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Council Agenda: 09-01-2026
Item No.: 2.11
DRAFT--Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for final document.
RESOLUTION NO. ______________
A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN
JOSE REVISING COUNCIL POLICY 6-14, GUIDELINES
FOR CHILD CARE, TO INCORPORATE CURRENT STATE
REGULATIONS (ASSEMBLY BILL 752) AND APPLICABLE
LOCAL REGULATIONS FOR CHILD DAYCARE
FACILITIES
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of San José (“City”) adopted City Council Policy 6-14, “Guidelines For Child Care”, by City Council action on September 28, 1982 to provide child care providers with clear design guidance to ensure safe environments for children in care and promote compatibility between facilities and their surrounding neighborhoods, which policy has since been amended by the City Council on June 24, 2003; and
WHEREAS, in October 2025, the California State Legislature enacted Assembly Bill 752, which requires that daycare centers co-located with multifamily housing be treated as a residential use of property and be permitted by right, extending to such facilities the same treatment already afforded to small and large family daycare homes under the California Child Day Care Facilities Act; and
WHEREAS, as a result of this classification, daycare centers co-located with multifamily housing are no longer required to obtain a Special Use Permit; and
WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 752 further prohibits local jurisdictions from imposing any business license charge, tax, or equivalent fee on daycare centers co-located with multifamily housing; and
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Council Agenda: 09-01-2026
Item No.: 2.11
DRAFT--Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for final document.
WHEREAS, on June 2, 2026, the City Council approved amendments to San José Municipal Code Title 20 (Zoning Ordinance) to allow Child Day Care Centers in multi- family housing developments consistent with Assembly Bill 752; and
WHEREAS, the San José Municipal Code previously required a Conditional Use Permit for child care facilities, but now requires a Special Use Permit instead; and
WHEREAS, City Council Policy 6-14, Guidelines for Child Care, has not been amended since 2003 and must be updated to remain in compliance with these State and local requirements, and staff have accordingly reviewed the policy and incorporated provisions allowing child care centers within multifamily housing developments consistent with State law and Title 20 of the Municipal Code, together with minor administrative updates to remove outdated language, update references, and improve clarity;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN JOSE THAT:
The revised City Council Policy No. 6-14, entitled “Guidelines For Child Care,” which revised policy is attached hereto as Exhibit “A” and incorporated herein by this reference as though fully set forth herein, is hereby approved and shall, as of the date and time of adoption of this Resolution, replace City Council Policy 6-14, initially approved by the City Council on September 28, 1982 and revised on June 24, 2003.
SAW:AXY:KMF
08/20/2026
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Council Agenda: 09-01-2026
Item No.: 2.11
DRAFT--Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for final document.
ADOPTED this _____ day of ___________, 2026, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
DISQUALIFIED:
MATT MAHAN
Mayor
ATTEST:
TONI J. TABER, MMC
City Clerk
DRAFT--Contact the Office of the City Clerk at (408) 535-1260 or [email protected] for final document.
EXHIBIT A
City of San José, California
COUNCIL POLICY
TITLE GUIDELINES FOR CHILD
CARE
PAGE
1 of 8
POLICY NUMBER
6-14
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 28, 1982 REVISED DATE: June 24, 2003September 1, 2026
APPROVED BY COUNCIL ACTION: September 28, 1982; April 14, 1992; June 24, 2003; September 1, 2026
BACKGROUND
The composition of San José’s workforce has changed dramatically in recent years and is expected to continue to change in the future. The fastest growing segment of the labor force is the dual-working parents of young children. More parents would return to work if they could find affordable, quality child care.
The City of San José has historically encouraged new child care facilities and has continued to facilitate their development by deregulating and streamlining the process and requirements by whichith the City regulates them. Some of these requirements were streamlined in 1988 as a result of 1987 recommendations from the City's Child Care Task Force Report. The cooperation of child care providers is crucial in order to reap the full benefits of the City's streamlining efforts. One of the best means of ensuring success for a proposal is for the child care provider to acquaint themselves with the City's regulations, development process, and the Child Care Policy and its guidelines. Early contact with the City, as well as the State of California Department of Social Services Community Care and Licensing Division, is a key to successful development and operation of child care facilities in San José.
