Gilroy, CA Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Gilroy's Zoning Ordinance confines veterinary hospitals to its two lowest-density residential districts. The residential use table at City Code § 30.11.10(c) marks 'Veterinary Hospital' with an 'X' only in the A1 Agriculture District and RR Rural Residential District columns; under the table's own legend, 'X = Principally permitted (see Article L for related planning application requirements),' so a veterinary hospital is by right there once the Article L application is made, without a conditional use permit hearing. The same row leaves every other residential column, R1, R2, R3, R4 and RH, blank, meaning veterinary hospitals are not a listed use, permitted or conditional, in Gilroy's single-family, two-family, medium- or high-density, or hillside residential districts.

A veterinary hospital proposed for a Neighborhood District (ND) parcel instead falls under the table's asterisk note, which routes the use to 'the master plan or specific plan adopted for the neighborhood district area in which the property is located.' Because the by-right A1 and RR designation sits alongside 'Animal Boarding' in the same table, immediately above the veterinary hospital row, both animal-care uses share the same rural/agricultural footprint in the code. Any structure built to house a veterinary hospital in A1 or RR still has to meet that district's site and building requirements at § 30.11.20(c), including its lot size and setback standards, and obtain building permits through Gilroy Community Development.