The definition of any word or phrase not listed in the definitions which is in question when administering this title shall be defined by the director from one of the following sources. The sources shall be utilized by finding the desired definition from source number one, but if it is not available there, then source number two may be used and so on. The sources are as follows:
A. 
Any city of Sumner resolution, ordinance, code or regulation;
B. 
Any statute or regulation of the state of Washington;
C. 
Legal definitions from Washington common law or a law dictionary;
D. 
The common dictionary.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Abutting"
means bordering upon, to touch upon, in physical contact with. Properties are considered abutting even though the area of contact may be only a point.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Access"
means a way or means of approach to provide vehicular or pedestrian physical entrance to a property.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Accessory use or structure"
means a use or structure customarily incidental to a permitted principal use located on the same lot. An accessory use or structure is subordinate and functionally supports the principal use. Swimming pools are considered an accessory structure for the purposes of this title.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Accessory unit"
means a second dwelling unit located on the same lot as a single-family housing unit, duplex, triplex, or townhome, either in or added to the principal unit, or in a separate accessory structure on the same lot as the principal unit, for use as a complete, independent living facility with provision within the accessory apartment for cooking, eating, sanitation, and sleeping. Such a dwelling is an accessory use to the main dwelling. Accessory units are also commonly known as "mother-in-law" units or "carriage houses."
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2907 § 1, 2025)
"Adult bookstore"
means a retail establishment in which 10 percent or more of the "stock in trade" consists of books, magazines, periodicals, pictures, posters, or other printed material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to "specified sexual activities" or "specified anatomical areas," as defined herein.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Adult day care"
means a facility which provides, on a recurrent basis for periods of less than 24 hours, supervision and social activities in a group setting, and which serves socially isolated persons, or persons who cannot be left unsupervised. Persons may have physical, cognitive, or emotional impairments, but any required treatment is provided outside the social day care program.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Adult entertainment businesses"
means one, or a combination of more than one, of the following types of businesses: adult motion picture theater, adult mini-motion picture theater, or adult cabaret or nightclub featuring topless or bottomless or nude dancers, strippers, or similar entertainers of either sex displaying specified anatomical areas in the course of any performance or exhibition, which are further defined by the provisions of SMC § 5.56.000.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1769 § 1, 1996)
"Adult family home"
means a regular family abode of a person or persons who are providing personal care, room, and board to more than one, but not more than six, adults who are not related by blood or marriage to the person or persons providing the services; except that a maximum of eight adults may be permitted if the Department of Social and Health Services determines that the home is of adequate size and that the home and provider are capable of meeting the standards and qualifications established in chapter 70.128 RCW.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2878 § 1, 2024)
"Adult mini-motion picture theater"
also referred to as "panoram" or "peep show," means a building having as its principal use the presentation of material characterized by emphasis or portrayals of specified anatomical areas and/or specified sexual activities for observation in individual viewing booths by patrons therein, which is further defined by the provisions of SMC § 5.56.000(A)(4).
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1769 § 2, 1996)
"Adult motion picture theater"
means a building with the capacity of two or more persons, having as its principal use the display therein of motion pictures characterized by their emphasis on portrayals of specified anatomical areas and/or specified sexual activities for observation by patrons, which is further defined by the provisions of SMC § 5.56.000 (A)(5).
