Rocklin, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 17.04.290 of the Rocklin Municipal Code defines a 'kennel' as a commercial or non-commercial facility for grooming, keeping, boarding or maintaining four or more dogs, cats or other animals commonly considered household pets over four months old. The definition carves out three exceptions: a business offering grooming only, with no boarding, is classified instead as a 'personal services establishment'; pet stores are retail establishments; and veterinary offices, clinics and hospitals are excluded entirely. Section 17.64.070(A) then locates where kennels, commercial or noncommercial, may actually operate: only the C-2 retail business zone, C-3 general and service commercial zone, C-4 limited general retail and service commercial zone, C-H highway commercial zone, M-1 manufacturing zone, M-2 heavy industrial zone, or an equivalent planned development district, and only with a conditional use permit.

No residential zone appears on that list. A conditional use permit under 17.64.070(B) requires design plans for any outdoor dog enclosure, a written compatibility statement, and, for outdoor components, a noise study; criteria in 17.64.070(C) require regular cleaning, compliance with the state Pet Boarding Facilities law (Health and Safety Code Sections 122380 through 122388), odor filtration, and outdoor operating hours limited to 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. unless the kennel sits more than two hundred feet from a residential parcel. Practically, a Rocklin household can keep up to three dogs or cats without triggering any zoning classification; a fourth pushes the property into kennel territory, which residential zones do not permit. Community Development Department code enforcement, working with Placer County Animal Services under the county's animal control contract, handles complaints about oversized pet households.