Brookhaven, GA Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 27-621 of the Brookhaven Code defines the veterinary use as animal hospitals and veterinary clinics staffed by veterinarians. It sits beside boarding and grooming as one of three animal service use types, all covered by the opening description of uses that provide goods and services for care of animals.

The veterinary definition carries its own outdoor restriction. No outside animal runs or kennels are allowed unless the clinic is located in a zoning district that permits boarding. Where a clinic is in such a district, the regulations that apply to an animal boarding use shall be met. The boarding definition in the same section adds a distance rule: any building or structure in which animals are kept or exercised shall be set back at least 100 feet from any R-zoned lot. A clinic that keeps animals outdoors in a boarding district therefore has to clear that setback from residential lots.

Subsection (2), development standards, applies to all animal service uses. Each must provide an animal waste management plan to ensure animal waste is properly discharged per chapter 25 of the Code and in compliance with all applicable state and federal regulations. The text says the plans shall be reviewed during the permitting process, which puts the waste plan on the permit checklist for a new clinic in the City of Brookhaven.

A veterinary clinic cannot start as a home business. Section 27-700(d)(9) prohibits animal care, grooming or boarding businesses as home occupations. The section was last amended by Ord. No. Z2024-04-03 on April 25, 2024. This page covers the supplemental rules in § 27-621 only; the districts that allow the use are set elsewhere in chapter 27.