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

Placentia Municipal Code § 23.33.040 lists veterinary clinics among the uses in the C-1 Neighborhood Commercial district that the City Council has found carry special characteristics with the potential to adversely affect adjoining businesses and property owners. The only veterinary clinic the section names is one that is completely enclosed, so runs and outdoor animal areas do not fit that listing. The Planning Commission reviews each clinic individually under Chapter 23.87, and a business that wants to open one cannot rely on the C-1 permitted-use list in § 23.33.030.

The use permit process is formal. The application goes in writing on a form the Planning Commission prescribes, with sixteen sets of a scaled plot plan, the fee set by City Council resolution, and a title-company-certified list of owners within three hundred feet. The Commission holds a public hearing with notice mailed or delivered at least ten days ahead and posted in at least three public places in the City of Placentia, including one on or near the property. Under § 23.87.040 the Commission approves only if the use is not detrimental to health, safety or general welfare or injurious to nearby property, is consistent with the latest adopted general plan, and carries conditions that secure those purposes.

The Commission's decision is final unless the applicant, an interested person or a City Council member appeals in writing to the City Clerk within ten calendar days. No building permit issues until ten days after the permit is granted. An unused permit expires after one year, or two years for new construction, and a use that ceases for a continuous year is treated as abandoned.

Other districts follow the same permit route. Under § 23.39.030(a)(2) the C-M Commercial Manufacturing district allows animal hospitals completely within a building, including runs, subject to a use permit. Under § 23.47.040(a)(2) the M Manufacturing district allows an animal hospital, kennel or boarding facility with a use permit. The Title 23 definition of animal hospital describes a place where animals or pets are given medical or surgical treatment and are cared for during that treatment, with kennel use only incidental to the hospital use.