for more than six children from being treated as a home occupation, grouping it with automobile repair, restaurants, and animal boarding as a use that can never qualify no matter how the operator structures it.

Every home occupation, including a smaller daycare that stays under the home-occupation umbrella rather than the state-licensed track, must also satisfy Section 230-210-10's accessory-and-subordinate requirement, Section 230-210-30's residents-only staffing rule, and Section 230-210-40's ban on noise, traffic, or parking demand atypical of a residential street, which matters for daycare drop-off and pickup. The Director of Licenses, Permits and Inspections enforces both tracks under Section 280-30-10. A resident planning to care for more than six children should pursue state child care licensing under Connecticut General Statutes Section 19a-77 rather than rely on the home-occupation category, since the zoning ordinance treats that larger scale as automatically disqualifying for a home occupation.