As used in this chapter, the following acronyms shall have the
meanings indicated:
American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials.
Americans with Disabilities Act.
American Society for Testing and Materials.
Delaware Department of Transportation.
Delaware Geological Survey.
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Control.
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Maintenance of traffic.
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Office of State Planning Coordination.
Preliminary Land Use Service.
Source Water Assessment and Protection Program.
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any structure, mast, pole, tripod or tower utilized for the
purpose of supporting an antenna or antennas for the purpose of transmission
or reception of electromagnetic waves (by federally license radio
operators).
The overall vertical length of the antenna support structure
or tower, above grade or ground (measured between the highest point
of the antenna support structure and the natural grade directly below
this point), or if such system is mounted on a building or other structure,
then the overall vertical length includes the height of the building
or structure upon which the antenna support structure is mounted.
A person, firm, or governmental agency submitting an application
for any type of development (including site and/or subdivision) approval,
permit, certificate, authorization permission, interpretation, appeal,
exception, exemption, building, land disturbance, or other activity
regulated by this chapter.
A building, or part of a building, for the exhibition of
art, typically visual art, such as paintings, sculpture, photographs,
illustrations, installation art and objects from the applied arts
(industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design,
decorative art).
A building, or part of a building, housing an artist's or
worker's workroom, or an artist and employees who work within that
studio, typically used for architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics),
sculpture, photography, graphic design, cinematography, animation,
radio or television broadcasting or the making of music.
A story in a building having a floor partly below the finished
graded but having more than 1/2 of its height (measured from the finished
ceiling) above the average level of the finished grade where such
grade abuts the exterior walls of the building. A basement shall be
considered as one story in determining the permissible number of stories.
Overnight accommodations and a morning meal in a dwelling
unit provided to transients for compensation.
Any structure (See "structure" in this article.) having a
roof supported by columns or walls intended for the shelter, housing,
or enclosure of any individual, animal, process equipment, goods,
or materials of any kind. Note: Every building is a structure, but
not every structure is a building.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 318]
A building or structure on the same lot as a principal building
or structure in which is conducted a use that is clearly incidental
and subordinate to the lot's principal use.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 318]
An accessory building or structure that:
[Added 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 318]
An accessory building or structure that:
[Added 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 318]
The space within which a building or structure is permitted
to be constructed on a lot; defined by minimum yard setbacks.
[Added 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 318]
The apex (highest point) of the roof vertical distance from
finished grade to the top of the highest roof beams on a flat or shed
roof.
A structure in which is conducted the primary use of the
lot on which it is located. See Figure 9.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 318[1]]
An establishment where patients are admitted for examination
and treatment on an outpatient basis by one or more physicians, dentists,
other medical personnel, psychologists, or social workers and where
patients are not lodged overnight.
A group of people, organized for a social, educational, or
recreational purpose, operating primarily neither for profit nor to
render services customarily carried on by commercial businesses.
A legal form of real estate ownership, not a type of dwelling
unit or building style, where a building, or group of buildings, in
which dwelling units, offices, or floor area are owned individually;
and the structure, common areas, facilities and the land, on which
the structure, common areas, and facilities are built, are owned by
all the owners on a proportional, undivided basis.
Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance
that enters the hydrologic cycle through human action and may cause
a deleterious effect on groundwater resources.
Any retail sales establishment consisting of 5,000 square
feet or fewer selling primarily food products, household items, newspapers,
magazines, candy, and beverages, and a limited amount of freshly prepared
foods, such as sandwiches and salads, for off-premises consumption.
An establishment providing for the care, supervision, and
protection of persons away from their homes.
An establishment providing health, social, and related support
services for the elderly and/or functionally impaired adults in a
protective setting for part of a day, including, but not limited to,
those facilities licensed and regulated by the State Department of
Health and Social Services pursuant to Title 16, Chapter 4402, of
the Delaware Administrative Code.
A place that provides care, protection, supervision and guidance
for 13 or more children, including, but not limited to, those facilities
licensed by the State Department of Services for Children, Youth and
Their Families pursuant to Title 9, Chapter 103, of the Delaware Administrative
Code.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, placement
of manufactured homes, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving,
excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.
