Town of Barrington, RI Article V Accessory Uses and Structures in Residence Districts and in Agricultural-Rural District

§ 185-13 Permitted accessory uses and structures: Residence Districts.

[Amended 2-5-2018 by Ord. No. 2017-22; 12-2-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-17[1]]

The following accessory uses and structures shall be allowed in all Residence Districts: provided, however, that they shall conform to all other provisions of this chapter and that they shall not be detrimental to or impair adjacent properties of the neighborhood:

A. The raising or growing of horticultural products for home use by a resident family thereon.

B. A garden or tool shed used only for the storage of garden implements and light home maintenance tools, not to exceed one story or 240 square feet of floor space.

C. A greenhouse not exceeding 1,500 cubic feet and not used for commercial purposes.

D. Swimming pools, including appurtenant structures such as dressing and shower rooms and equipment houses, as regulated by § 185-15.

E. Private garage or parking space area as required in Article XV in connection with a dwelling, for:

(1) Not more than four motor vehicles, which shall not include more than one vehicle owned by a nonresident of the premises, in either an R-25 and R-10 District;

(2) Not more than five motor vehicles, which shall not include more than two vehicles owned by a nonresident of the premises, in an R-40 District; and

(3) Not more than one commercial vehicle not otherwise prohibited by § 185-81.

F. Home occupations which are customarily carried on in a dwelling unit, or in a building or other structure accessory to a dwelling unit, such as tailoring, artist work studio, individual instruction and tutoring, telephone answering service or telephone sales work, home offices for work brought home from a principal office, provided that there is no merchandise handled and no regular or seasonal visits by clients or customers, and similar occupations; are performed by a member of the family residing in the dwelling unit; are clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use of the dwelling unit; and which conform to the following additional requirements:

(1) The activity associated with the occupation shall be carried on wholly within the principal building or within a building or other structure accessory thereto;

(2) No more than one person outside the family shall be employed in such occupation;

(3) There shall be no exterior evidence that the building, structure or premises is being used for any purpose other than as a residential dwelling, such as artificial lighting, advertisements, signs, displays, exterior storage of materials or goods or similar such conduct;

(4) There shall be no commercial delivery of goods or stock-in-trade to or from the premises and no goods, commodities or stock-in-trade may be sold on the premises;

(5) There shall be no substantial increase in traffic to and from the premises resulting from such activity; and

(6) No offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare shall be produced.

G. Tennis courts.

H. Individual instruction or tutoring.

I. Satellite dish two feet or under in diameter.

J. Other accessory uses as generally defined in § 185-14.

K. Temporary storage containers. One prefabricated relocatable steel building, box trailer or shipping or cargo container, not greater than 20 feet in length and eight feet in width, (hereafter "storage container") shall be permitted as of right for a single period of no longer than 60 days as a temporary use by the property owner. During that sixty-day period, a property owner may apply to the zoning board for a special use permit to maintain the storage container for an extended period of time, in accordance with § 185-13.1B. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a storage container placed on property in connection with a valid building permit shall not be subject to the requirements of this section so long as the building permit remains valid.

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance amended the title of this section, which was formerly Permitted accessory uses and structures, and also amended the title of Art. V, which was formerly Accessory Uses and Structures in Residence Districts.

§ 185-13.1 Permitted accessory uses and structures: Agricultural-Rural District.

[Added 12-2-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-17[1]]

Barns for keeping livestock and/or farm machinery and other agricultural uses in the AR District shall comply with the minimum setbacks within the AR District for a principal structure and have a maximum height of 35 feet and a maximum floor space of 3,000 square feet. A greater height and area may be permitted by the Zoning Board of Review as a special use permit.

[1] Editor's Note: Pursuant to this ordinance, former § 185-13.1 was renumbered as § 185-13.2.

§ 185-13.2 Accessory uses and structures allowed by special use permit.

[Added 2-6-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-1]

A. Small-scale wind energy systems.

(1) Freestanding pole-mounted small-scale wind energy systems shall not exceed height requirements for principal structures and shall be set back from all property lines a distance of at least the height of the structure.

(2) Small-scale wind energy system equipment attached to a building shall not exceed the thirty-five-foot height limit for principal structures.

(3) A special use permit shall be required where a proposed freestanding pole-mounted small-scale wind energy system would exceed the height limit for principal structures, or where the equipment exceeds 15 feet above the roof peak, or the height limit.

(4) No more than one system is permitted per residential lot, where one freestanding pole-mounted wind energy system shall be the equivalent of one system, and where wind energy system equipment mounted on one building shall be the equivalent of one system.

(5) Noise. All small-scale wind energy systems, as defined in this article, shall comply with the Town's noise ordinance limits.

(6) Color. Small-scale wind energy systems shall be a nonobtrusive color such as tan, sand, gray, black or similar colors. Galvanized steel or metal is acceptable for the support structures. The painting or coating shall be kept in good repair for the life of the wind turbine.

