Santa Barbara County, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

030, lists 'Small family day care home, serving children' and 'Large family day care home, serving children' with an 'E(4)' designation, meaning the use is exempt from zoning permits, subject to footnote 4. That footnote states plainly that 'a change of use to a large or small family day care home, serving children, is exempt from zoning permits,' while an application to construct a new structure for that purpose 'is subject to the same standards and permit requirements as a proposal to construct a residential structure in the same zone,' so no special day-care permit layer applies even to new construction.

465, tracking the state Family Day Care Home Act's own size classifications rather than setting an independent county cap. By contrast, family day care serving adults is treated differently: 'Small family day care home, serving adults' is exempt outright with no footnote qualifier, while 'Large family day care home, serving adults,' covering seven to 14 adults, requires a standard Land Use Permit ('P') rather than an exemption. A day care center, as opposed to a family day care home, is a different classified use: centers accessory to a dwelling need a Minor Conditional Use Permit, and centers serving up to 50 children can get a Land Use Permit under footnote 5.