Palatine, IL Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Section 6.04(a) of Palatine's zoning ordinance lists eight uses that qualify as home occupations without any special-use review: babysitting limited to three children at a time, computer programming, day care home, dressmaking and tailoring, musical and dance instruction limited to three pupils, painting or writing, certain professional offices, and tutoring limited to three students. Day care home sits third on that list, meaning a licensed in-home child care business is treated as a by-right home occupation in every residential district in the Village, not something that needs a special use hearing before the Village Council.

That said, a day care home still has to satisfy every standard in § 6.04(d) that applies to all home occupations: the business cannot change the outside appearance of the dwelling, cannot be visible from the street or create unreasonable traffic, has to be run by a family member living in the home, cannot use more than 600 square feet of the dwelling, cannot generate unreasonable noise or odor, and needs a Village of Palatine business license where applicable. Because the ordinance caps home occupations at family-run staffing under § 6.04(d)(3) and (d)(4), a day care home cannot bring in an outside employee to help watch children under this zoning classification, separate from whatever staffing state day care licensing allows.

Operators also still need whatever license the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services requires for the home to operate as a licensed day care home; the Village's zoning approval only addresses where and how the use can sit on a residential lot, not the childcare licensing itself.