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1769 § 3, 1996)
"Adult retail store"
means a retail establishment in which 10 percent or more of the "stock in trade" consists of equipment, items or products distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to "specified sexual activities" or "specified anatomical areas," as defined herein.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Adult video store"
means a retail establishment in which 10 percent or more of the "stock in trade" consists of prerecorded video tapes, discs or similar material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to "specified sexual activities" or "specified anatomical areas," as defined herein.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Agricultural activity"
means a condition or activity which occurs on a farm in connection with recreational and/or commercial use or production of farm and timber products and includes, but is not limited to marketed produce at roadside stands or farm markets; noise; odors; dust; fumes; smoke; operation of machinery and pumps; movement including but not limited to, use of current city roads and ditches, streams, rivers, canals, and drains, and use of water for agricultural activities; ground and aerial application of seed, fertilizers, conditioners and plant protection products; employment and use of labor; roadway movement of equipment and livestock; protection of damage from wildlife; prevention of trespass; construction and maintenance of buildings, fences, roads, bridges, ponds, drains, waterways and similar features, and maintenance of stream banks, and watercourses; and conversion from one agricultural activity to another.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Antenna"
means any system of poles, panels, rods, reflecting discs or similar devices used for transmission or reception of radio or electromagnetic frequency signals.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1830 § 5, 1998)
"Antenna, stealth"
means an antenna installed inside a non-antenna structure, or camouflaged to appear as a non-antenna structure or a roof antenna, also called a concealed or camouflaged antenna.
(Ord. 1830 § 6 (part), 1998)
"Apartments"
means a building designed for the purpose of human habitation containing more than two dwelling units where units are stacked vertically one upon another, but does not include a multiplex such as a triplex or fourplex.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2907 § 1, 2025)
"Closed record appeal"
means an administrative appeal on the record to a local government body or officer, including the legislative body, following an open record hearing on a project permit application when the appeal is on the record with no or limited new evidence or information allowed to be submitted and only appeal argument allowed.
(Ord. 1762 § 3, 1996)
"Aquifer"
means a water-bearing stratum of permeable rock, gravel or sand yielding considerable quantities of water to wells or springs.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Arbor"
is defined as a freestanding structure attached to a fence that has a lattice or lattice type structure whose siting serves to cover or define a gate or entranceway.
(Ord. 2022 § 1 (part), 2003)
"Artisan manufacturing"
means the production and assembly of finished products or component parts, typically by hand, and including design, processing, fabrication, assembly, treatment, and packaging of finished products. Typical artisan manufacturing trades include but are not limited to food and bakery products; beverage production; printmaking; leather products; jewelry and clothing/apparel; metal work; woodwork; furniture; and glass or ceramic production.
(Ord. 2940, 11/24/2025)
"Assisted living facilities"
means attached rooms or dwellings in a multi-unit complex, with common dining and recreational areas, but which also include in the rent services such as meals, light housekeeping, laundry and recreational programs, as well as more personal care services such as giving medications, care by a healthcare professional, assisting with bathing, dressing, transporting to a doctor, etc. Some assisted living facilities specialize in dementia care where a secured environment is needed for confused residents who might wander off. An assisted living facility may serve persons of any age.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2812 § 2, 2022)
"Automotive sales"
means a retail sales and service use in which automobiles and small motorized vehicles, such as cars, light duty trucks up to 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, similar passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and ATVs, snowmobiles, and similar small passenger vehicles are leased or sold. This does not include heavy duty commercial trucks, buses, boats, or recreational vehicles.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2394 § 2, 2012; Ord. 2556 § 1, 2016; Ord. 2798 § 1, 2021)
"Auto-oriented"
means development which primarily caters to or attracts drivers of vehicles such as businesses which operate drive-in and drive-through facilities.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2656 § 1, 2018)
"Bar"
means a portion of a restaurant premises wherein alcoholic beverages are sold at retail for consumption on the premises and minors are excluded therefrom by law.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2196 § 1, 2007)
"Barn"
means a building on a farm used for the storage of farm products, feed, farm animals, and farm equipment.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Basement"
means any floor level below the first story in a building, except that a floor level in a building having only one floor level shall be classified as a basement unless such floor level qualifies as a first story as defined herein.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Battery distribution and processing business"
means a retail or wholesale business engaged in any one or more of the following activities: importation of prepared batteries from either a foreign or domestic source; repackaging, relabeling, or other cosmetic alteration of batteries; shipping, reselling, or otherwise distributing batteries to retail or wholesale customers; minor additions of fluids to batteries to restore their electrical properties; storage of batteries incidental to on-site retail or wholesale operations; and related office activities.
