Horse keeping

The County is considering revisions to the current Santa Clara County horse keeping regulations to streamline and simplify the permitting process for horse keeping and similar facilities. In summary, staff is proposing the following:

• Remove the current requirement of a Use Permit for keeping horses not owned to the property owner
• Allowing small scale horse keeping by-right
• Allowing medium scale horse keeping exceeding a certain number of horses through a Special Permit for Zoning Administrator approval.
• Allowing large scale horse keeping including public events, group lessons, etc. through a Use Permit for Planning Commission approval.

The County encourages comments and participation from the public, especially from those interested in these changes or proposing horse keeping used in the unincorporated areas.

Documents related to the horse keeping update will be posted below prior to any public hearings (not including outreach meetings).

(links will be provided at a later time)

Staff is conducting several virtual outreach meetings to present an overview of the County’s proposed direction and to solicit feedback from members of the public.