Rochester, NY Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)
Key Facts
- Zoning status
- Permitted use in R-1, no special permit needed
- Governing section
- Rochester City Code § 120-8(C), (D)
- State license required
- NY Social Services Law § 390 license
- Family day-care home size
- 3 to 6 children, up to 8 conditionally
- Group family day-care home size
- 7 to 10 children, up to 12
- Day-care centers (non-family)
- Special permit required under § 120-9(C)
Summary
Rochester's Zoning Code lists family and group family day-care homes as an outright permitted use in the R-1 Low-Density Residential District, the same tier as single-family homes, so no special permit or public hearing is required. Stand-alone day-care centers that don't qualify as a family or group home need a special permit instead.
The following uses are permitted in the R-1 District: A. Single-family detached dwellings. B. Single-family attached dwellings. C. Family and group family day-care homes. D. Adult family day-care homes.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4935326; v86 updated 2026-06-16; through 06-16-2026).
Full Breakdown
City Code § 120-8 permits "Family and group family day-care homes" (Subsection C) and "Adult family day-care homes" (Subsection D) in the R-1 District alongside single-family detached and attached dwellings, meaning a licensed home day care can open without site-plan review or a special-permit hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Code's definitions section, § 120-208, ties the use to New York's licensing scheme: a family day-care home is a program licensed under § 390 of the NY Social Services Law caring for three to six children, expandable to seven or eight if no more than six are under school age and the school-age children attend only outside school hours.
A group family day-care home is licensed the same way but covers seven to 10 children of any age, or up to 12 if all are over two. Because home day cares are a listed permitted use rather than a "home occupation," the citywide 25%-of-floor-area cap on home occupations in § 120-139A expressly does not apply to them. By contrast, a day-care center that does not meet the family or group-family definition is only allowed as a special permit use under § 120-9C, must clear the additional standards in § 120-135, and must sit at least 1,000 feet from any existing sexually oriented business.
The same permitted-use listing carries forward through Rochester's other residential district articles in Chapter 120, so the by-right status for a licensed family or group family day-care home is not limited to the R-1 District alone.
Violations & Fines
Operating a day-care use without the required New York State Department of Social Services license, or running what is actually a day-care center under the family/group-family definitions without the special permit § 120-9C requires, is enforced under Chapter 120's penalty provisions. The Director of Zoning and Permitting enforces the Code under § 120-205, and violations carry the citywide fine of up to $500 or 15 days' imprisonment per offense under § 52-3A(1), with each day of continued violation a separate offense under § 120-206.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a special permit to run a home day care in Rochester?
How many children can a family day-care home in Rochester serve?
Does the home-occupation floor-area limit apply to home day cares?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Rochester
New York rules heatmap·Compare Rochester to another location·View the New York home business overview
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