(Ord. 2337 § 2, 2010; Ord. 2899 § 1, 2024)
"Battery energy storage systems" or "BESS"
is a facility consisting of any combination of electrochemical storage batteries, battery chargers, controls, power conditioning systems and/or associated electrical equipment, including transmission lines, whether assembled together or separately, capable of storing at least 200 megawatt hours of electrical energy in order to supply energy at a future time to the electrical grid of a public utility provider(s).
(Ord. 2899 § 2, 2024)
"Bed and breakfast"
means a lodging where five or fewer guest rooms are provided to guests by a resident operator for a fee by prearrangement on a daily or short-term, temporary basis. A breakfast and/or light snacks may be served to those renting rooms in the bed and breakfast. No cooking facilities are provided in the individual rooms.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Behavioral health facility, inpatient"
means an inpatient facility licensed and regulated by the state of Washington, staffed to provide on-site care and that is not a hospital or group home. Such facilities may include fixed-site opioid treatment programs, harm reduction programs, substance use disorder treatment facilities, mental health facilities, and enhanced services facilities. Behavioral health facilities, inpatient, are deemed to be essential public facilities.
(Ord. 2878 § 2, 2024)
"Behavioral health facility, outpatient"
means an outpatient facility licensed and regulated by the state of Washington, staffed to provide on-site care and that is not a hospital or medical office. Such facilities may include fixed-site opioid treatment programs, harm reduction programs, substance use disorder facilities, and mental health treatment facilities. Behavioral health facilities, outpatient, are deemed to be essential public facilities.
(Ord. 2878 § 3, 2024)
A block consists of two facing "block fronts" bounded on two sides by alleys or rear property lines and on two sides by the centerline of platted streets, with no other intersecting streets intervening. Where blocks are unusually long or short, or of unusual shape, block length shall be determined by address ranges. (Refer to Figure 18.04-A.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Block front"
means the frontage of property along one side of a street bound on three sides by the centerline of platted streets and on the fourth side by an alley or rear property lines. (Refer to Figure 18.04-A.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Board and care homes"
means homes generally licensed to care for 10 to 15 functionally disabled or frail older adults. Services provided include meals, social activities, laundry, housekeeping, medication supervision, and personal care services. Typically, residents have a sleeping room (private or semi-private) and share living rooms and family rooms. They are often large homes adapted for board and care. Usually there is 24-hour a day staff coverage. Some specialize in caring for developmentally disabled or chronically mentally ill adults. They may also be referred to as "residential care facilities" and "congregate care facilities."
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
A. 
"Brewery"
means a business that brews more than 15,000 barrels of beer per year.
B. 
"Brewpub"
means a restaurant-brewery that sells at least 50 percent of its beer on the premises. The beer is brewed for sale and consumption in the adjacent restaurant and/or bar. The beer is often dispensed directly from the brewery's storage tanks.
C. 
"Microbrewery"
means a facility that produces beer and sells it to the public by one or more of the following methods: through 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 in some cases, directly to the consumer through carryouts or on-site taproom sales. Microbreweries shall have a production capacity not to exceed 15,000 U.S. barrels per year.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Buffer area"
means a landscaped area or area of natural vegetation designed to provide space, obstruct undesirable view, serve as an acoustic screen, and in other ways reduce the impact of adjacent uses upon one another.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Building height"
means the vertical distance from the existing or finished grade, whatever is lower, at any point on the building perimeter to the highest point of the underside of the ceiling beams in the case of a flat roof; to the deck line of a mansard roof; and to the mean level of the underside of the rafters between the eaves and the ridge of the gable, hip or gambrel roof. (Refer to Figure 18.04-B.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Building site"
means the ground area devoted to a main building and its accessory buildings, or to a group of main buildings and their accessory buildings, together with all yards and open spaces required by this title, whether the area so devoted is comprised of one lot, a combination of lots, or combination of lots and fraction of lots, or a piece of unsubdivided land.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Cabaret"
means any room, place, or space whatsoever in the city in which any music, singing, dancing, or other similar entertainment is permitted in connection with any hotel, restaurant, cafe, club, tavern, eating place, directly or indirectly selling, serving, or providing the public with or without charge, food or liquor. (Examples would include dance floors, bands, karaoke, as well as other forms of entertainment.) The words "music and entertainment" as used in this chapter shall not apply to radios.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Car rental agency"
means a business where passenger cars (as defined in RCW 46.04.382 as amended) are rented to others, without a driver provided by the rental car business, for periods of not more than 30 consecutive days. Car rental agency does not include: (A) vehicles rented or loaned to customers by automotive repair businesses while the customer's vehicle is under repair; or (B) vehicles licensed and operated as taxicabs.
