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

Tustin City Code § 9232a lists pet grooming among the 'service businesses' allowed by right in the C1 Retail Commercial District, the zone that covers most of the city's neighborhood shopping centers. The list groups grooming with barber shops, beauty parlors, massage establishments and dry-cleaning agencies, and the code requires every one of them to be conducted within a building, so a groomer cannot run wash stations, kennel runs or holding cages outdoors. If a business model does not match an item on the list exactly, § 9232a lets the Community Development Director or Planning Commission decide whether it is similar enough to qualify; if not, the applicant must seek a district that allows the use outright or as a conditionally permitted use.

Off-street parking for a grooming shop is calculated separately under the Article 9 parking table at Sec. 9263, at one space for every 500 square feet of gross floor area, a lighter ratio than the 250-square-foot rate applied to most general retail stores in the same district. Pet grooming does not appear on the C1 conditionally permitted list, so an operator meeting the permitted-use description does not need a Conditional Use Permit, unlike an animal hospital or boarding kennel proposed in the same zone. Community Development's Planning and Building divisions review a grooming shop's tenant-improvement plans for compliance with the enclosed-building rule before issuing a certificate of use and occupancy.