Carver County, MN Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

073(C) of the Carver County Code of Ordinances, alongside offices, professional services, craft or trade, hair styling salons or barbershops, teaching, tutoring or counseling, repair, and single truck owner-operators. To qualify, the grooming operation must stay secondary to the residential use of the home, be conducted principally by family members living there, and comply with the full set of home-occupation standards. Subsection (8) singles out grooming by name for a client cap: because dog grooming is treated the same as a professional service like a hair salon, clients on the premises cannot exceed three at any one time, and incidental supplies used in the grooming, such as shampoo, are not treated as stock-in-trade that would otherwise be barred from on-site sale.

The broader home-occupation rules also apply: no exterior alteration of the residence, no more than one non-family employee, off-street parking capped at three spaces, no outdoor display of goods or equipment, and any accessory structure used for the business (for holding supplies or equipment) requires a certificate of zoning compliance from the Land Management Department. A grooming operation that outgrows these limits, more clients, more employees, or a stand-alone commercial building, no longer qualifies as a home occupation and would need separate commercial zoning approval.