(Ord. 2556 § 2, 2016)
"Car wash"
means an area of land and/or a structure with machine- or hand-operated facilities used principally for the cleaning, washing, polishing, or waxing of motor vehicles.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Cemetery"
means land used or intended to be used for the burial of the dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes, including columbariums, crematories, mausoleums, and mortuaries when operated in conjunction within the boundaries of such cemetery.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Church"
means an establishment or group of people with the principal purpose of religious worship and for which the principal building or other structure contains the sanctuary or principal place of worship.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Club"
means buildings or facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, or persons for a social, educational, or recreational purpose; but not primarily for profit or to render a service that is customarily carried on as a business. (Examples include, but are not limited to, the Masons, Veterans of Foreign Wars, etc.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Co-living housing"
means a multifamily residential development with sleeping units that are independently rented or owned and lockable, each providing living and sleeping space, in which residents share kitchen facilities with other sleeping units in the building or meals are provided.
(Ord. 2953, 4/6/2026)
"Collective garden"
means the growing, production, processing, transportation, and delivery of cannabis, by qualifying patients, for medical use, as set forth in chapter 69.51A RCW, and subject to the following conditions:
A. 
No more than 10 qualifying patients may participate in a single collective garden at any time;
B. 
A collective garden may contain no more than 15 plants per patient up to a total of 45 plants;
C. 
A collective garden may contain no more than 24 ounces of usable cannabis per patient up to a total of 72 ounces of usable cannabis;
D. 
A copy of each qualifying patient's valid documentation, including a copy of the patient's proof of identity, must be available at all times on the premises of the collective garden;
E. 
No usable cannabis from the collective garden is delivered to anyone other than one of the qualifying patients participating in the collective garden;
F. 
A collective garden may contain separate areas for growing, processing, and delivering to its qualified patients; provided, that these separate areas must be physically part of the same premises, and located on the same parcel or lot. A location utilized solely for the purpose of distributing cannabis shall not be considered a collective garden; and
G. 
No more than one collective garden may be established on a single tax parcel.
(Ord. 2411 § 1 (part), 2012)
"College"
means a public or private post-secondary educational institution, granting associate, bachelor and/or graduate degrees.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Commercial uses"
means the providing of goods, merchandise or services for compensation, including, but not limited to, retail shopping, commercial recreation, business and professional offices, highway-oriented business, automotive, boat and cycle mechanical sales and services as included in the commercial classifications of this title.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Community garden"
means a garden for growing produce that serves the local community and is managed by and located on the premises of a public agency, nonprofit organization, or private development.
