Sparks, NV Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Section 20.03.015 sets the zoning standards for "Day care/child care" uses, applying across three categories the code labels Adult Day Care, Child Care Facility, and Child Care, In-home, the category that covers a home-based daycare business. The threshold rule triggers once a facility serves at least 12 children or adults at any time: at that size, the facility must be adjacent to and accessed from a collector or arterial street rather than a purely local residential street, and the site must be designed so that all passenger loading and unloading from vehicles happens on site rather than in the street.

Where a facility abuts a single-family zoning district, the code layers on neighbor-protection rules: the building entrance and access must be oriented away from residential uses on local streets, outdoor activity is limited to daylight hours, and outdoor lighting has to be designed so it doesn't shine directly onto any adjoining residential property. The hours-of-operation cap applies to all three category types, including in-home care: operations shall not extend beyond the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., unless the operator obtains a Conditional Use Permit approving a different schedule. Because this sits in Chapter 20.03's citywide use standards, it layers on top of whatever the underlying residential zoning district otherwise allows for a day-care use, per Section 20.03.001(B).