Southfield, MI Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Southfield's zoning chapter treats veterinary practices as an office-district use rather than a commercial or industrial one. Sec. 5.103, the permitted-uses list for the Office-Service (O-S) District, names veterinary clinics and hospitals in paragraph 13, but conditions the use on keeping every activity, presumably including treatment, boarding and exercise, inside a totally and permanently enclosed building; nothing may happen outdoors. The O-S district also carries an area and bulk regulations section, Sec. 5.107, that points to the Article 22 schedule of regulations for the height, setback and lot-coverage figures that apply to any O-S building, including a veterinary clinic.

By contrast, Sec. 5.112(1) of Article 10 lists the uses permitted in the Education-Research-Office-Limited (ERO-M) and Education-Research-Office (ERO) districts by cross-referencing the O-S list, then expressly carves out and prohibits two specific uses from that borrowed list: funeral homes and veterinary clinics. A veterinarian evaluating a site along one of Southfield's ERO office corridors cannot rely on the O-S permitted-use list once the parcel is zoned ERO-M or ERO. Site plan approval from the planning department, per Sec. 5.102, is required before any O-S building housing a veterinary use can be occupied.