A store where the primary business is the filling of medical
prescriptions and the sale of drugs, medical devices and supplies,
and nonprescription medicines, but where nonmedical products, such
as cards, candy, cosmetics, grocery products, and seasonal items,
may also be sold.
A structure or portion thereof that is used exclusively for
human habitation.
One of two single dwelling units, arranged one on top of
the other, where each unit is separated from the other by an unpierced
ceiling and floor extending from exterior wall to exterior wall, and
where each unit has a separate exterior or interior entrance.
A dwelling fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility
for installation or assembly at a building site and bearing a label
certifying that it is built in accordance with Federal Manufactured
Home Construction and Safety Standards, which became effective on
June 15, 1976.
A dwelling fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility
in accordance with the Sussex County Building Code. Modular homes
also include, but are not limited to, panelized, prefabricated, and
kit homes.
A building containing three or more dwellings which may or
may not share a single common entry and are located one over another.
One of two single unit dwellings located on abutting lots,
where the dwellings are joined by a party wall along the common lot
line and extending from the basement floor to the highest point of
the roof with no openings, and where no other buildings or structures
adjoin either dwelling unit.
A building containing one dwelling that is not attached to
any other dwelling by any means, is surrounded by open space or yards,
and does not have any roof, wall, or floor in common with any other
dwelling.
One of a group of three or more single unit dwellings separated
from each other by a party wall extending from the basement floor
to the highest point of the roof with no openings. Each unit must
have two separate entrances from the outside. No unit may be located
over another unit.
One or more rooms, designed occupied or intended for occupancy
as a separate living quarter, with cooking, sleeping, and sanitary
facilities provided within the dwelling for the exclusive use of a
single family, as defined in this chapter, maintaining a household.[2]
|
Figure 9. Dwelling Types
 |
A grant of one or more of the property rights by a property
owner to and/or for use by the public, a corporation, or another person
or entity.
Any school or training institution, however designated, which
offers a program of college, professional, preparatory, high school,
junior high school, middle school, elementary school, kindergarten,
or nursery school jurisdiction, or any combination thereof, or any
other program of trade, technical, or artistic instruction.
An individual licensed to practice the profession of engineering
by the State of Delaware.
Detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments or the
wearing away of the land surface by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
A group of individuals not necessarily related by blood,
marriage, adoption, or guardianship living together in a dwelling
unit as a single-housekeeping unit. The term "single-housekeeping
unit" means common use of and access to all living and eating areas,
bathrooms, and food-preparation and serving areas. For purposes of
this chapter, the term "family" does not include any society, club,
fraternity, sorority, association, lodge, federation, or similar organizations;
or any group of individuals in group living arrangements as a result
of criminal offenses.
The seasonal selling or offering for sale at retail of vegetables,
produce, flowers, orchard products, and similar nonanimal products,
occurring in a predesignated area, where the vendors are individuals
who have raised the vegetables or produce or have taken such products
on consignment for retail sale.
An establishment whose principal business is the sale of
pre-prepared or rapidly prepared food directly to the customer in
a ready-to-consume state for consumption either within the restaurant
building, in vehicles on the premises, or off the premises.
Sand, gravel, earth, or other materials of any composition
whatsoever placed or deposited by humans usually to form an embankment
or raise the elevation of the land surface.
Any area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from
any source.
The side of a lot that abuts a street.
A deck, building, structure or part thereof used for the
parking and storage of vehicles.
A structure that is accessory to a residential building,
is used for the parking and storage of vehicles owned and operated
by the residents of the residential building, and is not a separate
commercial enterprise available to the general public.
Any building, land area, premises, or portion thereof, where
gasoline or other petroleum products or fuels are sold. Gasoline station
shall not include premises where automobile maintenance activities
such as engine or drive-train maintenance, automobile painting, and
body or fender work are conducted.
A gasoline station (See definition in this article.) and
convenience store (See definition in this article.) located on the
same lot and planned, operated, and maintained as an integrated planned
development.
Any building, land area, premises, or portion thereof, where
gasoline or other petroleum products or fuels are sold and may include
automobile maintenance activities such as engine or drive-train maintenance,
automobile painting, and body or fender work.
