Tigard, OR Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Section 18.110.030 sets the use rules for the five residential base zones, RES-A through RES-E. Its RES zone use restrictions put day care under Indoor Sales and Services and split it in two: family day care is allowed, and other day care uses are conditionally allowed. The same paragraph prohibits all other Indoor Sales and Services uses in residential zones, with one exception in the RES-E zone, where they are limited to the first story of apartment developments and a maximum gross square footage of 10 percent of the building.

Section 18.30.020 defines family day care as a facility authorized under ORS 329A to provide child care, and it adds that these facilities are referred to as Registered Family Child Care Homes or Certified Family Child Care Homes. Any day care that does not fit that definition is one of the other day care uses. A conditional use is one that requires the approval of the Hearings Officer using discretionary criteria, with the approval process and criteria in Chapter 18.740, Conditional Use. Section 18.60.060 lists day cares as an example of the personal service-oriented Indoor Sales and Services use, and Table 18.120.1 rates Indoor Sales and Services as restricted in the COM, MUC, MUE and MUR commercial zones.

Home-based providers get a second break. Chapter 18.760 applies to any accessory commercial use associated with a primary Household Living use, and Section 18.760.020 lists family day care uses among the activities exempt from it, next to garage sales and hobbies that do not result in payment. Day care also carries a distance rule against another use: Section 18.320.070 prohibits Adult Entertainment uses within 500 feet of any day care or hospital.