As used in this chapter, the following words shall
have the meanings indicated:
ACCESSORY USE
A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal
use of a building and located on the same lot therewith.
ADULT BOOKSTORE
An establishment having as a substantial or significant portion
of its stock-in-trade books, magazines, other periodicals, films,
slides and videotapes and which establishment is customarily not open
to the public generally but excludes any minor by reason of age.
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT CABARET
A public or private establishment which presents topless
dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators or exotic dancers
or other similar entertainments and which establishment is customarily
not open to the public generally but excludes any minor by reason
of age.
ADULT THEATER
A theater that customarily presents motion pictures, films,
videotapes or slide shows that are not open to the public generally
but exclude any minor by reason of age.
AIRPORT
A facility for the landing, storage and service of one or
more aircraft.
ALTERATION
As applied to a building or structure, a change or rearrangement
in the structural parts or in the exit facilities or an enlargement,
whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height or the moving
from one location or position to another.
ALTERATION, STRUCTURAL
Any change in the supporting members of a building, such
as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
AMBIENT STANDARD
A limit on the intensity of an environmental pollutant as
measured at a receptor point rather than at the source.
APARTMENT BUILDING
A building arranged, intended or designed to be occupied
by three or more families living independently of each other.
AREA, FLOOR
The horizontal area of a building as outlined by its exterior
main walls, not including uninhabitable basements or cellars, built-in
or attached garages, porches or terraces.
BASEMENT
A story partly below grade but having at least 1/2 of its
height (measured from floor to ceiling) above the average adjoining
grade. (See "cellar" below.)
BITCOIN MINING or CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING
A process where a specialized computer validates blockchain
transactions for a specific cryptocurrency and in turn receives a
monetary reward for the computational effort. Bitcoin mining or cryptocurrency
mining is not an allowable use (by right, special use permit or variance)
in the Town of Wheatfield.
[Added 11-7-2022 by L.L. No. 3-2022]
BUFFER
A strip of land required to separate different land uses
from each other in order to eliminate or minimize potential nuisances
such as dirt, litter, noise, glare of lights, signs and unsightly
buildings or parking areas or to provide spacing to reduce adverse
impacts of noise, odor or danger from fires or explosions. Buffers
may be as simple as a seeded grass area to a mound of dirt of a specific
height with or without plantings and/or fencing, depending upon the
individual characteristics of the neighboring culture, as determined
by the Town Planning Board, as part of the site plan review.
[Amended 5-21-2012 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls
and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals
or chattel.
BUILDING, ACCESSORY
A supplemental building, the use of which is incidental to
that of a main or principal building and located on the same lot therewith.
BUILDING, HEIGHT
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the
highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deckline of mansard
roofs and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip
and gambrel roofs.
BUILDING INSPECTOR
The officially established Building Inspector and the zoning
enforcement officer of the Town of Wheatfield.
BUILDING, PRINCIPAL
A building in which is conducted the main or principal use
of the lot on which said building is situated.
BUILDING (SETBACK) LINE
A line parallel to the street right-of-way line, between
which line and the street right-of-way no building may be built.
CELLAR
A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its
clean height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A cellar
shall not be considered in determining the permissible number of stories.
(See "basement" above.)
DAY-CARE CENTER
Any place, including an occupied residence, used for the
supervision and care of preschool and school-aged children for periods
of less than 24 hours per day and in accordance with any appropriate
state requirements.
[Amended 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
DECIBEL (dB)
A unit which describes the sound pressure level or intensity
of sound. A sound level meter is calibrated in decibels.
DETONABLE MATERIALS
Materials which decompose by detonation. Such materials include
explosives, unstable compounds and fissionable matter.
DWELLING
A building of at least 22 feet in width designed or used
exclusively as the living quarters for one or more families.
[Amended 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILY
A dwelling used or designed as a residence for three or more
families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking
therein, including apartment houses, apartment hotels, flats and group
houses.
[Amended 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
A detached dwelling designed for or occupied exclusively
by one family.
[Amended 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A dwelling designed for or occupied exclusively by two families
living independently of each other.
DWELLING UNIT
A dwelling or portion thereof providing complete living facilities
for one family.
EMISSION RATE
The release per unit of time of air pollutants from a given
source.
EQUIVALENT OPACITY
The density of light obscuration of any smoke or plume that
most closely matches the smoke shade on the standard Ringelmann Chart.
