Auburn, AL Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 408.02(E)(5) sets development standards specific to a "Veterinary office/ with indoor kennel" use. Outdoor pens or cages are flatly prohibited, though the ordinance allows a designated outdoor exercise area shown on the site plan, and animals can never be left outdoors unaccompanied by office staff. Common exercise yards have to sit at least 50 feet from an adjacent residential property line. For a veterinary office sited between 50 and 200 feet of a residential line, the ordinance allows a fenced outdoor exercise area only if no animal is boarded in it or in areas with direct access to it, and only if exercise happens outside the hours of 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.; that closer-in exercise area must additionally be screened by a solid evergreen hedge or a six-foot opaque fence.

The building itself must be free of offensive odor emissions at any time and has to be "suitably designed, sound-proofed with a one to two (1-2) pound noise isolating material and provided with air conditioning." Beyond these use-specific standards, Table 4-1 lists veterinary office/kennel as a conditional use in most zoning districts and a by-right use in only a handful of commercial and industrial districts, meaning most locations need Planning Commission approval of a conditional use permit under Section 803 before the clinic can open, in addition to meeting every standard in Section 408.02(E)(5).