For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and terms are
defined as listed below. Also, words used in the present tense include
the future; the singular number includes the plural number, and the
plural number includes the singular number; the word "building" includes
the word "structure"; and the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory.
Any words not herein defined shall be construed as defined in the
State and City Building Codes.
ACCESSORY BUILDING OR STRUCTURE
A building or portion of a building subordinate to the main
building or structure and used for a purpose customarily incidental
to the permitted use of the main building or structure or the use
of the premises, including but not limited to garages, prefabricated
metal buildings for storage, carports, greenhouses, screened enclosures,
swimming pools, bathhouse and filter equipment sheds, playhouses,
gazebos, satellite dish antennas, and open storage. Accessory buildings
shall not occupy more than 1,000 square feet. Any accessory building
projected forward of the rear building line of the principal building
shall satisfy the same front and side yard requirements as the principal
building.
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT USE
An establishment consisting of, including, or having the
characteristics of any or all of the following:
A.
ADULT BOOKSTOREAn establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade books, magazines, publications, tapes, or films that are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to sexual activities or anatomical genital areas.
B.
(1)
An establishment devoted to adult entertainment, either with
or without a liquor license, presenting material distinguished or
characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating
to sexual activities or anatomical genital areas.
(2)
A cabaret that features topless dancers, go-go dancers, strippers,
male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers for observation
by patrons.
C.
ADULT MINI MOTION-PICTURE THEATERAn enclosed building with a capacity for fewer than 50 persons used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to sexual activities or anatomical genital areas.
D.
ADULT MOTION-PICTURE THEATERAn enclosed building with a capacity for 50 or more persons used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to sexual activities or anatomical genital areas.
ALLEY
A street or thoroughfare less than 21 feet wide and affording
only secondary access to abutting property.
BED-AND-BREAKFAST
Any place of lodging that provides four or fewer rooms for
more than 10 nights in a twelve-month period, is the owner's
personal residence, is occupied by the owner at the time of rental,
and in which the only meal served to guests is breakfast.
BUILDING
Any structure used, designed or intended for the protection,
shelter, enclosure, or support of persons, animals, or property. When
a building is divided into separate parts by unpierced walls extending
from the ground up, each part shall be deemed a separate building.
A carport shall be considered a building.
BUILDING HEIGHT
The vertical distance from the average curb level in front
of the lot or the finished grade at the building line, whichever is
higher, to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, to the
deckline of a mansard roof or to the average height of the highest
gable of a gambrel, hip, or pitch roof.
CAMPGROUND
A privately or municipally owned parcel or tract of land
maintained, intended or used for the purpose of supplying temporary
or overnight living accommodations to the public by providing designated
areas for the placement of trailers, tents, buses, automobiles, or
sleeping bags, and may include structures to provide services to the
patrons, such as rest rooms and bathing and laundry facilities.
DECK
An uncovered exterior structure designed or intended for
outdoor living space. Decks shall have a minimum fifteen-foot rear
yard setback in all residential districts.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILY
A building or portion thereof designed for and occupied by
more than two families, including row houses, apartment houses, and
condominiums.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A detached or semidetached building designed for or occupied
exclusively by two families.
FAMILY
A person living alone or two or more persons living together
in a domestic relationship based upon birth, marriage or other domestic
bond, in a dwelling unit.
FARMING
The raising of crops and keeping of farm animals, including
but not limited to cattle, fowl, rabbits, sheep, goats, and horses.
FEEDLOT
Any livestock feeding or housing area or structure in which
the concentration of animals is such that a vegetative cover is not
maintained during the summer.
FENCE
Any barrier constructed of wood, wire, metal, stone, or a
combination thereof, excluding single-strand or barbed wire fences.
Such fences shall not exceed 72 inches in height in the side or rear
yard or 48 inches in height in the front yard. In the M District,
fences shall not exceed 15 feet in height. All fences in the front
yard or a vision triangle shall not exceed 48 inches in height, shall
be ninety-percent see-through, and shall not obstruct the vision of
pedestrians or motorists.
FRONTAGE
All the property abutting a public road or street.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
An accessory building in residential areas for the storage
of motor-driven vehicles.
