Montebello, CA Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Montebello Municipal Code Section 17.08.345 defines a "small animal hospital" broadly: any establishment that renders veterinary services, clipping, bathing, boarding, or other care to dogs, cats, and other small animals and household pets. That definition sits in the Title 17 zoning definitions chapter, so it controls whenever "small animal hospital" appears elsewhere in the zoning code. The clearest zoning consequence shows up in Chapter 17.59, the city's home occupation rules: Section 17.59.050(B) lists "medical or dental clinic or hospital, animal hospital or grooming facilities" among the uses specifically excluded from ever qualifying as a home occupation, alongside kennels, boarding houses, and restaurants.

That means a resident cannot run a veterinary practice, even a small one, out of a house under a home occupation permit, no matter how limited the caseload; the use has to locate on property zoned and permitted for that kind of commercial or institutional activity rather than inside a residential dwelling. Home occupation permits in Montebello are issued by the Planning Manager within twenty working days of a complete application, per Section 17.59.030(B), and a denial can be appealed to the Planning Commission under Section 17.59.070.

Because a small animal hospital cannot use that home-based track at all, an applicant proposing one has to go through the city's standard commercial permitting and zoning-compliance review instead, the same path required for any other veterinary clinic, grooming shop, or kennel use.