Paramount, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

The Paramount Municipal Code defines a family daycare home in § 17.04.010 as a licensed daycare home in which the provider resides and which provides family child care for up to 12 children, or up to 14 children where the criteria in California Health and Safety Code Sections 1597.44 and 1597.465 are met. The definition points to Section 1596.78 of that code, as amended from time to time, and it requires the provider to hold a license from the State. A daycare run by someone who does not live on the premises, or who holds no State license, does not meet the City's definition.

Two consequences follow from the same definition. First, a family daycare home is not required to pay a business license fee or tax to the City to operate. Second, it is not a home occupation, so the permit and business license process in § 17.08.020(E), with its limit of one room or 25% of the total floor area and its bar on employees other than members of the resident family, does not apply to it.

Zoning approval comes from the permitted-use list. Section 17.08.020(K) names family daycare homes among the uses permitted in the R-1 zone in the City of Paramount, subject to the general provisions and exceptions in Chapter 17.44, and the R-2 chapter, 17.12, carries the same item in its own permitted-use list. The use sits in the permitted-use list rather than the conditional use permit list in § 17.08.030, so the City does not require a conditional use permit for it. Title 17 is enforced by the City Manager or a designated representative under § 17.04.120. Appeals from that official's decisions go to the Planning Commission, whose decision is final and conclusive unless the title says otherwise.