El Paso, TX Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

080, a veterinary treatment center is not a by-right use citywide -- it is layered onto the base zoning districts with specific physical conditions. Small animal veterinary hospitals or clinics are allowed in the R-1 and C-1 zoning districts only with a special permit approved by city council, and the ordinance requires that all animals be housed inside a permitted structure that is completely enclosed and soundproof, that no open pens be used, and that the building sit at least one hundred fifty feet from the property line of any residential or apartment use existing when the clinic was established (that setback does not apply to a residential structure on the same site used as part of the clinic operation).

In C-2, C-3, C-4 and M-1 districts, small-animal clinics may operate without the special-permit step but must still house all animals indoors, provide a means of mechanical air exchange, allow no outside runs, and sit at least one hundred fifty feet from the nearest residential or apartment property line. 1138 definition -- are confined to the Ranch-Farm (R-F) district as of right, or to C-4 and M-1 with a council-approved special permit; in the R-F district the lot must be a minimum of one acre with a minimum average lot width of two hundred feet, plus the same one hundred fifty-foot residential buffer and mechanical air-exchange requirement.

A related but separate use, kennels and animal training establishments, is permitted in the Ranch-Farm district on a minimum six-acre site with buildings at least three hundred feet from the nearest residential or apartment district, or in C-2, C-3, C-4 and M-1 districts under the same indoor-housing, no-open-pen, mechanical air-exchange and three-hundred-foot separation conditions.