Woodland, CA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Woodland Municipal Code § 17.84.150 governs family day cares operated out of a home, along with day care centers and residential care facilities, as its own zoning category separate from the general home occupation rules in § 17.84.200(B). Before opening, the operator must secure and maintain all required State of California Department of Social Services licensing. The zoning code layers a spacing standard on top of the State license: a family day care may not locate within 300 feet of any other day care center, family day care, or residential care facility, unless the Community Development Director specifically allows closer placement through a use permit.

Operators must also meet a no drug-or-alcohol policy signed by residents and staff, and any outdoor recreational area must be screened by a minimum six-foot-high solid wall or fence, since chain-link and barbed wire are barred under subsection E. Large family day cares must submit a pick-up and drop-off plan to the Director covering scheduled arrival and departure times and prohibiting double-parking or the use of a neighbor's driveway, so that traffic does not spill onto surrounding streets. These location, screening, and traffic standards apply on top of, not instead of, the State of California's own family day care licensing law, and Woodland's Community Development Department enforces the local zoning layer.