This Policy update continues the tradition of continuous improvement of the review process for child care facilities, and reflects the need that prudent design review guidelines must be followed to ensure child safety and to maintain neighborhood integrity. The intent of this Policy is to:
1. Create safe environments for all children in child care facilities in the City,
2. Ensure that child care facilities are good neighbors, and are compatible with their surroundings,
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3. Provide guidance to child care providers on how to successfully design and operate facilities with greater certainty, and
4. Consolidate the guidelines for use by child care providers, decision- makers, and City staff on the location, design and operation of child care facilities.
DEFINITIONS
1. Family Child Care Home - is any residential unit which regularly provides care, protection and supervision to fourteen (14) or fewer children, or as set forth by the State, as an incident to the use of the unit by a family as its residence, for periods of less than twenty-four hours per day. (20.200.380 of San José Municipal Code [SJMC]).
2. Child Care Center is any child care facility, including a preschool, other than a Family Care Home, which provides non-medical care to children under eighteen (18) years of age in need of personal services, supervision, or assistance for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of the individual on less than a 24-hour basis. (20.200.190 of SJMC).
PURPOSE
The City allows standalone Child Care Centers through the Conditional Special Use Permit process in several zoning districts to ensure that they conform to City requirements and are compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. Additionally, child care centers that are co-located within a Multifamily Housing Development are a permitted use, and allowed by right, pursuant to recent state law (AB 752, Avila Farias) and the San José Municipal Code (SJMC) Section 20.340.100.
In making recommendations to the Planning Commission, staff will review proposals for consistency with this Policy and the guidelines included in it as well as the Zoning Ordinance. Proposals are examined on a case-by-case basis to account for the unique circumstances of each property and proposal. To facilitate the evaluation process for individual permit applications, the guidelines identify the project characteristics necessary for approval.
In general, the guidelines have been crafted in the hope that they will be useful to those people engaged in the design, review, approval, and provision of child care.
They are intended as a reference point so that there can be a common understanding of the minimum design and operational expectations of Child Care Centers in San José.
Child care providers and their design consultants should become familiar with these guidelines and apply them appropriately to their projects so that they can be reviewed TITLE GUIDELINES FOR CHILD CARE PAGE 3 of 8 POLICY NUMBER 6-14
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and permitted by the City as efficiently as possible. These guidelines, however, do not try to encompass every technique of achieving the best standards in the design and operation of Child Care Centers. Care providers are encouraged to use their own creativity and work with the City staff to achieve individual excellence.
A successful Center normally begins with early discussions with the Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement (PBCE). and the City’s Office of Early Care and Education Service. In some cases, care providers may choose to utilize the Preliminary Review process with PBCE prior to applying for a Conditional Special Use Permit in order to improve the certainty, predictability, efficiency and potential cost savings of the review process. Early contact by child care providers also avails PBCE an opportunity to coordinate the request within the City and other stakeholders such as the State of California Department of Social Services Community Care and Licensing Division, if necessary. It also allows PBCE to advise the care provider on potential community interests and involvement and the need to conduct early, proactive community outreach possibly prior to the Conditional Special Use Permit process.
The guidelines in this Policy are general, designed to address citywide issues and should not be construed as the only requirements for each individual site. When deviation is made from the above guidelines, staff should identify the reasons for such deviation in the staff report to the Planning Commission, or City Council on appealto the decision-making body.
Existing Child Care Centers subject to a permit with a time condition are not subject to this Policy. Additionally, it is not the intention of this Policy to deal with specific educational and per-child interior/exterior play space requirements, which are the purview of the State of California Department of Social Services Community Care and Licensing Division.
POLICY
1. Regulations and Outreach
a) Use Matrix
Use Zoning Regulations Permit Required
Family Child Care Allowed by right in all
residential dwelling types as
incident to the primary
residential use.
