Day Care Center - is a business in which individuals receive care and supervision for less than a twenty-four period for compensation or profit.

Child Care Center - is a building in which non-resident children under 18 years of age receive care and supervision for less than a 24 hour period. This includes infant centers, preschools, centers for mildly ill children and extended day care of school age children but does not include "family day care."

Family Day Care Home - is a home which regularly provides care, protection and supervision of fourteen or fewer persons under eighteen years of age, in the provider’s own home, for periods of less than twenty-four hours per day.

• Small Family Day Care – 7 or fewer children

• Large Family Day Care – 14 or fewer children

• Commercial Day Care – As determined by project review.

• Small Business-Sponsored Child Care – 14 or less

• Large Business-Sponsored Child Care - 30 or less

This section lists the types of permits that may be required to review a day care application. For further information on these permits, see Miscellaneous Plan Permits or Use Permits.

• A Miscellaneous Plan Permit (MPP) requires a ten working day review by planning staff. No public hearing is required.

• A Use Permit for Large Family Day Care may be reviewed at the counter or may take up to 6-8 weeks, depending on the location of the day care home.

• A Use Permit or Special Development Permit (UP or SDP) for any type of care facility except for a family day care home requires either an Administrative or Planning Commission public hearing, depending on the type of environmental review. A UP usually take 6 to 8 weeks to review if the application is complete and there is no appeal.

Small family day care does not require a permit from the City of Sunnyvale.

All large family day care centers requires a Use Permit with the City of Sunnyvale. As part of this permit, the City reviews the location of the day care in relation to other existing large family day care facilities.

The Sunnyvale Municipal Code has a requirement that no two large family day care homes on lots with one dwelling unit shall be closer than 300 feet to one another, as measured from the property lines.

If there are no other family day care homes within 300 feet of your proposed family day care home, then the application for Use Permit is reviewed by the Planning Division staff. No public hearing is required.

If there is a family day care within 300 feet, you can request a waiver from this requirement at a public hearing before the Planning Commission.

An application for this type of Use Permit must go through a public hearing process. As part of the application review, the planning staff reviews issues such as traffic, noise, location and hours of operation of the proposed day care.

Business-sponsored child care must be sponsored by the business located on the same site for the care of children of on-site employees in either the M-S or the M-3 Zoning Districts. The location of the center must be at least 1000 feet from another industrial property, or owners of industrial properties within 1000 feet must record an agreement not to use acutely hazardous materials as listed in the state’s CalARP program.

• Small business-sponsored childcare centers are permitted with a Miscellaneous Plan Permit, to be reviewed by the Planning Division.

• Large business-sponsored childcare must obtain a Use Permit, to be reviewed at a public hearing with the Planning Commission.

A day care center that does not qualify as a family day care home or as a business-sponsored child care is subject to the following requirements.

• Day Care License issued by the State of California, Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division.

• Fire Clearance with the Public Safety Department for all day care uses except for Small Family Day Care Homes.

• Contact the Building Safety Division for any building permit requirements.

To apply for the business license, please pick up the business license application at the One-Stop Permit Center. Restrictions that apply to home businesses, such as limitations on vehicle trips and maximum floor area, do not apply to family day care homes.

Call or visit the One-Stop Permit Center at City Hall. Planners are available to assist you between the hours of 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

This handout is intended to be a general description of day care facilities. For specific information, consult the Sunnyvale Municipal Code.

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