Bayonne, NJ Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Chapter 33, § 33-2.2 supplies the definitions used in this chapter and Chapter 35, Zoning Regulations, so the same wording governs how a veterinary practice is classified for zoning purposes in the City of Bayonne. A veterinary hospital is a place where animals are given medical care and the boarding of animals is limited to short-term care incidental to the hospital use: a vet clinic can hold a sick or recovering animal overnight or for a few days as part of treatment, but it cannot operate as a long-term boarding kennel under that classification.

The kennel definition in the same section draws the line explicitly, excluding a veterinary hospital by name: a kennel is any premises, other than a veterinary hospital, where more than four dogs, cats or other domestic animals over six months old are kept, boarded, bred or cared for in return for payment, or kept for sale. Once a veterinary practice boards more animals, or for longer, than incidental short-term care to treatment allows, it crosses into the kennel definition and falls under Chapter 5's separate licensing regime: Article V, § 5-15 requires anyone who keeps or operates a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound to obtain an annual license from the Division of Health, with tiered fees of $100 for a kennel holding 10 or fewer dogs and $200 for one holding more than 10, on top of the ordinary $125 license fee, and the Health Officer must report all licensed kennels to the State Department of Health.

Bayonne's zoning use tables in the residential and commercial districts do not carry a separate veterinary hospital line item, so a veterinary practice is classified and reviewed against these two definitions rather than a district-specific permitted-use entry.