• State Community Care
License
• City Fire Clearance1•
Business License Tax
1 Required for large Family Child Care serving between 9-14 children.
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Use Zoning Regulations Permit Required
Child Care Center located
on an existing school site or
as an incident to an on-site
Church/Religious Assembly
use involving no building
additions or changes to the
site
Allowed by Right in the Open
Space, Agriculture, and all
Residential and Commercial
Zoning Districts
• No Planning Permit
Required
• State Community Care
License
• City Fire Clearance
• Business License Tax
Child Care Center located
on an existing school site or
as an incident to an on-site
Church/Religious Assembly
use that involves building
additions or changes to the
site (excludes change out of
play equipment within
existing play area)
Conditional Special Use in all
Residential and Commercial
Zoning Districts; Special Use
Permit for expansion of legal
nonconforming use in all other
zoning districts
• A Conditional Use Permit
or Special Use Permit as
appropriate
• City Building Permit
• State Community Care
License
• City Fire Clearance
• Business License Tax
Child Care Center Conditional Special use in all
Residential and Commercial
zoning districts; Special use in
Combined
Industrial/Commercial,
Industrial Park, and Transit
Employment Center zoning
districts., as well as in all
Industrial zoning districts that
have a General Plan
Designation of Mixed
Industrial Overlay
• A Conditional Special Use
Permit
• City Building Permit
• State Community Care
License
• City Fire Clearance
• Business License Tax
Child Care Center within
multifamily housing
Permitted use if co-located
within a Multifamily Housing
Development
• City Building Permit
• State Community Care
License
• City Fire Clearance
b) Any interior or exterior building modifications and any new construction requires a City Building Permit.
c) The City Council has adopted a Policy on Public Outreach. This policy addresses the expectations for notifying surrounding property owners and tenants of pending land use applications.
The policy may be found at the PBCE offices or on lineonline at:
TITLE GUIDELINES FOR CHILD CARE PAGE 5 of 8 POLICY NUMBER 6-14
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http://www.ci.san-jose.ca.us/planning/
sjplan/https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments- offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-
division/start-a-new-project-or-use/development-policies.
2. Guidelines
a) Facility Location
i) New Child Care Centers are encouraged on developed
school sites and in conjunction with church uses.
ii) New Child Care Centers are encouraged in non-residential areas to provide care for children near employment
centers, provided that the surrounding business or
industrial activities would not adversely impact the Center. iii) New Child Care Centers near nonresidential areas should be reviewed for proximity to hazardous materials and
should not be located near facilities that may affect the health and safety of the children.
iv) New Child Care Centers are encouraged in residential areas on Major Collectors and Arterial streets, as
designated on the City’s current adopted San José 2020
General Plan Land Use/ Transportation Diagram.
v) Conversions from residential uses to Child Care Centers within homogenous single-family residential
neighborhoods are discouraged.
vi) New Child Care Centers are discouraged from locating on residential streets with limited accessibility, such as those that terminate in a cul-de-sac, in order to prevent traffic congestion and bottle-necking within the neighborhood.
vii) New Child Care Centers are encouraged in the transitional or mixed use areas at the margins of homogenous
neighborhoods as long as the health and safety of the
children is protected, and compatibility with proximate uses assured.
b) Traffic and Circulation
i) Access to new Child Care Centers to pick up and drop- off children should not negatively impact off-site traffic flow by causing on-street stacking or stopping.
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ii) On-site circulation should be designed to preclude vehicles from backing onto streets designated as Major Collectors and Arterials on the City's current adopted San José 2020 General Plan Land Use/Transportation Diagram.
iii) Traffic reports for new Child Care Centers may be required to analyze the traffic generated by the proposed project. iv) Child Care Centers located in nonresidential complexes should not allow drop-off and pick-up activities to interfere with the existing on-site traffic circulation.
v) New Child Care Centers should provide adequate vehicular driveways and sufficient turn-around areas for adequate on-site circulation.
c) Parking and Drop-off
i) All new Child Care Centers are required to provide parking in accordance with the Parking and Loading provision
codified under Chapter 20.90 of the San José Municipal
Code as may be amended.
ii) Parking areas should not be located in the front or side setback areas. The City regulates the amount of paving
allowed within the front setback areas in single family residential zoning districts, normally not to exceed 50%.