A gasoline station (See definition in this article.), fast-food
restaurant (See definition in this article.), and convenience store
(See definition in this article.) located on the same lot and planned,
operated, and maintained as an integrated planned development.
A direct or reflected light source creating a harsh brilliance
that causes the observer to squint or shield the eyes from the light.
Provided by the Town of Ocean View.
Provided by a governmental entity other than the Town of
Ocean View.
The average elevation of the land around a building.
The water contained in interconnected pores located below
the water table in an unconfined aquifer or located in a confined
aquifer.
A place devoted primarily to the maintenance and operation
of facilities for the diagnosis, treatment, or care, for not less
than 24 hours in any week, of four or more nonrelated individuals
suffering from illness, disease, injury, or deformity or a place devoted
primarily to providing for not less than 24 hours in any week of obstetrical
or other medical or nursing care for two or more nonrelated individuals
requiring a license being issued under Title 16, Chapter 10, Section
1003, of the Delaware Code, but does not include sanatoriums, rest
homes, nursing homes, or boardinghomes.
Those fields of economic activity including: forestry, fishing,
hunting, and trapping; mining; construction; manufacturing; transportation;
communication, electrical, gas, and sanitary services; and wholesale
trade.
Any scrap, waste, reclaimable material, or debris, whether
or not stored, for sale or in the process of being dismantled, destroyed,
processed, salvaged, stored, baled, disposed of, or for other use
or disposition; examples of which include, but are not limited to,
unregistered and inoperable vehicles, tires, vehicle parts, equipment,
paper, rags, metal, glass, building materials, household appliances,
machinery, brush, wood, and lumber.
A commercial establishment in which dogs or domestic animals
are housed, groomed, bred, boarded, trained, or sold, all for a fee
or compensation.
The keeping, breeding, raising, showing, or training of four
or more dogs or cats over the age of six months solely for the personal
enjoyment of the owner or occupant of the property and not for a fee
or compensation.
A land change or construction activity for residential, commercial,
industrial, and institutional land uses.
An individual licensed to practice the profession of landscape
architecture by the State of Delaware.
A plan associated with a subdivision or land development
plan indicating the placement of trees, shrubs, ground cover, and
affiliated structures and improvements, including specifications,
species, quantities, and installation as prepared by a Delaware registered
landscape architect.
The design and installation of plant material such as lawns,
ground cover, trees, bushes, etc.
An individual licensed to practice the profession of land
surveying by the State of Delaware.
A building or spaces within a building used jointly for commercial
and residential purposes where the residential use of the space is
secondary or accessory to the primary use as a place of work.
A designated parcel, tract, or area of land established either
by plat, subdivision, or considered as a unit of property by virtue
of a metes and bounds description, to be separately owned, used, developed,
or built upon.
A lot or parcel of land abutting upon two or more streets
at their intersection or upon two parts of the same street forming
an interior angle of less than 135°.
The distance between the midpoints of straight lines connecting
the foremost points of the side lot lines in front and the rearmost
points of the side lot lines in the rear.
The length of front lot line measured at the street right-of-way
line.
A lot other than a corner lot.
A line of record bounding a lot that divides one lot from
another lot, a public street, or any other public space.
The line separating a lot from a street right-of-way.
The line opposite and most distant from the front lot line.
Any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.[3]
|
Figure 10. Lot Types
 |
A lot that exists either by virtue of a metes and bounds
description or by depiction on a plat or deed recorded in the Office
of the Sussex County Recorder of Deeds.
A lot that fronts on either two parallel streets or two streets
that do not intersect at the boundaries of the lot, i.e., a corner
lot; also called a "double-frontage lot."
The distance between straight lines connecting front and
rear lot lines at each side of the lot, measured across the rear of
the required front yard; provided, however, that width between side
lot lines at their foremost points (where they intersect with the
street line) shall not be less than 80% of the required lot width
except in the case of lots on the turning circle of a cul-de-sac,
where the eighty-percent requirement shall not apply.
A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without
a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The
term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle."
