St. Louis County, MO Animal Ordinances: Pet Groomer Rules (2026)

Section 1003.020 of the Zoning Ordinance defines two grooming-and-boarding use categories once a facility handles four or more dogs, cats, or other household domestic animals for any part of a day. A "pet care facility" (definition 126) covers training, care, grooming, or kenneling for any part of a 24-hour day, including overnight stays, and must be built so animal noise can't be heard past the property line; any outdoor pet relief area needs a sight-proof, decorative fence. A "pet day care facility" (definition 127) covers the same activity capped at 16 hours a day with no overnight boarding, under the identical soundproofing and fencing rules. Both definitions let the site sell pet products at retail.

Zoning placement turns on that overnight distinction. In the "C-2" Shopping District (Section 1003.133) and the "C-3" Shopping District, a pet day care facility is a permitted, by-right use, so a groomer that sends every animal home the same day can open without a special permit once the fencing and soundproofing conditions are met. A pet care facility that includes overnight boarding drops onto the conditional-use list in the same two districts and needs a Conditional Use Permit from the Planning Commission under Section 1003.181 before it can operate. Grooming fewer than four animals at a time falls outside both zoning definitions entirely, since the four-animal threshold is what triggers the "pet care facility"/"pet day care facility" classification in the first place.