Fitchburg, WI Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Where a veterinary practice can locate in Fitchburg depends entirely on the underlying zoning district; the code treats "animal hospital and kennel" and "veterinary services" as two different classifications in two different districts. In the B-H Highway Business District, Sec. 22-310(2) lists "Animal hospital and kennel. (074-075)" as a permitted use requiring no discretionary approval beyond the district's standard design review, alongside gas stations, motels and other highway-oriented commercial uses; B-H dimensional standards under Sec. 22-312 require an 8,000-square-foot minimum lot (one acre if unsewered), a 25-foot front setback and a 42-foot height cap.

In the RD Rural Development District, by contrast, Sec. 22-345(4) lists "Veterinary services. (074)" only among the conditional uses, meaning a clinic there needs a conditional use permit approved by the plan commission alongside uses like commercial animal operations, landscape services and mineral extraction. RD is a legacy, closed district: Sec. 22-343(a) states that as of October 12, 2010, no property may be rezoned into RD, so the conditional-use path for veterinary services only matters for parcels that already carried the RD designation before that date.

RD dimensional standards under Sec. 22-346 require a five-acre minimum lot (reducible to one acre by conditional use), a 150-foot lot width, and a 45-foot height cap. No other zoning district in Chapter 22 names veterinary or animal-hospital uses, so a clinic proposed elsewhere needs a formal interpretation from the zoning administrator on which classification and district standards apply.