Establishments engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation
of materials or substances into new products, including the assembling
of component parts, the creation of products, and the blending of
materials, such as lubricating oils, plastics, resins, or liquors;
includes all mechanical or chemical transformations regardless of
whether the new product is finished or is semifinished as a raw material
for further processing.
An establishment where patients are admitted for examination
and treatment on an outpatient basis by one or more physicians, dentists,
other medical personnel, psychologists, or social workers and where
patients are not lodged overnight.
Establishments that are primarily a brewery, which produce
no more than 15,000 barrels (465,000 U.S. gallons/17,602.16 hectoliters)
of beer per year. Microbreweries sell to the general public by one
or more of the following methods: the traditional three-tier system
(brewer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer); the two-tier system
(brewer acting as wholesaler to retailer to consumer); and directly
to the consumer for off-premises consumption or for retail carryout
sale.
[Added 7-12-2016 by Ord.
No. 330]
A self-propelled device licensed as a motor vehicle used
for transportation of people or goods over roads.
Residential facilities providing shelter and food to more
than one person that meets the following criteria:
Because of physical and/or mental condition, require a level
of care and services suitable to their needs to contribute to their
health, comfort, and welfare;
Are not related within the second degree of consanguinity to
the controlling person or persons of the facility; and
Include, but are not limited to, facilities licensed and regulated
pursuant to Title 16, Chapter 11, of the Delaware Code, such as, nursing
facilities (commonly referred to as "nursing homes"), assisted living
facilities, intermediate care facilities for persons with special
needs, neighborhood group homes, family-care homes, and rest residential
facilities.
A room or group of rooms uses for conducting the affairs
of a business, profession, service, industry, or government and generally
furnished with desks, tables, files, and communications equipment.
A corporation, company, association, society, firm, partnership,
or joint-stock company, as well as an individual, a state, and all
political subdivisions of a state or any agency or instrumentality
thereof.
A place where drugs and medicine are prepared and dispensed.
A building or structure, or groups of buildings or structures
that, by design and construction, are primarily intended for conducting
organized religious services and associated accessory uses.
Leisure-time activities, usually of a formal nature and often
performed with others, requiring equipment and taking place at prescribed
places, sites, or fields, examples of which include, but are not limited
to, swimming, tennis and other court games, baseball, track and other
field sports, and playground activities.
Activities that involve relatively inactive or less energetic
activities than active recreation, including, but not limited to,
jogging, walking, sitting, picnicking, board and table games.
Establishments where food and drink are prepared, served,
and sold primarily for consumption within the principal building.
Establishments that are primarily a restaurant and bar, but
which include the brewing of beer as an ancillary use. A brewpub produces
only enough beer for consumption on the premises or for retail carryout
sale in containers commonly referred to as growlers.
[Added 7-12-2016 by Ord.
No. 330]
Establishments engaged in selling goods or merchandise to
the general public for personal or household consumption and rendering
services incidental to the sale of such goods and whose characteristics
include the following:
Usually business places engaged in activity to attract the general
public to buy;
Buy and receive as well as sell merchandise;
May process or manufacture some products, a jeweler or a bakery,
but processing is secondary to the principal use; and
Generally sell to customers for personal or household use.
Land occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, crosswalk,
railroad, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water main,
sanitary or storm sewer main, shade trees, or another special use.
Any building, or part thereof, that is designed, constructed,
or used for education or instruction in any branch of knowledge, other
than a college or university; includes, but is not limited to, elementary,
secondary, vocational, business, arts, and culture.
Establishments primarily engaged in providing assistance,
as opposed to products, to individuals, businesses, industry, government,
and other enterprises, including hotels and other lodging places;
personal, business, repair, and amusement services; health, legal,
engineering, and other professional services' educational services;
membership organizations; and other miscellaneous services.
The distance between a building and any lot line. See Figure
12.[4]
|
Figure 11. Buildings and Structures: Setbacks, Yards and
Lot Lines Not On Corner Lots
 |
|
Figure 12. Buildings and Structures: Setbacks, Yards and
Lot Lines On Corner Lots
 |
The line that is the required minimum distance from any lot
line and that establishes the area within which the principal structure
must be placed. See Figure 12. See also "yard."
The State of Delaware.
