Stratford, CT Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Stratford treats home daycare more openly than other home businesses. Section 4.4.11(D) of the Zoning Regulations, in the section on Home based businesses, says family daycare homes and group daycare homes, as regulated and licensed by the State of Connecticut Department of Human Resources, are permitted in all residential districts, provided the daycare is located within a residence and in compliance with state standards for day care facilities. No special permit is named in that subsection.

That is wider than the rest of Section 4.4.11. Under subsection B, home offices and certain home occupations are permitted in one-family residence districts only, and the 25% floor area cap and one non-resident employee limit sit in subsection C. The daycare sentence is separate, so a licensed home daycare in any residential district in the Town of Stratford is not bound by the one-family restriction in subsection B.

The Definitions section of the Zoning Regulations sorts the three childcare uses by size. DAY CARE, FAMILY HOME is a program of supplementary care within a private family home, as defined in Section 19a-77 of the General Statutes, also referred to as a family childcare home. DAY CARE, GROUP HOME is a program of supplementary care for not less than seven nor more than 12 related or unrelated children on a regular basis, or one that meets the family day care home definition except that it operates in a facility other than a private family home. DAY CARE, CENTER is a facility that provides supplementary care to more than 12 related or unrelated children outside their own homes on a regular basis, and the use table lists it separately as a commercial use.

The parking schedule in Section 6.8 (Parking and Loading) lists a childcare facility (day care facilities) under Commercial Uses at 1 per employee, plus 1 per 10 kids.