Lincoln County, SD Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 154.117 of the zoning ordinance places veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, and animal shelters in the C Commercial District's list of permitted special uses, meaning a clinic that meets the listed condition can locate there without applying for a discretionary conditional use permit. The single condition in § 154.117(B) is that there be no outside kenneling of dogs, so an indoor-only clinic or shelter qualifies as a special use by right, while a facility that keeps dogs in outdoor runs or kennels falls outside that permission.

Once outside kenneling is part of the operation, the use no longer fits the permitted special use description and instead needs a conditional use permit from the Planning Commission under §§ 154.375 through 154.386, the same review track used for the district's bar, auto body shop, and recycling-facility conditional uses. The C Commercial District itself is intended, under § 154.115, for a wide variety of commercial uses generally located at major intersections and along major roads, including general commercial uses that need large land areas, extensive retail, and outdoor display, the same district context a veterinary clinic operates within alongside offices, banks, and mortuaries.

A frozen food locker in the same district faces a parallel condition; § 154.117(C) allows it only if there is no slaughtering of animals on the premises, showing the same permitted-special-use pattern of a listed use paired with a specific operating restriction.