[CC 1974 §43.010]
This Chapter shall be known and may be cited and referred to as the Dexter Zoning Code.
[CC 1974 §§43.015 — 43.020; Ord. No. 2908 §1, 5-16-1977; Ord. No. 3361 §1, 9-21-1987; Ord. No. 3478 §1, 3-19-1990; Ord. No. 3765 §1, 6-19-1995; Ord. No. 4424 §1, 9-18-2006]
A. 
Tense And Usage. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall be used in the interpretation and construction of the Code. Words used in the present tense shall include the future; the singular number shall include the plural and the plural the singular; the word "building" shall include the word "structure"; the word "used" shall include "arranged, designed, constructed, altered, converted, rented, leased" or "intended to be used"; and the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory.
B. 
Definitions. For the purposes of this Chapter, the following words and terms as used are defined to mean the following:
ACCESSORY USE OR STRUCTURE
A use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a building or to the principal use of land and which is located on the same lot serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or land use. Accessory buildings or structures and related uses include, but are not limited to:
1. 
Residential:
a. 
Detached (freestanding) private parking garage.
b. 
Storage shed.
c. 
Gazebo.
d. 
Deck (attached or detached, covered or uncovered).
e. 
Swimming pool, hot tub, tennis court or similar private recreational facility.
f. 
Private greenhouse.
g. 
Concrete slab.
2. 
Commercial/industrial:
a. 
On-site parking garage or lot which provides required parking for a building or commercial/industrial use.
b. 
On-premises signs.
c. 
Totally enclosed facilities for storing merchandise or materials needed for commercial/industrial use.
3. 
Agricultural:
a. 
Farming, ranching and dairy vehicle equipment and material.
b. 
Domesticated livestock and pets.
c. 
Any residential accessory building, structure or use.
d. 
Outside storage incidental to and necessary for uses permitted on the property.
e. 
Junk yards are excluded.
4. 
Attached: Joined to or by a wall, especially sharing a wall with another building.
5. 
Carport: A structure used to offer limited protection from the elements to vehicles, primarily domestic cars. The structure can be either freestanding or attached to a wall of the principal building. Unlike most structures, a carport will not have four (4) walls and is commonly found with one (1) or two (2) walls.
6. 
Freestanding: Pre-manufactured carports, storage sheds of light weight construction not stabilized by primary structure and subject to wind damage. (THE PREFERRED LOCATION OF THESE UNITS WILL BE THE BACK YARD ONLY.)
ALLEY OR LANE
A public or private way not more than thirty (30) feet wide affording only secondary means of access to abutting property.
APARTMENT
A room or suite of rooms in a multiple-family structure which is arranged, designed, used or intended to be used as a single housekeeping unit and which contains complete kitchen, bath and toilet facilities permanently installed.
APARTMENT HOUSE
A building arranged, intended or designed to be occupied by three (3) or more families living independently of each other.
BASEMENTS
A story whose floor line is below grade at any entrance or exit and whose ceiling is not more than five (5) feet above grade at any such entrance or exit.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN
The Board of Aldermen of the City of Dexter, Missouri.
BOARDING OR LODGING HOUSE
A building or place where lodging and boarding is provided (or which is equipped regularly to provide lodging and boarding by prearrangement for definite periods) for compensation for five (5) or more, but not exceeding twelve (12) individuals, not open to transient guests, in contradistinction to hotels open to transients.
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals or property. When such a structure is divided into separate parts by one (1) or more unpierced walls extending from the ground up, each part is deemed a separate building, except as regards minimum side yard requirements as hereinafter provided.
BUILDING AREA
The maximum horizontal projected area of a building and its accessory buildings, excluding open steps, terraces and cornices projecting not more than thirty (30) inches.
BUILDING, HEIGHT OF
The vertical distance from the average contact ground level at the front wall of the building to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of a mansard roof or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip or gambrel roofs.
BUILDING LINE
The line which no building or part thereof shall project, except as otherwise provided by this Chapter.
CELLAR
That portion of a building between floor and ceiling partly underground, but having half or more than half of its clear height below the adjoining finished grade.
