Richland, WA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

RMC Section 23.42.080 lets a family day care home operate in a Richland residential district, but only once several conditions are met. The rules and regulations of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services governing the development, operation and maintenance of family day care homes apply directly, so the city defers to the state's substantive licensing standards rather than writing its own. Before the city will move the application forward, the applicant must give written assurance from DSHS that at least one of three things has happened: initial contact with DSHS about the proposed facility, an application for state licensing, or actual receipt of state licensing.

The home must also register with the Richland fire and emergency services department, a step distinct from the DSHS contact. For the outdoor play area, a family day care home's fencing or natural bounding must conform to the Washington Administrative Code rather than to a city-specific height number, which is the point where the code splits family day care homes from day care centers, the latter facing a flat four-foot fence height instead. The responsible city official inspects and confirms compliance with the DSHS assurance, the fire department registration and the play-area standard, and RMC Section 23.42.080(F) is explicit that no business license will be issued until that official has approved the application.

In practice, that ties the home occupation's business license under RMC Title 5 directly to satisfying every one of these day care specific conditions first, not simply to filing the paperwork.