Refer to front yard paving provisions, Section 20.30.440, of the San José Municipal Code for more information.
iii) Child Care Centers should provide adequate short-term parking to accommodate child drop-off areas, which are
not located in the public right-of-way.
d) Site Design
i) Child Care Centers must conform to the setback
requirements of the Zoning District designated for the site. ii) New Child Care Centers should be on sites that are able to adequately accommodate the physical requirements of
on-site circulation, parking, play areas and setbacks. Our experience has found that this is normally at least a
10,000 square foot parcel or site.
iii) New Child Care Centers should install a minimum 6-foot high fence around the active outdoor play areas for child TITLE GUIDELINES FOR CHILD CARE PAGE 7 of 8 POLICY NUMBER 6-14
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security. A wall may be required to minimize potential
impacts from outdoor play and parking areas to
surrounding residential uses.
iv) New Child Care Centers proximate to residential
neighborhoods should locate play areas away from
adjacent residences as much as possible.
v) Landscaping should be installed and maintained in the areas not designated for parking and driveways in
accordance with the City's Landscape and Irrigation
Guidelines. Street trees should be installed if missing on the site frontage.
vi) A minimum of five feet of perimeter landscaping should be provided to buffer the active play areas, and 10 feet for parking or service areas of Child Care Centers, from any adjacent residential properties.
vii) Other than to ensure consistency with height requirements of accessory structures where required by the Zoning
Code, and to approve play areas themselves, the City
does not approve specific outdoor play equipment in the permit review process. Changes to the play equipment do not require additional planning approvals.
viii) Proposed building additions and any other exterior remodeling should be architecturally compatible with
existing structures and all new construction, additions and remodeling should be consistent the surrounding
neighborhood character.
ix) Proposed buildings should be compatible with the
surrounding area, particularly with respect to height and mass.
x) All roof equipment, trash enclosures, and mechanical equipment should be screened from view from public
streets and located to minimize the potential for nuisances to any adjacent residences.
xi) The use of temporary facilities not on permanent
foundations is prohibited.
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e) Number of Children
i) The maximum number of children for a new facility shall not exceed that allowed by the State Community Care
Licensing requirements for interior and exterior spaces. In addition, the other criteria outlined in this Policy,
particularly circulation, parking and land use compatibility will be utilized to determine if additional restrictions are warranted.
f) Operation
i) To minimize adverse impacts to adjacent residences,
Child Care Centers adjacent to residential neighborhoods should operate only from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
ii) New Child Care Centers are required to meet the noise standards of the Zoning Ordinance and should meet the
City's noise standards as specified in the City’s current adopted San José 2020 General Plan. A noise study may
be required for Child Care Centers proximate to residential neighborhoods to evaluate noise levels and identify
appropriate mitigation.
iii) The City's Office on Early Care and Education Services should review the operational aspects of all Child Care Center proposals to help ensure child safety and security and to evaluate consistency with State Community Care
Licensing requirements.
g) Other Requirements
i) Signage for a Child Care Center is regulated by the City's Sign Ordinance based on the zoning designation of the
proposed site.
ii) The Planning CommissionDirector, or the Planning
Commission/City Council on appeal, may impose other
appropriate conditions on a project-by project basis as required to ensure land use compatibility. The guidelines in this Policy represent minimum criteria for new Child Care Centers.
iii) The Conditional Special Use Permit should include
standard conditions, such as undergrounding utilities,
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providing public improvements, screening roof equipment, identifying materials, etc., necessary for the permit to fulfill the requirements for a Site Development Permit.
iv) Conditional Use Permits may be issued for a specified period of time. The normal time frame for a Child Care
Center is 5 years for the first permit approval, and 10 years for renewals.
v) Conditional Use Permits can be revoked or subsequent permits may be withheld or denied if the conditions of
approval of previous permits are not met.