Tuscaloosa, AL Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Section 25-107 treats home-based child care as two separate accessory uses. Subsection (g)(2) covers a day care home or group day care home operating as an accessory use to any dwelling: it must comply with the minimum standards the State of Alabama sets for a day care home or group day care home, must screen any outdoor play area next to a residential lot line with a six-foot solid fence or wall, and must keep outdoor play equipment at least 20 feet from any residential lot line and out of the area between the principal building and the front lot line.

Subsection (l) restates essentially the same three requirements specifically for a group day care home operating as an accessory use to a single-family dwelling: state minimum standards compliance, the six-foot screening fence or wall along residential lot lines, and the 20-foot equipment setback that also keeps equipment out of the front yard. Table V-5 shows day care facilities require a special exception use permit in most residential districts, and a group day care home likewise requires a special exception in the SFR-1 through SFR-5 districts, so a homeowner cannot simply start operating without first going through the zoning board of adjustment.

In the D, DP, and DHE downtown districts, a day care facility is only allowed as an accessory use to a commercial or institutional use, not as an accessory to a dwelling, and must meet the loading, unloading, parking, and circulation standards that apply to day care centers under Section 25-100(c)(1)(i).