FAMILY
One or more persons occupying a dwelling unit and living
together as a single housekeeping unit.
[Amended 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
FARM
A single parcel of land three acres or more in size on which
an owner or tenant carries on agricultural or dairying pursuits or
the raising of livestock, poultry or the keeping of bees.
FLASH POINT
The lowest temperature at which a flammable liquid will momentarily
burn under prescribed conditions.
FOOTCANDLE
A unit of illumination equal to the light flux which falls
on a one-square-foot area one foot distant from a light source of
one candle power.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
An enclosed structure accessory to a principal building for
the purpose of storing motor vehicles and/or items incidental to the
main building and provided that no business, occupation or service
is conducted therein for profit.
GARAGE, REPAIR
A main or accessory building used or designed for repair
purposes; a service garage if accessory to an automobile salesroom.
GASOLINE STATION
A place where gasoline, oil, grease, batteries, tires, motor
vehicle accessories, etc., may be supplied and dispensed at retail
and which may or may not include facilities for lubricating, washing
or otherwise servicing motor vehicles, but not including painting.
GRADE, FINISHED
The completed surfaces of lawns, walks and roads brought
to grades as shown on official plans or designs related thereto.
GROUP DEVELOPMENT
A group of two or more (detached) dwellings located on the
same lot, having any yard or open space in common and planned as a
single integrated development.
HOME OCCUPATION
An accessory use of a dwelling unit for gainful employment involving the manufacture, provision or sale of goods and/or services. (See Article
X, Home Occupations.)
HOSPITAL
An institution providing health services and medical or surgical
care, primarily for temporary inpatients, to persons suffering from
illness, disease, injury, deformity or other abnormal physical or
mental condition and including as an integral part of the institution
related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient facilities or
training facilities. "Hospital" does not include institutions for
the permanent care of or occupation by the poor, infirm, incurable
or insane.
HOSPITAL, ANIMAL
An establishment for the medical and/or surgical care of
animals.
HOTEL
A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used
or which are used, rented or hired out to be occupied or which are
occupied for sleeping purposes by guests and where only a general
kitchen and dining room are provided within the building or in an
accessory building.
IMPACT NOISE
A sound of short duration such as that from a forging hammer
or punch press.
JUNKYARD
A lot, land or structure or part thereof, used primarily
for the collecting, storage and sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal
or discarded material or for the collecting, dismantling, storage
and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition and
for the sale of parts thereof.
KENNEL
Any place in or at which any number of dogs are kept for
the purpose of sale or in connection with boarding care or breeding,
for which any fee is charged.
LOT
A parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied by
a building and the accessory buildings or uses customarily incident
to it, including such open spaces as are required by this chapter.
LOT, CORNER
A parcel of land at the junction of and fronting on two or
more intersecting streets.
LOT, DEPTH
The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot
lines.
LOT, FLAG
A lot having a minimum frontage for a driveway servicing
the main portion of the lot which is some distance back from the street
and which meets all other zoning requirements.
LOT LINE
Any line dividing one lot from another.
LOT, THROUGH
An interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately
parallel streets.
LOT, WIDTH
The distance between the side lot lines measured along the
front setback line.
MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENT
Any establishment having a fixed place of business where
massages are administered for pay, including but not limited to massage
parlors, sauna baths and steam baths. This definition shall not be
construed to include a hospital, nursing home or medical clinic or
the office of a physician, surgeon, chiropractor, osteopath or duly
licensed physical therapist or barbershops or beauty salons in which
massages are administered only to the scalp, face, neck or shoulders.
This definition also shall exclude health clubs which have facilities
for physical exercise, such as tennis courts, racquetball courts or
exercise rooms and which do not receive their primary source of revenue
through the administration of massages.
MOBILE HOME
A transportable single-family dwelling which may be towed
on its own running gear and which is affixed to real estate, used
for nontransient residential purposes and which is recognized and
approved as a "mobile home" by the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code.
MOTEL
A building or group of buildings, whether detached or in
connected units, used as individual sleeping or dwelling units designed
primarily for travelers and providing accessory off-street parking
facilities. The term "motel" includes buildings designated as motor
lodges, auto courts and similar appellations.
NONCONFORMING USE
A building, structure or use of land lawfully existing at
the time of enactment of this chapter or any amendment thereto and
which does not conform to the regulations of the district or zone
in which it is situated.