CHURCH
A building set apart for regularly scheduled public religious worship, not including units in a strip mall or other semi- detached buildings in a commercial area.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
COMMISSION
That Planning Commission of the City of Dexter, Missouri.
DISTRICT
A section of the City for which uniform regulations governing the use, height, area and intensity of use by buildings and land and open spaces about buildings are herein established.
DWELLING
Any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively as the residence or sleeping place of one (1) or more persons, but not including a tent, cabin, trailer or trailer coach, boarding or rooming house, hotel or motel.
DWELLING, MULTI-FAMILY
A dwelling or group of dwellings on one (1) plot containing separate living units for three (3) or more families, but which may have joint services or facilities or both.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
A building designed for or used exclusively for residence purposes by one (1) family or housekeeping unit.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by two (2) families living independently of each other. May also be referred to as a duplex.
DWELLING, ROW
A dwelling, the walls on two (2) sides of which are in common with the walls of adjoining dwellings and are party or lot line walls.
DWELLING UNIT
One (1) room or suite of two (2) or more rooms designed for or used by one (1) family for living and sleeping purposes and having only one (1) kitchen or kitchenette.
FAMILY
A person living alone or two (2) or more person living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding house, lodging house, motel, fraternity or sorority house.
FARM
An area which is used for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruits, trees and grain and their storage on the area, as well as for the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals such as horses, cattle, sheep and swine. The term "farming" includes the operating of such an area for one (1) or more of the above uses, including dairy farms with the necessary accessory uses for treating or storing the produce; provided however, that the operation of such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal farming activities and, provided further, that farming does not include the feeding of collected garbage or offal to swine or other animals.
FENCE
Any manmade structure, protrusion or wild or cultivated growth over two (2) feet in height whose primary purpose is to establish and maintain a property line, to furnish privacy for the property owner and/or tenant, prevent trespass or to confine and protect animals within the confines of the property shall be deemed a fence.
FILLING OR SERVICE STATION
Any building or premises used for the sale, at retail, of motor vehicle fuels, oils or accessories or for servicing or lubricating motor vehicles or installing or repairing parts and accessories, but not including the repairing or replacement of motors, bodies or fenders of motor vehicles or painting motor vehicles and excluding public garages.
FLOOR AREA
The total number of square feet of floor space within the exterior walls of a building, not including space in cellars or basements; however, if the cellar or basement is used for business or commercial purposes, it shall be counted as floor area in computing off-street parking requirements.
FOSTER CARE HOME
Any private residence licensed by the Division of Family Services or Department of Mental Health to provide foster care to one (1) or more but less than seven (7) children who are unrelated to either foster parent by blood, marriage or adoption.
FRONTAGE
All the property on one (1) side of a street between two (2) intersecting streets (crossing or terminating) measured along the line of the street or if the street is dead ended, then all of the property abutting on one (1) side between an intersecting street and the dead end of the street.
GARAGE, COMMERCIAL
Any building or premises, except those used as a private or storage garage, used for equipping, repairing, hiring, selling or storing motor-driven vehicles. The term repairing shall include an automotive body repair shop rebuilding, dismantling or storage of wrecked or junked vehicles.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
A detached accessory building or portion of the main building housing the automobiles of the occupants of the premises.
GROUP RESIDENTIAL HOME
Any home or residence in which eight (8) or fewer unrelated mentally retarded or physically handicapped persons reside with not more than two (2) additional persons acting as house parents or guardians who need not be related to each other or to any of the mentally retarded or physically handicapped persons residing in the home.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any occupation or profession carried on by a member of the immediate family residing on the premises, in connection with which there is used no sign other than a name plate or no display that will indicate from the exterior that the building is being utilized in whole or in part for any purpose other than that of a dwelling; there is no commodity sold upon the premises; no person is employed other than a member of the immediate family residing on the premises; and no mechanical equipment is used except such as is permissible for purely domestic household purposes.
HOSPITAL
Unless otherwise specified, the term "hospital" should be deemed to include sanitarium, sanatorium, preventorium, clinic, rest home, convalescent home or any other place for the diagnosis, treatment or other care of ailments and should be deemed to be limited to places for the diagnosis, treatment or other care of human ailments.
