Nassau County, FL Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Nassau County's Land Development Code treats a veterinary clinic differently depending on the underlying zoning district. 01(C) lists 'animal hospitals or veterinary clinics' among the permitted uses in the Commercial, Neighborhood (CN) district, alongside medical and dental offices, on the condition that no animals are kept anywhere but inside a completely enclosed and soundproofed structure. 01(A)(5). 03(E) lists 'animal hospital, veterinary clinic' together with animal boarding places, fur farms and dog kennels as conditional uses, but only if no structure housing the animals sits within 200 feet of a residence under different ownership.

A conditional-use application in the OR district goes to the Planning and Zoning Board for review before it can move forward, unlike the CN and CJ districts where the clinic use is by right. The Planning and Economic Opportunity Department checks site plans against the applicable district's use table before a building permit can be issued. Anyone planning a veterinary practice, boarding kennel or animal daycare in unincorporated Nassau County should confirm the parcel's zoning district first, since the soundproofing condition applies in the commercial districts and the 200-foot residential buffer applies in the rural district; the two standards are not interchangeable.