Tulare County, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

California law occupies the field of family day care home regulation, expressly limiting what counties may do. Under Health & Safety Code section 1597.40 and following, the use of a home as a small or large family day care home is declared a residential use of property and a use by right for purposes of all local ordinances, including zoning. A small family day care home serves up to 8 children and a large family day care home serves 7 to 14 children, inclusive (including the provider's own resident children under 10). SB 234 (the Keeping Kids Close to Home Act) amended these sections to make large family day care homes a by-right residential use statewide and to bar local jurisdictions from requiring a conditional or special use permit for them. The statute also prohibits a local jurisdiction from imposing a business license, fee, or tax for the privilege of operating a small or large family day care home, though a county may charge a fee to process an application it is permitted to require. Operators are licensed by the California Department of Social Services (Community Care Licensing), not by the County. Tulare County therefore cannot use Ordinance No. 352 to zone these homes out of residential areas; it may apply only the limited, non-discriminatory standards the state allows (such as the same spacing, fire, and parking rules that the statute specifically authorizes).