(7) Electrical wires. All electrical wires leading from the tower to electrical control facilities shall be located underground.

(8) Maintenance. Small-scale wind energy systems shall be maintained in good repair, as recommended by the manufacturer's scheduled maintenance or industry standards.

(9) Certified safe. Evidence shall be submitted with a building permit application that the wind machine has been constructed in accordance with accepted industry standards and certified safe.

(10) Any small-scale wind energy system found to be unsafe by the Building Official shall immediately cease operation upon notification by the Building Official and shall be repaired by the owner to meet federal, state, and local safety standards or be removed within six months. Wind machines that are not operated for a continuous period of 12 months shall be removed by the owner of the wind turbine.

(11) When a small-scale wind energy system is removed from a site, all associated and ancillary equipment, batteries, devices, structures or support(s) for that system shall also be removed. For the purposes of this section, nonoperation shall be deemed to include, but shall not be limited to, the blades of the system remaining stationary so that wind resources are not being converted into electric or mechanical energy.

B. Storage containers.

(1) The long-term use of prefabricated relocatable steel buildings, box trailers or shipping or cargo containers (hereafter "storage containers") is discouraged, and the Zoning Board shall only approve a special use permit for a clearly demonstrated need. A storage container special use permit shall expire one year from the date of issuance and may only be extended for not more than one year at a time after reapplication and further approval by the Zoning Board. The Zoning Board shall impose the following conditions on the special use permit, unless the Board determines that compliance with these conditions would be infeasible based on the dimensions and layout of the subject property:

(a) Containers may not be located on the front lawn of any property;

(b) Containers shall not be located so as to reduce the amount of available off-street parking spaces to below the required minimum; and

(c) Containers must be screened by a solid fence or hedge from public view from the road.

(2) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a storage container placed on property in connection with a valid building permit shall not be subject to the requirements of this section so long as the building permit remains valid.

[Added 2-5-2018 by Ord. No. 2017-22]

§ 185-14 General requirements.

The following general requirements shall be applied to all accessory uses allowed within any Residence District:

A. No accessory building or structure shall be located nearer than five feet to the principal building.

B. Lights used to illuminate any swimming pool, tennis court or other accessory use or accessory or other structure shall be so arranged and shaded as to reflect light away from adjoining premises.

C. It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue or cause to be made or continue at any private residential swimming pool, tennis court or other residential accessory use or any structure, any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise; or to create any other nuisance which annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of neighboring property owners or occupants.

D. In the operation of an accessory use, the use or permitted use or operation of any radio, musical instrument, phonograph or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound, in such a manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants, or at any time with louder volume than is reasonably necessary for convenient hearing for the persons who are using the accessory or structure, shall be unlawful.

§ 185-15 Swimming pool requirements.

Private residential swimming pools are permitted in all Residence Districts, subject to the following:

A. All residential swimming pools must be located so as to meet the setback requirements set forth for accessory structures for each Residence District in Article VI. Said setback requirements apply not only to the swimming pool itself, but also to any pumps, filters, water disinfection equipment and structures appurtenant thereto.

B. No swimming pools or appurtenances thereto shall be constructed, installed, enlarged or altered until a building permit has been obtained from the Building Official. The approval of all Town and state authorities having jurisdiction over swimming pools shall be obtained before applying to the Building Official for such permit. Certified copies of these approvals shall be filed as part of the supporting data for the application for such building permit. Plans will be submitted to the Building Official showing accurately the dimensions and construction of the pool and appurtenances; properly established distances to lot lines, buildings, walks and fences; and details of the water supply system, drainage and water disposal system and appurtenances pertaining to the swimming pool. Detailed plans of structures, vertical elevations and sections through the pool showing depth shall be included.

C. No overhead electrical conductor shall be installed directly over the area consisting of the pool and its apron and fence or enclosure. All metal fences, enclosures or railings near or adjacent to swimming pools to which bathers have access, which may become electrically alive as a result of contact with broken or overhead conductors or from any other cause, shall be effectively grounded.

D. Every person owning land on which there is situated a swimming pool, whether or not containing any water, shall erect and maintain thereon an adequate enclosure or fence surrounding the property or pool area, and sufficient to make such body of water or unfilled in-ground swimming pool inaccessible to small children. Such enclosure, including gates thereto, must be no less than five feet in height above the underlying ground. All gates must be self-latching with latches placed at least four feet above the underlying ground or otherwise made inaccessible from the outside to small children, and must be lockable. An apron between this enclosure or fence and the pool edge of not less than four feet in width must exist.

E. Every private swimming pool shall be equipped with rescue equipment, including at least one twelve-foot pole with shepherd's crook securely fastened at one end and at least one fifteen-inch life ring with a fifty-foot rope.

§ 185-16 Yard sales.

Yard sales are permitted in all Residence Districts as an accessory use, except that no resident or family residing on a lot shall be permitted more than two yard sales per calendar year. The maximum duration of any yard sale shall be three consecutive days.