Colorado Springs, CO Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- UDC § 7.3.303.A.1.c
- Core standard
- Must be fully enclosed building
- Category excludes
- Vet services, shelters, kennels
- Zoning status
- Permitted (P) by right in listed districts
- Parking requirement
- 1 space per 400 sq ft GFA
Summary
Pet Services, the UDC's category for grooming, retail sales, and small-animal training, must be located entirely within a completely enclosed building under § 7.3.303.A.1.c. The category is permitted by right in listed commercial and industrial zone districts and excludes veterinary care, shelters, and kennels.
1. Animal Shelters, Kennels, Pet Services, and Veterinary Services: ... c. Pet Services. All operations must be located within a completely enclosed building. PET SERVICES: This category includes pet specific services and sales that do not include veterinary services. The primary uses associated with this category are sales and grooming of animals, incidental pet health services, and training of small animals used as household pets. This use excludes animal shelters, veterinary services, and kennels.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-21: Code current through: Ord. 26-23, passed June 9, 2026).
Full Breakdown
301 as covering 'pet specific services and sales that do not include veterinary services,' with grooming, sales, incidental pet health services, and training of small household-pet animals named as the primary uses. 1. c, in the same block that regulates Animal Shelters, Kennels, Pet Services, and Veterinary Services together: unlike shelters and kennels, which carry 25-foot (or 55-foot next to residential zoning) outdoor setback requirements, Pet Services carries a single operational rule, all operations must be located within a completely enclosed building, meaning outdoor grooming stations, wash bays, or animal handling areas are not allowed under this use.
The citywide use table lists Pet Services as a permitted ('P') by-right use in a range of commercial and mixed-use zone districts, and off-street parking for the use is set at one space per 400 square feet of gross floor area. Because the enclosed-building rule is the only substantive standard attached to this use, a groomer's principal compliance obligations are choosing a zone district where the table shows Pet Services as permitted and keeping every grooming activity inside the building envelope, there is no outdoor exception comparable to the ones written for kennels or animal shelters.
Violations & Fines
The UDC does not write a separate fine schedule into § 7.3.303.A.1.c, so a grooming operation conducted outdoors, or opened in a zone district where the use table doesn't list Pet Services as permitted, falls under the City Code's General Penalty at § 1.1.201: conviction carries a fine of up to $2,500, up to 189 days in jail, probation, or a combination of the three, prosecuted in Municipal Court, unless a lesser penalty applies elsewhere in the Code.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a pet groomer in Colorado Springs wash or groom animals outdoors?
Is pet grooming regulated the same as a kennel or animal shelter?
Does a pet grooming business need a zoning permit?
What does 'Pet Services' cover under Colorado Springs zoning code?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Colorado Springs
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