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there
is no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling
next above it. A basement shall be counted as a story for the purpose
of height measurement if its ceiling is over five feet above the level
from which the height of the building is measured or if it is used
for business purposes other than storage.
Any vehicular way that: is an existing state, county, or
Town roadway; is shown upon an approved plat; is approved by other
official action; or is shown on a plat duly filed and recorded in
the Office of the Sussex County Recorder of Deeds prior to the appointment
of the Planning and Zoning Commission and the grant of power to review
plats. Street includes the land between the right-of-way lines, whether
improved or unimproved.
A street designed to serve as a major traffic way for travel
between and through the municipality.
A street that collects traffic from local streets and connects
with minor and major arterials.
See "frontage."
The line between a lot, tract, or parcel of land and an adjacent
street.
A street that has not been accepted by the Town or the state.
A street that has been accepted by the Town or the state.
A combination of materials that forms a construction for
use, occupancy, or ornamentation, whether installed on, above, or
below the surface of land or water, including but not limited to buildings,
sheds, outbuildings, fences.
Any of the following:
Division or partition of any tract or parcel of land into two
or more plots, parcels, units, lots, condominiums, tracts, sites,
or interests for the purpose of offer, sale, lease, development, whether
immediate or future; either on an installment plan or upon any other
plans, terms, or conditions; or for any other purpose.
Assemblage or consolidation of plots, parcels, units, lots,
condominiums, tracts, sites, or interests for the purpose of offer,
sale, lease, development, whether immediate or future; either on an
installment plan or upon any other plans, terms, or conditions; or
for any other purpose.
Any extension, repair, reconstruction, or other improvements
to a property, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the fair
market value of the property, either before the improvement is started
or, if the property has been damaged and is being restored, before
the damage occurred.
A retail market, usually operated on a self-service basis
and organized into departments, offering a wide variety of food and
household merchandise.
A facility that is used exclusively for simple surgical procedures
and where patients are not lodged overnight.
An area, parcel, site, piece of land, or property that is
the subject of a development application.
The total area of a lot or parcel of land, including any
existing or proposed streets, highways, natural features, open space
or recreational land, land required for, or dedicated to, public use.
A facility whose primary purpose is educating the public
about wildlife and natural resources through programs and displays
and where animals involved in educational programs may be housed.
A wildlife educational center is not a zoo defined as a place where
animals are kept and viewed by the public.
[Added 9-12-2017 by Ord.
No. 342]
A facility where products are fabricated from wood, including
but not limited to furniture, baskets, boxes, and barrels. Such facility
may also offer these products for sale.
[Added 9-12-2017 by Ord.
No. 341]
An open space that lies between the principal building or
buildings and the nearest lot line. See Figure 13. See also "setback
line."[5]
A space extending the full width of the lot between any building
and the front lot line and measured perpendicular to the building
to the closest point of the front lot line.
A space extending across the full width of the lot between
the principal building and the rear lot line and measured perpendicular
to the building to the closest point of the rear lot line.
A space extending from the front yard to the rear yard between
the principal building and the side lot line and measured perpendicular
from the side lot line to the closest point of the principal building.
A specifically delineated area in the Town within which uniform
regulations and requirements govern the use, placement, spacing, area,
height, and bulk of land and buildings.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Figure
9, Principal and Accessory Buildings and Structures, which immediately
followed this definition.
[2]
Editor's Note: Former Figure 10, Dwelling Types, which immediately
followed this definition, was redesignated as Figure 9 11-18-2014
by Ord. No. 318.
[3]
Editor's Note: Former Figure 11, Lot Types, which immediately
followed this definition, was redesignated as Figure 10 11-18-2014
by Ord. No. 318.
[4]
Editor's Note: Former Figure 12, Setbacks, which immediately
followed this definition, was repealed and replaced by Figure 11,
Buildings and Structures: Setbacks, Yards and Lot Lines Not On Corner
Lots, and Figure 12, Buildings and Structures: Setbacks, Yards and
Lot Lines On Corner Lots, 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 318.
[5]
Editor's Note: Former Figure 13, Setbacks and Yards, which
immediately followed this definition, was repealed 11-18-2014 by Ord.
No. 318.
