Roanoke, VA Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Rescue Permits (2026)

The use table at Section 36.2-311 of the Zoning Ordinance governs where a wildlife rescue shelter or refuge area may operate in Roanoke's residential districts. The table marks the use "P" (permitted as of right) only in the RA District column and leaves the columns for R-12, R-7, R-5, R-3, RM-1, RM-2, and RMF entirely blank. The table's legend states a blank cell means the use is not permitted, and any use not listed in a district's row is not permitted in that district at all. The RA District is Roanoke's lowest-density residential zone, described in Section 36.2-310(a) as intended to provide for the continued use of agriculturally productive lands while maintaining a low population density and a rural character of development.

Appendix A of Chapter 36.2 defines a wildlife rescue shelter or refuge area as "a facility or area maintained for the welfare, protection, and preservation of wildlife species." That definition is kept separate from the use table's entries for "animal shelter," "kennel, no outdoor pens or runs," and "kennel, with outdoor pens or runs," each of which carries the same RA-only permission in the residential table. A property owner in any other residential district who wants to operate a wildlife rescue shelter would need a rezoning to RA, since the use table provides no special exception path (an "S" designation) for it in any other residential column; the RA cell is the only one marked at all.