(Ord. 2907 § 1, 2025)
"Conditional use"
means a use permitted in one or more zones as defined by this title, but which, because of characteristics peculiar to each such use, or because of size, technological processes or equipment, or because of the exact location with reference to surroundings, streets, and existing improvements or demands upon public facilities, requires a special degree of control to make such uses consistent and compatible with other existing or permissible uses in the same zone or zones.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Condominium"
means joint ownership of real property in which each owner enjoys exclusive ownership of an individual apartment or unit with or without a parcel of land and retains an undivided interest, as tenants in common, in the common facilities and areas of buildings.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2842 § 9, 2023)
"Congregate residence"
means any building or portion thereof which contains facilities for living, sleeping, and sanitation, and may include facilities for eating and cooking, for occupancy by other than a family. A congregate residence may be a shelter, convent, monastery, dormitory, fraternity, or sorority house but does not include jails, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, lodging houses, or group homes. Congregate residences are not essential public facilities.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2878 § 5, 2024)
"Construction"
means materials in permanent positions and fastened in a permanent manner, and demolition, elimination and removal of one or more existing structures in connection with such construction; providing, that actual construction work shall be diligently carried on until the completion of the structure involved.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Continuing care or life care communities"
means a type of senior housing, consisting of a variety of living arrangements from small houses, to retirement apartments, to assisted living facilities to nursing home levels, designed and operated as an integrated community. Residents may move from one level or type of housing to another as their needs change. A variety of services such as beauty and barber shops, organized social activities, exercise, and crafts may be offered.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2812 § 3, 2022)
"Convenience store or market"
means any retail establishment offering for sale prepackaged or site-prepared food products, household items, and other goods commonly associated with the same and having a gross floor area of less than 7,500 square feet. Convenience stores or markets do not include gas stations.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Cottage houses or housing"
means detached single-family housing which has the following characteristics:
A. 
Each unit is of a size and function suitable for a single person or very small family;
B. 
Each unit has the construction characteristics of a single-family house;
C. 
The development is comprised of at least four cottages arranged on at least two sides of a common open space with a maximum of 12 cottages per cluster;
D. 
The site is designed with a coherent concept in mind, including: shared functional open space, shared amenities (i.e., party room, tool shed, garden, orchard, workshop), off-street parking, access within the site and from the site, and consistent landscaping.
(Ord. 2147 § 2 (part), 2005)
"Craft coffee roasting"
means a type of craft production that involves the roasting of small batches of coffee utilizing primarily manually operated, small-scale equipment, where such roasting is incidental and accessory to a primary retail use on the premises. Roasted or packaged coffee may be sold on the premises directly to consumers, but craft roasting does not include wholesale distribution.
(Ord. 2774 § 4, 2021)
"Craft production"
means a commercial use that involves the production of arts, crafts, foods, beverages or other product with on-site production and assembly of goods in small batches, primarily involving the use of hand tools and/or small-scale equipment. Due to the limited scale of the activities and small boutique nature of craft production establishments, they are compatible, and are often co-located with, retail sales and service uses. This use category includes but is not limited to ceramic art, glass art, candle-making, custom jewelry manufacture, hand-made bakery and confections, specialty beverages; and micro-breweries and micro-distilleries co-located with a retail use.
(Ord. 2774 § 4, 2021)
"Curbline"
means the line at the face of the curb nearest to the street or roadway. In the absences of a curb, the curbline shall be established by the city engineer.
(Ord. 1896 § 1 (part), 1999)
"Day care facility"
means an establishment regularly providing care for a group of children for periods of less than 24 hours. Separate requirements are adopted for the following subcategories of day care facilities:
A. 
"Family child care home"
means a facility in the family residence of the licensee providing regularly scheduled care for 12 or fewer children, within a birth through 11 years of age range exclusively, for periods less than 24 hours.
B. 
"Family child day care home"
means the same as "family child care home" and a child day care facility licensed by the state, located in the family abode of the person or persons under whose direct care and supervision the child is placed, for the care of 12 or fewer children, including children who reside at the home. Children not residing at the home are cared for during periods less than 24 hours.
C. 
"Family day care provider"
means a licensed day-care provider who regularly provides day care for not more than 12 children in the provider's home in the family living quarters.
D. 
"Child day care center"
means a facility providing regularly scheduled care for a group of children one month of age through 12 years of age for periods less than 24 hours; except a program meeting the definition of a family child care home shall not be licensed as a day care center without meeting the requirements of WAC 388-150-020(5)(a).
