Portsmouth, VA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Portsmouth's zoning ordinance defines a Family Day Home, in Sec. 2-211, as a licensed child day program run out of the provider's residence or a client's home for five through twelve children under age 13, not counting the provider's own children or children who live in the home. A home caring for four or fewer children, or four or fewer under age two, is instead treated as Child Sitting and regulated as a Home Occupation rather than a Family Day Home. Sec. 2-217(E)(1)(b) requires the provider to hold a state license and comply with all state day-home regulations before operating.

2-2292. If no adjoining owner files a written objection within 30 days of that mailing, the Zoning Administrator may issue the Zoning Permit. If even one adjoining owner objects in writing within the 30-day window, the Zoning Permit must be denied, and the provider's only path forward is a discretionary Use Permit application under Sec. 2-533, reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council rather than approved administratively. 00 Use Permit application fee. Because Sec. 2-211 bars the city from imposing restrictions on a Family Day Home that are more restrictive than those applied to a household of related family members, the notice-and-objection process is Portsmouth's chief zoning-specific control on this use.