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

050, and grooming businesses fall inside that section rather than getting a category of their own. Subsection B states that grooming and temporary boarding of animals "for a maximum of 30 days is allowed if incidental to the animal hospital use," which means the Zoning Code treats pet grooming as an accessory activity that can only be established where an animal hospital use is already permitted and operating, not as a freestanding retail use. That animal hospital use itself carries its own construction standards under Subsection A: the facility must be entirely enclosed, soundproofed, and air conditioned.

For any animal hospital, and therefore any grooming operation attached to one, established after April 19, 2021, Subsection C layers on additional requirements: the facility must be fully enclosed under a permanent roof with open-air enclosures prohibited, noise cannot exceed a threshold of 5 decibels over ambient measured at the property line, and hospital staff must be present and reachable by phone at all times animals are on the premises. Because grooming is defined as incidental rather than principal, a business that only grooms pets, without an on-site veterinary practice, does not fit this provision, and an applicant proposing a grooming-only storefront needs to work with Planning & Community Development to identify which zoning classification, if any, would actually apply, since the Zoning Code's Table of Allowable Land Uses does not list pet grooming as its own use category.