York County, VA Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)
Key Facts
- By-right cap
- 4 children under 13, Sec. 24.1-282(b)(2)
- SUP required above
- More than 4 non-resident children
- Home occupation size cap
- 400 sq ft or 25% of floor area
- Operator residency
- Provider must live on the premises
- Civil fine
- $200 first summons, $500 each additional
Summary
York County, Virginia lets a resident run a small daycare out of the house without a special permit, up to a point. Sec. 24.1-282(b)(2) permits day care, pre-school, or nursery care for up to four children under 13 as a matter of right, while Sec. 24.1-283(b)(1) requires a special use permit for more non-resident children.
(2)Day care, pre-school, or nursery for not more than four (4) children under the age of thirteen (13), exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home as residential occupancy by a single family. ... (b)Home occupation(s) with on-premises retail sales, or personal services, or customer/client contact exceeding one customer/client by appointment per hour or more than five customers/clients per day.(1)Uses which may be authorized under this section shall include barber and beauty shops, antique shops, certified and registered medical or health professionals, veterinarian with no kenneling, small engine and equipment repair, bicycle rental, rental of rooms for nontransient use, a day care, pre-school, or nursery school for more than four (4) non-resident children ...
Full Breakdown
York County treats home-based child care as a home occupation, governed by Article II, Division 8 of the zoning chapter. Sec. 24.1-282(b)(2) allows day care, pre-school, or nursery care for not more than four children under the age of thirteen as a matter of right in any residential district, and that count excludes the provider's own children and any children who already live in the home as part of the family's residential occupancy. Once a provider wants to care for more than four non-resident children, Sec.
24.1-283(b)(1) requires a special use permit from the Board of Supervisors, grouping home daycare with other higher-intensity home occupations like barber shops and in-home professional offices that draw more traffic than the by-right list. Either way, the general home occupation rules in Sec. 24.1-281 still apply: the operator has to live on the premises, the use can't exceed 400 square feet or 25 percent of the home's floor area, whichever is greater, public contact for the special-use-permit tier is limited to 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Monday through Saturday under Sec. 24.1-283(b)(2), and any parking demand beyond the household's own has to be handled off the street. The home occupation also cannot generate traffic, sewage, or water use greater than what's normal in a residential neighborhood, and any noise it produces has to stay within the sound levels set in Sec. 16-19.3.
Violations & Fines
Running a home daycare beyond the four-child by-right limit without a special use permit, or otherwise violating the home occupation standards in Article II, Division 8, is specifically listed as a civil-ticket offense under Sec. 24.1-109(c)(3)b.5: a $200 civil penalty for the first summons and $500 for each additional summons, or prosecution as a $10 to $1,000 misdemeanor if the owner doesn't pay the ticket.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many kids can I watch at home in York County without a permit?
What if I want to care for more than four children?
What happens if I run an unpermitted home daycare?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in York County
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