Fairfax County supervisors directed staff on Tuesday to draft rules that could eliminate public hearings for home-based day care approvals.
At the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Policy Committee meeting, Chairman Jeff McKay said the current path to approval "takes way too long." Currently, the process takes a median of 251 days despite zero applications being denied since January 2024. Four supervisors voiced support for scrapping hearings entirely and replacing them with a staff-level administrative permit.
All 53 home day care applications that reached a public hearing since January 2024 were approved. Another 36 remain in process, according to the county's white paper on the issue dated June 30.
Two options on the table
County planner Jacqui Kamp, principal planner in the Zoning Administration Division, presented two paths at the Tuesday meeting:
Option 1 would eliminate Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors and Board of Zoning Appeals public hearings for home daycares serving five to 12 children. Approvals would be handled entirely by county staff.
Option 2 would keep some oversight but raise the number of children allowed by right to 10 in single-family homes and eight in other dwelling types. Only providers seeking to serve 11 or 12 children would need a special permit, and they could submit a simpler house location survey instead of a full zoning plat.
Arlington County has already moved to allow providers to serve up to 12 children administratively in all dwelling types, a benchmark cited in the county's white paper.
Where supervisors stand
Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity backed the fully administrative route. "The fear of going through the process rebuffs those who might be interested in providing day-care services at home," Herrity said at the meeting. He also stressed that home daycares should remain in owner-occupied properties to prevent investors from buying homes solely to run child care businesses.
Supervisors Dalia Palchik (Providence), Dan Storck (Mount Vernon), Rodney Lusk (Franconia) and Kathy Smith (Sully) also favored the administrative approach. Smith noted some applications are taking more than 200 days.
The cost picture
The countywide median cost of home-based care in Fairfax County is $19,760 per year as of 2025, according to Kamp's presentation. Center-based care runs higher: $22,308 for preschoolers, $24,638 for toddlers and $27,300 for infants.
Beyond tuition, providers seeking expanded approval face a $615 application fee and must submit a zoning plat that can cost upward of $1,000. The median time from application to acceptance alone is 104 days.
Fairfax County has 1,158 licensed or permitted home daycares. Of those, 608 serve up to four children and 550 serve five to 12.
What comes next
The Planning Commission's Land Use Process Review Committee took up the same issue on Thursday. County staff plan to draft zoning ordinance text this summer, hold community outreach events in fall 2026, and bring the matter to formal authorization and public hearings by early 2027.
Residents can follow the amendment and submit comments at fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-development/zoning-ordinance/amendments/home-day-care or contact Kamp at 703-324-1314.