GARAGE, PUBLIC
Any building or premises, other than a private or storage
garage, where motor-driven vehicles are equipped, repaired, painted,
serviced, hired, sold, or stored.
HOME OCCUPATION
A gainful occupation conducted by members of the family only, within their place of residence, provided that the area used does not exceed 25% of the total floor area, excluding attached garage; that no article or service is sold or offered for sale on the premises except such as is produced by such occupation; that no materials used in or produced by said occupation are displayed or stored outside; that no stock-in-trade is kept or sold; that no mechanical equipment is used other than such as is permissible for purely domestic purposes; that the volume of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or parking shall not result in congestion or be abnormal for a residential neighborhood; that no sign other than one unlighted nameplate as provided in §
625-38 is installed; that no structural alterations that are not customarily part of the dwelling unit are needed; and that no person other than a member of the immediate family living on the premises is employed.
[Amended 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-001]
HOTEL
A building where rooms, with or without meals, are supplied
to the transient public or to anyone who may apply, for compensation.
JUNK OR SALVAGE YARD
An area consisting of buildings, structures, or premises
where junk, waste, discarded or salvage materials are bought, sold,
exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled, or handled, including
automobile wrecking yards, but not including the purchase or storage
of used furniture or household equipment or used cars in operable
condition.
KENNEL
The use of land with related buildings and structures for
the breeding, rearing, boarding, or training of more than two dogs
and/or cats over five months of age.
[Amended 12-10-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-001]
LIVESTOCK UNIT
One thousand five hundred pounds of live animal weight. "Animal"
includes but is not limited to cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and buffalo.
LOT
A parcel of land having frontage on or legal access to a
public street, occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal
structure or use and sufficient in size to meet the lot width, lot
frontage, lot area, yard, parking area, and other open space provisions
of this chapter.
LOT, CORNER
A lot abutting on two or more streets at their intersection.
LOT, DEPTH OF
The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot
lines.
LOT LINES
The lines bounding a lot as defined herein.
LOT, THROUGH
An interior lot having frontage on two nonintersecting streets.
LOT WIDTH
The width of a parcel of land measured at the rear of the
specified setback lines.
MANUFACTURED HOME
A dwelling structure or component thereof fabricated in an
off-site manufacturing facility for installation or assembly at the
building site bearing a HUD label or insignia certifying that it is
built in compliance with federal manufactured housing construction
standards. (Reference 42 U.S.C. § 5401.)
MEMBRANE STORAGE STRUCTURE
A temporary accessory storage structure consisting of a frame
that is covered with a plastic, fabric, canvas or similar nonpermanent
material, which is used to provide storage for vehicles, boats, recreational
vehicles and other personal property; which term shall also apply
to accessory structures commonly known as hoop houses, canopy covered
carports, and garages; but shall not apply to greenhouses or temporary
tents or canopies used for limited time special events such as weddings,
festivals, graduations or farmers markets.
[Added 8-13-2018 by Ord.
No. 2018-002]
MOBILE HOME
A transportable, factory-built structure designed for long-term
occupancy built prior to enactment of the Federal Manufactured Housing
Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, which became effective
June 15, 1976.
MOBILE HOME LOT
A parcel of land in a mobile home park of not less than 5,000
square feet and designed for the placement of one mobile home.
MOBILE HOME PARK
Any park, court, plot, parcel, or tract of land of at least
five acres in size owned by a person, state government, or a local
government and designed, maintained, intended, or used for the purpose
of accommodating more than one mobile home or manufactured home, and
shall include all buildings used or intended for use in conjunction
therewith. Mobile home parks are intended to be used to protect property
owners' values. However, mobile home parks shall not include
automobile, motor home or mobile home sales lots on which unoccupied
mobile homes are parked for purposes of inspection and sale. Also
excluded are farms where the occupants of the mobile homes work on
the farm or are related to the farm owner or operator as father, mother,
son, daughter, brother or sister.
MOTEL
A series of attached, semi-attached, or detached sleeping
units for the accommodation of transient guests.
NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE
Any structure lawfully used, occupied, or erected at the
time of the effective date of this chapter or amendments thereto which
structurally does not conform to the regulations of this chapter or
amendments thereto. Any such structure conforming in respect to use
but not in respect to frontage, width, height, area, yard, parking,
loading or distance requirements shall be considered a nonconforming
structure and not a nonconforming use.
