Story County, IA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Story County's Land Development Regulations draw a line between a child care home and a child care center. 08(44) defines a child care home, in-home day care as a person or program located in a single-family dwelling providing child care, including child development homes and child care homes as defined by the Iowa Department of Human Services. 08(43) defines the separate category, a child care center, as a facility licensed as such under Iowa Code Chapter 237A. 04(3)(K) puts a child care home on the list of accessory uses permitted by right in the A-1 Agricultural District alongside accessory buildings and home businesses, so a resident does not need to apply for a conditional use permit or go before the Board of Adjustment just to run a home-based day care.

10(2)(C) lists child care centers among the principal permitted uses in the C-LI Commercial/Light Industrial District, and elsewhere the code's use tables mark larger centers serving more than six children as a conditional use requiring case-by-case review. One overlap worth flagging: Story County's electronic smoking device chapter folds a child care home into its list of public places, so smoking and vaping rules that apply in public buildings extend indoors to a private residence being used for child care.