Rock Hill, SC Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

The City of Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance addresses home daycares as an accessory use to a household living use, not as a stand-alone commercial use category. 2(C), In-Home Day Cares, an operator running a daycare out of a single-family home in Rock Hill, York County, South Carolina must obtain an in-home day care permit before opening, provide three off-street parking spaces on the property for drop-off and pick-up traffic, and, if the operation includes an outdoor play area, enclose that play area with a solid fence at least four feet high.

Because the ordinance regulates in-home day cares as an accessory use rather than a primary use, an operator that grows past the accessory-use scale crosses into the primary child day care center category, which the ordinance's use definitions describe as a facility licensed by the state to serve more than five children under 18 outside the caregiver's own family. 2(C) rather than the primary-use standards that apply to a licensed day care center. The Zoning Ordinance was last updated June 22, 2026, so these accessory-use standards are current; readers should confirm the permit application requirements with the Planning & Development Department before starting a home daycare, since permit forms and fees are not printed in the ordinance text itself.