Durham, NC Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Sec. W governs veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, and kennels as a commercial use standard layered on top of whatever base zoning district otherwise permits the use. Outdoor runs, kennels, or outdoor storage are prohibited outright in the PDR and Design districts (and, on the county side of the joint UDO, in the SRP-C District -- a county-only clause that does not reach city zoning). Where outdoor animal areas sit next to a residential district, the ordinance requires a 300-foot separation between the outdoor area and the residential property line; where the adjacent use is non-residential, a minimum six-foot-tall wall must be installed and maintained between the outdoor animal area and that property line instead of the distance buffer.

Kennels specifically are barred from the S2 sub-districts of the CD and CSD Districts, a tighter rule than the general PDR/Design ban. In the RR District, any parking placed between the clinic structure and the street must be set back at least 25 feet from the right-of-way, on top of the district's normal yard standards. Because this is a Sec. 3 limited use standard, it stacks with the base dimensional standards of the district the clinic sits in -- a veterinary use in Durham has to clear both the district's ordinary setback and height rules and this article's separation, screening, and kennel restrictions before it can open.