NURSERY
The land and buildings used for the raising and sale of plants,
trees and shrubs.
NURSERY SCHOOL
A school designed to provide daytime care or instruction
for two or more children from two to five years of age, inclusive
and operated on a regular basis.
NURSING HOME
An establishment which provides full-time convalescent or
chronic care or both, for three or more individuals who are not related
by blood or marriage to the operator and who, by reason of chronic
illness or infirmity, are unable to care for themselves. No care for
the acutely ill or surgical or obstetrical services shall be provided
in such an establishment. However, this definition shall also include
an establishment or dwelling, also know as a "hospice," which provides
full-time palliative and supportive care for terminally ill individuals
and their families. A hospital shall not be construed to be included
in this definition.
[Amended 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
ODOR THRESHOLD
The lowest concentration of odorous matter that produces
an olfactory response in normal human beings.
ODOR UNIT
A unit of odor strength. It is the amount of an odorous material
in one cubic foot of clean air that is just detectable by 50% of a
panel of human observers.
OPEN SPACE
An area that is intended to provide light and air and is
designated for environmental, scenic or recreational purposes. Open
space may include, but is not limited to, lawns, decorative plantings,
walkways, active and passive recreational areas, wooded areas and
watercourses. Open space shall not be deemed to include driveways,
parking lots or other automotive use areas.
PARTICULATE MATTER
Material other than water which is suspended in or discharged
into the atmosphere in a finely divided form as a liquid or solid.
PATIO HOMES
A single-family, detached, residential dwelling unit, consisting
of one structure with a property line not less than 10 feet of land
on each side of the structure, sharing a common area open space with
other patio homeowners in the development, which may be owned in common,
by a homeowners' association, or by any other legal arrangements approved
by the Planning Board and Town Board. Patio homes shall not exceed
1 1/2 stories, as defined in the Town's building code, and typically
located in a cluster development, or in a planned unit development.
[Added 5-21-2012 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
PEEP SHOWS
A theater which presents material in the form of live shows,
films or videotapes viewed from an individual enclosure, for which
a fee is charged and which is not open to the public generally but
excludes any minor by reason of age.
PLANNING BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of Wheatfield, New York.
[Added 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
QUARRY, SAND PIT, GRAVEL PIT
A lot or land or part thereof used for the purpose of extracting
stone, sand or gravel as an industrial operation and exclusive of
the process of grading a lot preparatory to the construction of a
building for which application for a building permit has been made.
RIDING ACADEMY
Any establishment where horses are kept for riding, driving
or stabling for compensation or incidental to the operation of any
club, association, ranch or similar establishment.
RINGELMANN CHART
A chart originally published in United States Bureau of Mines
Circular No. 7718 (August 1955) on which density of equivalent opacity
of smoke is illustrated by increasingly dense shades of gray (0 =
clear; 5 = opaque).
SIGN
A name, identification, description or illustration containing
letters, numbers or symbols, which is affixed to or painted, represented
or installed on any part of a building, structure, vehicle or parcel
of land in view of the general public and which directs attention
to a person, institution, organization, activity, place, object, product
or business.
SIGN, BILLBOARD
An off-premises sign having more than 100 square feet of
face area.
SIGN, BUSINESS DIRECTIONAL
An off-premises sign, of three square feet or less, not located
on state highways, to provide direction to businesses and facilities.
[Amended 9-15-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
SIGN CANOPY
A pedestrian-oriented sign attached to the underside of a
permanent canopy, perpendicular to the building frontage.
SIGN, ELECTRONIC MESSAGE DISPLAY
A sign capable of displaying words, symbols, figures or images
that can be electronically or mechanically changed by remote or automatic
means. (Related terms defined as follows:)
[Added 4-14-2008 by L.L. No. 2-2008]
(1)
DISSOLVEA mode of message transition on an electronic message display accomplished by varying the light intensity or pattern where the first message gradually appears to dissipate and lose legibility simultaneously with the gradual appearance and legibility of the second message.
(2)
FADEA mode of message transition on an electronic message display accomplished by varying the light intensity where the first message gradually reduces intensity to the point of not being legible and the subsequent message gradually increases intensity to the point of legibility.
(3)
FRAMEA complete static display screen on an electronic message display.
(4)
FRAME EFFECTA visual effect on an electronic message display applied to a single frame to attract attention of viewers.
