Inglewood, CA Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)
Key Facts
- Use status
- Veterinary offices permitted by right in C-3
- Permit needed
- None; no Special Use Permit required
- Prohibited add-on
- Kennels, pens, runs explicitly banned
- Governing section
- Inglewood Municipal Code § 12-25(11)
- Zone context
- C-3 Heavy Commercial, broadest use list
- Penalty
- Infraction: $100/$200/$500 escalating
Summary
Veterinary offices are a permitted use in Inglewood's C-3 Heavy Commercial Zone under Section 12-25(11), so a vet clinic can open there without a Special Use Permit. The same line draws a hard boundary: kennels, pens and runs are prohibited, meaning any outdoor animal housing or exercise enclosure is off-limits at a C-3 veterinary office.
§ 12-25. C-3 Zone. Permitted Uses. The following uses shall be permitted in the C-3 Heavy Commercial Zone unless otherwise provided in this Chapter. ...
(10) Pawn shops, subject to Special Use Permit approval.
(11) Veterinary offices. (Kennels, pens, runs are prohibited.)
(12) Auction house, including automobile auctions, subject to the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 8 of this Code.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4954608; v8 updated 2026-05-19).
Full Breakdown
Section 12-25 lists the by-right permitted uses for the C-3 Heavy Commercial Zone, and item (11) names "Veterinary offices" outright, with a parenthetical restriction: kennels, pens and runs are prohibited. That means a veterinary practice can locate in C-3 without going through the Special Use Permit process required for neighboring uses on the same list, such as pawn shops in item (10) or auction houses in item (12), but the practice cannot add outdoor kennel runs, exercise pens or animal enclosures as part of its operation; anything involving animal housing has to stay inside the building.
C-3 also carries the city's broadest commercial use list, permitting everything allowed in the C-2 zone plus uses like automobile rental and leasing, delivery and distribution businesses, and light manufacturing conducted within a fully enclosed building, so a veterinary office in this zone often sits alongside auto-service and commercial-service neighbors rather than in a purely retail corridor. 6. A practice that wants exterior animal pens or an outdoor run has to locate in a zone where that use is separately permitted, since C-3 forecloses it outright rather than allowing it through a discretionary permit.
Violations & Fines
Operating a use not permitted in the C-3 zone, or adding a kennel, pen or run at a veterinary office there, is unlawful under Section 12-3's noncompliance rule, one of the zoning sections Section 1-18.1(a) designates as an infraction rather than a misdemeanor. Penalties escalate under Section 1-18: up to $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second violation of the same rule within one year, and $500 for each additional violation within that year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a veterinary clinic in Inglewood's C-3 zone?
Can a veterinary office in C-3 have outdoor kennels?
What other C-3 rules apply to a veterinary office building?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Inglewood
California rules heatmap·Compare Inglewood to another location·View the California animal ordinances overview
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