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Deck"
means an outdoor, roofless, flat surface(s) that may or may not be attached to a residential structure. The deck is connected to the ground by structural supports.
(Ord. 2193 § 1 (part), 2007)
"Density"
means a measure of the intensity of permitted residential development in terms of dwelling units per acre. For the purposes of calculating density for co-living housing, sleeping units count as one quarter of a dwelling unit.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2953, 4/6/2026)
"Net density"
means the total number of dwelling units divided by the net area of the lot or site. The net area excludes streets, alleys, public open spaces, utility rights-of-way, easements, and other public facilities or utility facilities.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Development"
means:
A. 
Any activity, other than a normal agricultural or forestry activity, which materially affects the existing condition of land or improvements, such as:
1. 
Substantial excavation or deposit of earth or other fill, grading, driving of piling, or alteration in the banks of any river or other body of water. For the purposes of this title, "substantial excavation or deposit" means the movement of more than 50 cubic yards of earth or other fill, occurring within any 12-month time period,
2. 
Relocation, diversion, grading, driving of piling, or placement of fill in any natural drainage,
3. 
Construction, reconstruction or alteration of any improvement,
4. 
Dumping, storing or parking (which is a substantial or primary use) of any objects or materials whether mobile or immobile, liquid or solid, or
5. 
Commencement of any principal or substantial use of land or improvements and every change in its type, intensity or features;
B. 
Any subdivision of land or change in the legal relationship of persons to land, such as the division of land into two or more parcels or units to facilitate separate transfers of title to each parcel or unit.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Development regulations"
means any controls placed on development or land use activities by the city of Sumner, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, official controls, planned unit development ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and binding site plan ordinances.
(Ord. 1762 § 4, 1996)
"Director"
means the director of the city's development services department or the director's designee.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2788 § 21, 2021)
"Drive-through business"
means a business or a portion of a business where a customer is permitted or encouraged, either by the design of physical facilities or by service and/or packaging procedures, to carry on business while seated in a motor vehicle and passing by one or more service windows in order to pay for and receive food, beverages, and other products. This definition shall include, but not be limited to, car washes, pharmacies, drive-through restaurants, dry cleaners, or banks.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2656 § 2, 2018)
"Duplex"
means a type of ground-related housing that is a single structure containing only two dwelling units. Single-family dwellings with attached accessory dwelling units are not duplexes.
(Ord. 2467 § 1, 2014)
"Dustless, hard surfaces"
means a covering of material applied to the ground to enhance travel such as stone, concrete, grass-crete or asphalt which when put in place or treated reduces the presence of dust particles. Gravel may be used if treated to reduce dust with a product used for binder of gravel aggregates as approved by the city engineer.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2192 § 1, 2007)
"Dwelling unit"
means one or more rooms designed for or occupied by one family for living or sleeping purposes and containing kitchen facilities for use solely by one family. All rooms comprising a dwelling unit shall have access through an interior door to other parts of the dwelling unit. A "bachelor," "studio," or "efficiency" apartment constitutes a dwelling unit within the meaning of this title.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Electrical power generation and cogeneration"
means the production of electricity for consumption by facilities on site or in a district. "Electrical power cogeneration" is the simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat from the same fuel or energy or the use of a production by-product to generate power. Facilities with cogeneration systems use them to produce their own electricity, and use the unused excess (waste) heat for process steam, hot water heating, space heating, and other thermal needs. They may also use excess process heat to produce steam for electricity production.
(Ord. 2319 § 1 (part), 2010)
"Emergency housing"
means temporary indoor accommodations for individuals or families who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless that is intended to address the basic health, food, clothing, and personal hygiene needs of individuals or families. Emergency housing may or may not require occupants to enter into a lease or an occupancy agreement.
(Ord. 2794 § 2, 2021)
"Emergency shelter"
means a facility that provides a temporary shelter for individuals or families who are currently homeless. Emergency shelter may not require occupants to enter into a lease or an occupancy agreement. Emergency shelter facilities may include day and warming centers that do not provide overnight accommodations.
