Woodbury, MN Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Woodbury treats home-based daycare as an accessory use tied directly to household size under its zoning district standards. In the R-1 urban reserve, R-2 single-family estate and R-4 urban residential districts, sections 24-132(c), 24-133(c) and 24-134(c) each list "daycare, home-based and licensed, serving 12 or fewer persons" among the permitted accessory uses, meaning a licensed provider can operate in a house in any of these zones without a conditional use permit, subject only to state day-care licensing. Once enrollment rises to between 13 and 16 persons, sections 24-132(d), 24-133(d) and 24-134(d) reclassify the same use as a conditional use, requiring the operator to apply to the city for a conditional use permit, which goes through planning commission review and a city council decision and can carry conditions on parking, hours or outdoor play areas.

In the R-4 district, section 24-134(d) adds two further categories: daycare accessory to a place of worship or school, and licensed daycare serving more than 16 persons, which is allowed only along a collector or arterial street given the higher traffic it generates. Separately, the city's fee schedule sets a $50 charge for a residential daycare and foster care inspection, covering the fire and life-safety check that accompanies state licensing. A home-based provider who exceeds 12 children without first obtaining the conditional use permit is operating in violation of the zoning ordinance even if the state license itself is valid.