Boulder, CO Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 9-6-1's Schedule of Permitted Land Uses, Table 6-1, governs where every use type may locate across Boulder's zoning districts using four symbols: "A" for allowed by right, "C" for conditional use reviewed administratively, "U" for use review requiring planning board approval, and a hyphen for prohibited. The "Animal hospital or veterinary clinic" use row shows a hyphen across every Residential district (R1 through R8) and the Mobile Home district, meaning the use is entirely prohibited on residential land. In the Mixed Use districts (MU-1 through MU-4) and the Business Transitional (BT-1, BT-2) and Business Mixed Services (BMS) districts, the row shows "U," so an animal hospital needs use review approval through the planning board process in Section 9-2-15.

The use becomes allowed by right, marked "A," in the Business Community districts (BC-1, BC-2) and the Business Regional districts (BR-1, BR-2), and it is also allowed by right across all four industrial districts (IS-1, IS-2, IG, IM, IMS). Downtown is split: the DT-1, DT-2, and DT-3 core districts require use review, while DT-4 and DT-5 show the use as prohibited. The Public (P) and Agricultural (A) districts both show the use as prohibited outright. A related use, "Animal kennel," is separately listed in the same table and carries its own, generally more restrictive, pattern of use-review and allowed designations.

Boulder's definitions chapter, Section 9-16-1, defines an animal hospital or veterinary clinic as a place where animals or pets are given medical or surgical treatment and where boarding is limited to those receiving medical care.