Tempe, AZ Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Tempe regulates animal care uses through the use tables in Part 3 of its Zoning and Development Code. Section 3-202 and Table 3-202A cover the Residential/Office (R/O), Commercial Shopping and Services (CSS), City Center (CC), Planned Commercial Center (PCC-1 and PCC-2) and Regional Commercial Center (RCC) districts. The row "Clinic (medical, dental, veterinary (small animals))" reads P in all six columns, so a small-animal veterinary practice is permitted in each of them. The row "Animal Kennel" reads N in R/O and U in CSS, CC, PCC-1, PCC-2 and RCC. Under the table key, N means not permitted and U means a use permit is required, so a kennel in a shopping or center district goes through the use permit process in Part 6 before it opens. The mixed-use districts sit in Table 3-202B: the same clinic row reads P in MU-1, MU-2, MU-3 and MU-4 and U in MU-Ed, and that table has no kennel row.

The industrial districts are covered by Section 3-302 and Table 3-302A. The row "Animal Kennels, and Animal Hospitals" reads N in the Light Industrial District (LID) and P in the General Industrial District (GID) and Heavy Industrial District (HID). The row "Clinics: Medical, Dental and Veterinary" reads P in all three, and it carries no small-animal limit. A boarding or hospital operation that needs runs and overnight stays has a by-right home only in GID or HID.

Parking comes from Section 4-603 and Table 4-603E. The row "Clinic (medical, dental, veterinary)" requires 1 space per 150 sf for vehicles and 1 per 12,000 sf, 2 min, for bicycles, in both bicycle columns. The Bicycle Commute Area covers properties north of Southern Avenue extending north, east and west to the City limit lines. Section 4-603(A) requires a parking calculation for every separate main or primary use on the site, and subsection (C) caps surface parking at one hundred twenty-five (125) percent of the minimum, except in the RCC district and all MU districts. MU parking ratios are set through the PAD Overlay process, and CC parking follows Table 4-607A.

Each of these three sections lists Ord. No. O2026.23, adopted 6-4-2026, as its most recent amendment.