Riverside County, CA Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 17.94.020 sorts every MU-zone use into three tracks. By-right uses like one-family dwellings need no land use permit at all. A second list, subsection B, is permitted only after the planning director approves a plot plan under Chapter 17.216, and it names 'Animal hospitals, not including any outdoor facilities' alongside dozens of other neighborhood-serving businesses such as pet shops, drug stores and banks. A third list, subsection C, requires a conditional use permit approved under Chapter 17.200, which involves a public hearing and discretionary findings, and it separately names 'Animal hospitals and veterinary office, with outdoor facilities.' The distinction turns entirely on whether animals will be kept, treated or exercised outside a building.

The MU zone applies to land the general plan designates Mixed-Use Area (MUA) and to land inside an approved specific plan, so this permitted-use table doesn't govern a veterinary clinic proposed in the county's agricultural, commercial or residential zones, each of which has its own use list. Off-street parking for any veterinary hospital or clinic, in any zone, is calculated separately under Section 17.188.030's parking table at one space per 300 square feet of gross floor area. Subsection D lets the planning director classify a use not named in either list as permitted or conditional if it is 'substantially the same in character and intensity' as the listed examples, the avenue an unusual veterinary-adjacent use would follow.