HOTEL
A building in which lodging is provided and offered to the public for compensation and in which ingress and egress to and from rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge at all hours, and which is open to transient guests, in contradistinction to a boarding house or lodging house.
HOUSE TRAILER
See "TRAILER".
INSTITUTION
A building occupied by a non-profit corporation or a non-profit establishment for public use.
LAUNDROMAT
A business that provides home type washing, drying, dry cleaning machines or ironing machines for hire to be used by customers on the premises.
LOADING SPACE
A space within the main building or on the same lot therewith providing for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks.
LOT
A parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by a use permitted in this Chapter, including one (1) main building together with its accessory buildings, open spaces and parking spaces required by this Chapter and having its principal frontage upon a street.
LOT, CORNER
A lot abutting upon two (2) or more streets at their intersection.
LOT, DEPTH OF
The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE
A lot having a frontage on two (2) non-intersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot; a through lot.
LOT, INTERIOR
A lot other than a corner lot or through lot.
LOT OF RECORD
A lot or parcel of land, the deed or subdivision plat of which has been recorded in the office of the County Recorder of Stoddard County, Missouri.
MANUFACTURED HOME
A factory-built structure or structures which in the traveling mode is eight (8) body feet or more in width or forty (40) body feet or more in length or, when erected on site, contains three hundred twenty (320) or more square feet, equipped with the necessary service connections and made so as to be readily movable as a unit or units on their own running gear and designed to be used as a dwelling unit or units with or without a permanent foundation. The phrase "without a permanent foundation" indicates that the support system is constructed with the intend that the manufactured home placed thereon may be moved from time to time at the convenience of the owner. See "TRAILER".
MARIJUANA or MARIHUANA
Cannabis indicia, Cannabis sativa, and Cannabis ruderalis, hybrids of such species, and any other strains commonly understood within the scientific community to constitute marijuana, as well as resin extracted for the plant and marijuana-infused products. Marijuana or marihuana does not include industrial hemp containing a crop wide average tetrahydrocannabinol concentration or products manufactured from industrial hemp.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
MARIJUANA-INFUSED PRODUCTS
Products that are infused with marijuana or an extract thereof and are intended for use of consumption other than by smoking, including, but not limited to, edible products, ointments, tinctures, and concentrates.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
MEDICAL MARIJUANA CULTIVATION FACILITY
A facility licensed by the State of Missouri to acquire, cultivate, process, store, transport, and sell marijuana to a medical marijuana dispensary facility, to a medical marijuana testing facility, or to a medical marijuana -infused products manufacturing facility.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY FACILITY
A facility licensed by the State of Missouri to acquire, store, sell, transport, and deliver marijuana, marijuana-infused products, and drug paraphernalia used to administer marijuana as provided for in this Chapter to a qualifying patient, a primary caregiver, another medical marijuana dispensary facility, a medical marijuana testing facility, or a medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facility.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
MEDICAL MARIJUANA-INFUSED PRODUCTS MANUFACTURING FACILITY
A facility licensed by the State of Missouri to acquire, store, manufacture, transport, and sell marijuana-infused products to a medical marijuana dispensary facility, to a medical marijuana testing facility, or to another medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facility.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
MEDICAL MARIJUANA TESTING FACILITY
A facility certified by the State of Missouri to acquire, test, certify, and transport marijuana.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
MOBILE HOME
Transportable factory-assembled structure built on a wheeled metal chassis for transport to the desired location. See "TRAILER".
MODULAR HOME
Transportable factory-assembled sections of a structure built on a wheeled metal chassis for transport to the desired location and designed to be joined together on a permanent foundation to form a complete dwelling. See "TRAILER".
MOTEL, MOTOR COURT, MOTOR LODGE OR TOURIST COURT
Any building or group of buildings containing guest rooms or dwelling units, some or all of which have a separate entrance leading directly from the outside of the building with garage or parking space conveniently located on the lot and designed, used or intended wholly or in part for the accommodation of automobile transients.
NON-CONFORMING USE
A building or use of land that does not conform to the regulations for the district in which it is situated.
