La Mesa, CA Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 24.06.020(A)'s Table of Permitted Principal Uses and Structures lists 'Veterinarian service including pet hospital,' item 5.r under Retail Sales and Service, as permitted only in the C and CM zones. That is narrower than the same table's treatment of pet grooming, item 5.m, which is allowed across all four commercial zones including CN and CD. The distinction tracks the intent language for those zones in Section 24.06.010: the C zone is applied generally along major streets and in shopping centers for the full range of retail, office and service businesses, while the CM zone covers areas removed from residential environments, such as along Alvarado Road, intended for heavier commercial activity and light industrial services; the CN and CD zones are written to keep out heavier commercial uses, which is why a use combining medical treatment, boarding and potential noise or odor from animal care is confined to C and CM.

A veterinary use, like any commercial use, must also meet the off-street parking standards in Chapter 24.04 referenced in Section 24.06.010, and any new construction for the clinic that exceeds two thousand five hundred square feet of gross floor area triggers the site development plan review required by Table B of Section 24.06.020 rather than by-right approval.