Montebello, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

Section 6.08.170 defines a pet shop as "any place of business where dogs, under four months of age, or cats, monkeys, birds, reptiles, fish, or any other animal to be used as pets, are kept for sale." The Title 17 Appendix A permitted-use table lists "Pet Shop/Grooming" across the eleven zoning columns headed R-A, R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, C-R, C-1, C-2, C-M, M-1 and M-2, and marks the use "R," meaning permitted by right, only under the C-2, C-M, M-1 and M-2 columns; every residential column and the C-R and C-1 commercial columns are left blank, so the use is not allowed there at all, not even conditionally.

Grooming is also singled out in the home occupation chapter: Section 17.59.050(B) lists "animal hospital or grooming facilities" among the uses "specifically prohibited as home occupations," alongside barber shops, restaurants and kennels, so a resident cannot run a grooming business out of a dwelling under a home occupation permit even if every other Chapter 17.59 standard is met. Any business proposing to operate as a pet shop or groomer works through the Planning and Community Development Department for a zoning clearance and through the business license division under Title 5 before opening in one of the four zones where the use is permitted by right.