Queen Anne's County, MD Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

The County Commissioners list veterinary offices as item (28) of the permitted uses in the Agricultural (AG) District, § 18:1-14B, so a clinic on farmland needs no conditional use approval. Kennels are a separate permitted use at item (17). The glossary defines a veterinary office as a building or part of a building used for the care, diagnosis and treatment of sick, ailing, infirm or injured animals, and notes that such clinics can also provide long-term lodging of ill animals. The glossary also counts veterinary offices inside the definition of an office.

Outside the AG District, veterinary offices are permitted uses in the Suburban Commercial (§ 18:1-21), Urban Commercial (§ 18:1-22), Village Center (§ 18:1-25), Town Center (§ 18:1-28), Stevensville Historic Village Center (§ 18:1-31), Grasonville Village Commercial (§ 18:1-33) and Suburban Industrial Business Employment (§ 18:1-35) Districts. In the Grasonville Neighborhood Commercial District, § 18:1-32 places them among the conditional uses.

A clinic in the AG District is a nonresidential use, so § 18:1-14E(2) sets the numbers. The maximum impervious surface ratio for uses other than agricultural support and rural country clubs is .40, and the maximum nonresidential floor area ratio for all other uses is .12. Minimum lot frontage is 35 feet. Setbacks are 35 feet front, 100 feet from U.S. Routes 50/301, 75 feet from an arterial, and 10 feet side and rear. Maximum building height for all other uses is 45 feet.

Section 18:1-13G adds that a permitted use is not permitted on every parcel unless it fits in full compliance with the density and dimensional requirements that apply to the use and parcel. Parcels in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area also answer to Chapter 14:1.