Kankakee County, IL Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 121-3 defines an animal hospital as a place where animals or pets are given medical or surgical treatment, with boarding limited to short-term care incidental to the hospital use. That definition matters because Section 121-183(a)(3) lists animal hospitals as a permitted, by-right use in the C2 general commercial district, alongside uses like clinics and pet shops. Animal hospitals are not listed as a permitted use in the C1 restricted commercial district, the residential districts, or the industrial districts, so a veterinary practice that wants to open outside a C2-zoned parcel needs to petition for rezoning or a special use rather than simply pulling a building permit.

Kankakee County also separately regulates veterinary care of farm animals in the A1 agriculture district: Section 121-99(c)(14)h allows veterinary care of farm animals only as a special use, meaning it goes through a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing and county board approval rather than being permitted outright, unlike the small-animal hospital use in C2. Because the definition caps boarding at short-term care incidental to treatment, an operation built around overnight or extended boarding rather than medical treatment can be reclassified as a kennel, which the county regulates separately with its own siting and licensing rules under Chapter 10 and Section 121-99(c)(28) (500-foot separation from residential districts and dwellings).