(5)
SCROLLA mode of message transition on an electronic message display where the message appears to move vertically across the display surface.
(6)
TRANSITIONA visual effect used on an electronic message display to change from one message to another.
(7)
TRAVELA mode of message transition on an electronic message display where the message appears to move horizontally across the display surface.
SIGN, FACE AREA OF
The surface devoted to the conveying of the message, exclusive
of the structure to support it, trim and framing device and any appurtenances
required by building codes. In the case of open sign structures not
having a solid surface or a sign not otherwise inscribed in a definitive
area, the area of the sign shall be taken as the area required to
circumscribe all letters and devices exclusive of supports. For double-faced
signs where both faces are parallel or angled from each other by no
more than 45°, only one display face shall be measured in determining
total sign area. When the faces are angled from each other by greater
than 45°, all faces shall be measured in determining the total
sign area.
SIGN, FREESTANDING
A sign resting upon or attached to the ground by means of
an integral base or one or more poles or standards. Freestanding signs
include both pole signs and ground signs.
SIGN, OFF-PREMISES
Any sign attracting attention to an object, product, service,
place, activity, institution, organization or business not available
or located on the site where the sign is located.
SIGN, WALL
Any sign integral with or attached to and parallel to the
face of the outside wall of a building.
SIGN, WINDOW
Any sign placed inside or upon a window facing the outside
and which is intended to be seen from the exterior.
SMOKE
Small gasborne particles other than water that form a visible
plume in air.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM
An arrangement or combination of components and structures
designed to provide heating, cooling, hot water or electricity through
the process of collecting, converting, storing, protecting against
unnecessary dissipation of and distributing solar energy.
SOLAR SKYSPACE
The space between a solar collector and the sun which must
be free of obstructions for a solar energy system's effective operation.
SOUND-LEVEL METER
An electronic instrument which includes a microphone, amplifier
and output meter which measures sound pressure levels in a specified
manner.
STABLE
A building or part of a building used to house horses or
cattle.
STANDARD CUBIC FEET
The measure of the volume of a gas, reduced to 14.73 pounds
per square inch absolute and 60° F.
STORY
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the ceiling above it.
STREET
A public or private way which affords the principal means
of access to abutting properties.
STREET LINE
A common property line separating a public street from abutting
properties.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires
location on the ground or attachment to something having location
on the ground.
THEATER, INDOOR
A building or part of a building devoted to the showing of
moving pictures or theatrical productions on a paid admission basis.
THEATER, OUTDOOR DRIVE-IN
An open lot or part thereof, with its appurtenant facilities,
devoted primarily to the showing of moving pictures or theatrical
productions, on a paid admission basis, to patrons seated in automobiles
or on outdoor seats.
THEME PARK
A contiguous area of land of not less than 50 acres consisting
of amusement rides, attractions, games and refreshment stands.
[Added 9-12-2005 by L.L. 8-2005]
TOURIST HOME
A dwelling in which overnight accommodations are provided
for transient guests for compensation, including bed-and-breakfast
establishments.
TOWN BOARD
The Town Board of the Town of Wheatfield, New York.
TOXIC OR NOXIOUS SUBSTANCE
Any solid, liquid or gaseous matter, including but not limited
to gases, vapors, dusts, fumes and mists containing properties which
by chemical means are:
(1)
Inherently harmful and likely to destroy life
and impair health; or
(2)
Capable of causing injury to the well-being
of persons or damage to property.
USE
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed,
arranged or intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
VIBRATION, IMPACT
Earthborne oscillations occurring in discrete pulses at less
than 100 per minute.
VIBRATION, STEADY-STATE
Continuous earthborne oscillations. Discrete pulses occurring
100 or more times per minute are usually considered "steady-state
vibrations."
WEIGHTED SOUND LEVEL
The sound pressure level in decibels read on a sound-level
meter using the A-filter. The A-filter attenuates the incoming sound
to approximate the sensitivity of the human ear.
YARD
An open space on the same lot with a building or structure.
YARD, FRONT
An open space on the same lot with a main building, extending
the full width of the lot between the street line and the building
line.
YARD, REAR
An open space on the same lot with a main building, extending
the full width of the lot between the rear lot line and the rear line
of the building.
YARD, SIDE
An open space on the same lot with the building situated
between the building and the side line of the lot and extending from
the front yard to the rear yard.