New Rochelle, NY Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 331-4 defines 'Animal Hospital' simply as 'a building for the medical and/or surgical care of animals,' a broader category than 'Animal Day Care,' which the same section limits to grooming, bathing, boarding, recreation, training and product sales. 1(A)(4), created October 16, 2018 by Ordinance No. 2018-218; and the I Industry District at § 331-60(A)(4). In each of the three industrial-tier districts, animal hospitals are grouped with other by-right uses like medical laboratories, printing plants and wholesale distribution in fully enclosed buildings. The Code's other commercial districts and its residential districts do not list 'animal hospitals' among their permitted or special-permit uses, so a veterinarian looking to open a full-service hospital with surgical care outside the NB, LI, LI-H or I Districts would need a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals, rather than a routine building permit.

Because the definition turns on medical or surgical care rather than the services offered, a veterinary clinic that only grooms or boards animals without practicing medicine could instead qualify under the separate, more widely available 'Animal Day Care' use category.