Title
Approval of Ordinance Related to Veterinary Clinic Zoning
Recommended Action
Planning Commission Recommendation:
Approve the ordinance amending Title 18 of the Olympia Municipal Code to allow veterinary offices/clinics in additional zoning districts, subject to limiting animals to be kept indoors except for very brief periods of time necessary for the animals' health.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the ordinance on second reading as recommended by the Planning Commission.
Report
Issue:
Should the Olympia Municipal Code be amended to allow veterinary offices/clinics in additional zoning districts, subject to limiting animals to be kept indoors except for very brief periods of time necessary for the animals' health?
Staff Contact:
Leonard Bauer, Deputy Director, Community Planning & Development, 360.753.8206
Presenter(s):
None. Consent Item.
Background and Analysis:
The Olympia Municipal Code defines veterinary offices/clinics as:
"A place where animals receive medical care and the boarding of animals is limited to short-term care incidental to the hospital use." (OMC 18.02.180(O))
Medical treatment for animals that is combined with longer-term boarding of the animals is defined separately in the Code as "Animal Hospital." (OMC 18.02.180(A))
Because of an increasing demand for veterinary services in the community, the city council referred to the Planning Commission consideration of increasing the zoning districts in which veterinary offices/clinics are permitted.
There are currently three of Olympia's 13 commercial zoning districts in which veterinary offices/clinics are permitted. By comparison, medical offices (for humans) are permitted in 13 of the 14 commercial zoning districts.
Veterinary offices/clinics are currently a permitted use in the following zoning districts: General Commercial (GC), and High-Density Corridor 2, 3, and 4 (HDC-2, -3, and -4).
The proposed ordinance would also per...
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