NURSERY SCHOOL
A day care center, family day care home or group day care home as defined by the Missouri Department of Social Services licensing regulations for child day care facilities.
NURSING HOME
A home for the aged or infirm in which three (3) or more persons not of the immediate family are received, kept or provided with food and shelter or care for compensation.
PARKING LOT
Any place, lot, parcel or yard used in whole or in part for the storage or parking of two (2) or more vehicles where such usage is not incidental to or in conjunction with a dwelling or other usage permissible in dwelling districts and located on the same tract.
PARKING SPACE, OFF-STREET
An area, enclosed or unenclosed, sufficient in size to store one (1) automobile, together with a driveway connecting the parking space with a street, road or alley and permitting ingress and egress of an automobile.
PRE-ASSEMBLED HOME
See "MODULAR HOME".
PRE-BUILT HOME
See "MODULAR HOME".
PREMISES
A lot, together with all buildings and structures thereon.
PRIMARY CAREGIVER
An individual twenty-one (21) years of age or older who has significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a qualifying patient and who is designated as such on the primary caregiver's application for an identification card under Article XIV, Section 1, Right to access medical marijuana, of the Missouri Constitution or in other written notification from the State of Missouri.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
QUALIFYING PATIENT
A Missouri resident who has been issued a qualifying patient identification card by the State of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
[Ord. No. 4935, 10-7-2019]
ROOMING HOUSE
A dwelling occupied by a resident family or resident occupant and space made available for five (5) or more rent-paying persons.
SECTIONAL HOME
See "MODULAR HOME".
STABLE
Any building, structure or portion thereof which is used in whole or in part for the shelter or care of horses, cattle or other similar animals, either permanently or transiently.
STORY
That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
STORY, FIRST
The lowest story or the ground story of any building, the floor of which is not more than twelve (12) inches below the average contact ground level at the exterior walls of the building; except that any basement or cellar used for residence purposes shall be deemed the first (1st) story.
STORY, HALF
A partial story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two (2) opposite exterior walls are not more than four (4) feet above the floor of such story; provided however, that any partial story used for residence purposes shall be deemed a full story.
STREET
A public right-of-way fifty (50) feet or more in width which provides a public means of access to abutting property or any such right-of-way more than thirty (30) feet and less than fifty (50) feet in width provided it existed prior to the enactment of this Chapter. The term "street" shall include avenue, drive, circle, court, road, parkway, boulevard, place, highway, way, traffic way, thoroughfare or any other similar term.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATION
Any change in the structural members of a building such as walls, columns, beams or girders.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something having a location on the ground.
TRAILER (INCLUDING AUTOMOBILE TRAILER AND TRAILER COACH)
Any manufactured home, mobile home, modular home, pre-assembled home, pre-built home, sectional home or other vehicle or structure constructed in such a manner as to permit occupancy thereof as sleeping quarters or the conduct of any business, trade or occupation or use as a selling or advertising device or use for storage or conveyance for tools, equipment or machinery and as designed that it is or may be mounted on wheels and used as a conveyance on highways and streets, propelled or drawn by its own or other motor power.
TRAILER PARK OR CAMP
Any lot or part thereof or any parcel of land which is used or offered as a location for one (1) or more trailers used for any purpose set forth in the definition of trailer above.
USE
The purpose for which land or a building or structure is arranged, designed or intended or for which either land or a building or structure is or may be occupied or maintained.
YARD
An open space, other than a court, on a lot unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except as otherwise provided in this Chapter.
YARD, FRONT
A yard extending across the full width of the lot unoccupied other than by steps, walks, terraces, driveways, lampposts and similar structures, the depth of which is the least distance between the front lot line and the building line.
YARD, REAR
A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the minimum distance between the rear lot line and a line parallel thereto of the principal building on the lot.
YARD SIDE
A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard, the width of which is the minimum horizontal distance between the side lot line and a line parallel thereto of the principal building on the lot.
ZONING CERTIFICATE
A document issued by the Zoning Inspector authorizing buildings, structures or uses consistent with the terms of this Chapter and for the purpose of carrying out and enforcing its provisions.
ZONING MAP
The Zoning Map of the City of Dexter together with all amendments subsequently adopted.