NONCONFORMING USE
A building or premises lawfully used or occupied at the time
of the passage of this chapter or amendments thereto, which use or
occupancy does not conform to the regulations of this chapter or amendments
thereto.
OCCUPANCY
The residing of an individual or individuals overnight in
a dwelling unit, or the installation, storage or use of equipment,
merchandise or machinery in any public, commercial or industrial building.
OCCUPANT
The individual or individuals in actual possession of a premises.
PARKING AREA
An area other than a street used for the temporary parking
of motor vehicles.
PRINCIPAL USE OR BUILDING
The main use of the land or building(s) as distinguished
from an incidental and subordinate accessory use of land or building(s).
PROFESSIONAL OFFICE
The office of a doctor, surveyor, planner, dentist, minister, architect, landscape architect, professional engineer, lawyer, author, musician or a member of a recognized profession. When established in a residential district, a professional office shall be incidental to the residential occupation; not more than 25% of the floor area, excluding the garage, of only one story of a dwelling unit shall be occupied by such office, only one nonresident person shall be employed, and only one unlighted nameplate as provided in §
625-38 containing the name and profession of the occupant of the premises shall be exhibited.
PUBLIC AND SEMIPUBLIC USES
Governmental and cultural uses, such as administrative offices,
fire and police stations, community centers, libraries, public emergency
shelters, parks, playgrounds and museums, public, private and parochial
preschool, elementary and secondary schools, and churches, cemeteries,
private clubs and lodges and public storage garages.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicular unit designed as temporary living quarters for
recreational, camping or travel use which either has its own motive
power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. The basic entities
are travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper, or motor home.
SETBACK
The minimum horizontal distance between the street line and
the nearest point of a building or any projection thereof, excluding
uncovered steps.
SETBACK LINES
Lines established along highways and streets at specified
distances from the right-of-way line, which buildings or structures
shall be set back of, or outside of, and within which they may not
be placed except as hereinafter provided. "Within the setback line"
means between the setback line and the highway or street.
SIGN
Any identification, description, illustration, or device,
illuminated or nonilluminated, which is visible from any public place
or is located on private property and exposed to the public and which
directs attention to a product, service, place, activity, person,
institution, business, or solicitation, including permanently installed
or situated merchandise, or any emblem, painting, banner, pennant,
placard, or temporary sign designed to advertise, identify, or convey
information, with the exception of window displays and flags. For
the purpose of removal, "sign" shall also include all sign structures.
STORY
That portion of a building included between the surface of
a floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there is
no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling
next above it. A basement or cellar having 1/2 or more of its height
above grade shall be deemed a story for purposes of height regulation.
STORY, HALF
The space under any roof except a flat roof which, if occupied
for residential purposes, shall be counted as a full story.
STREET
All property dedicated or intended for public street purposes.
STREET LINE
A dividing line between a lot, tract, or parcel of land and
a contiguous street.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATION
Any change in the supporting members of a building or any
substantial change in the roof structure or in the exterior walls.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected which is not readily or usually
relocated and moved, the use of which requires a permanent location
on the ground or attachment to something having a permanent location
on the ground.
SWIMMING POOL
A container either temporarily or permanently constructed
upon or within the ground so designed as to contain water exceeding
12 inches in depth and having an area greater than 150 square feet
which is used primarily for swimming.
TEMPORARY STRUCTURE
A movable structure not designed for human occupancy nor
for the protection of goods or chattels and forming an enclosure.
TRAFFIC LANE
A strip of roadway intended to accommodate a single line
of moving vehicles.
YARD
An open space on the same lot with or without a structure,
unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except for vegetation
and as otherwise provided herein. The front and rear yards extend
the full width of the lot.
YARD, FRONT
A yard extending the full width of the lot between the front
lot line and the nearest part of the main building, excluding uncovered
steps. On a corner lot, the front yard will be the yard with a street
address.
YARD, REAR
A yard extending the full width of the lot, being the minimum
horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the nearest part
of the building, excluding uncovered steps.
YARD, SIDE
A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard, being
the minimum horizontal distance between a building and side lot line.