(Ord. 2794 § 3, 2021)
"Enhanced services facility"
means licensed residential facilities with up to 16 beds that will provide community placement options for individuals whose personal care and behavioral challenges do not rise to a level that requires an institutional setting. Rather than unnecessary and extended stays at state hospitals, patients who have been assessed as stable and ready for discharge can be referred to an ESF.
(Ord. 2878 § 6, 2024)
"Essential public facility"
means a facility that is typically difficult to site, including facilities such as airports, state educational facilities, state or regional transportation facilities, state and local correctional facilities, solid waste handling facilities, treatment programs (including both mobile and fixed-site medication units), harm reduction programs excluding safe injection sites, substance use disorder treatment facilities, mental health facilities, group homes, recovery residences, community facilities, and secure community transition facilities.
(Ord. 2878 § 7, 2024)
"Existing residential dwellings lawfully constructed as of the effective date of this title"
means single-family, manufactured home, or multifamily residences constructed with a valid building permit and existing on June 6, 1994. Existing residential dwellings shall also include single-family, manufactured home, and multifamily dwellings built after June 6, 1994, constructed with a valid building permit prior to annexation by the city or constructed with a valid building permit prior to the sunset of conditional or contract rezones.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1739 § 3, 1996; Ord. 2135 § 1 (part), 2005)
"Facade"
means the entire building front, or street wall face, including grade to the top of the parapet or eaves, and the entire width of the building elevation.
(Ord. 1896 § 1 (part), 1999)
"Factory built housing"
means any structure designed primarily for human occupancy other than a mobile home, the structure or any room of which is either entirely or substantially prefabricated or assembled at a place other than a building site.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Family"
means a group of persons who may be related who are living and sharing kitchen facilities together as a single housekeeping unit.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2878 § 8, 2024; Ord. 2907 § 1, 2025)
"Fence"
means a structure, other than a building, which is naturally grown or constructed as a barrier and is used as a boundary or means of confinement. Fences include hedges when located in the front or side yard of a property.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2022 § 1 (part), 2003)
"Floor area"
means the area included within the surrounding exterior walls of a building or portion thereof, exclusive of vent shafts and courts. The floor area of a building, or portion thereof, not provided with surrounding exterior walls shall be the usable area under the horizontal projection of the roof or floor above. For commercial uses which customarily are not confined to a building and which in significant part occur in the open air on a lot or site, which may or may not contain a building, the floor area shall be calculated as the total of the square feet of floor space in the building, if any, and of the square feet of land comprising that area of the lot or site where the commercial use occurs in the open air. Such uses shall include, but not be limited to, gasoline service stations, drive-in restaurants, drive-in theaters, drive-through businesses, new and used car businesses having outdoor car lots, and pitch-and-putt golf establishments and other similar outdoor uses.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2656 § 4, 2018)
"Funeral home"
means an establishment with facilities for the preparation of the dead for burial or cremation, for the viewing of the body, and for funerals. The definition shall include mortuaries and funeral parlors, but shall not include crematoriums.
(Ord. 2642 § 1, 2018)
"Private garage"
means an accessory building or an accessory portion of the main building, enclosed on not less than three sides and designed or used primarily for the shelter or storage of vehicles owned or operated only by the occupants of the main building or buildings.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Public garage"
means any publicly owned garage facility for the temporary, less than 24 hours, shelter or storage of vehicles less than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2573 § 1, 2016)
"Average grade"
means the average of the natural or existing topography of the portion of the lot, parcel or tract of real property which will be directly under the proposed building or structure; provided, that in the case of structures to be built over water, average grade level shall be the elevation of ordinary high water. Calculation of the average grade level shall be made by averaging the elevations at the center of all exterior walls of the proposed building or structure.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Existing grade"
means the natural surface contour of a lot, including minor adjustments to the surface of the lot in preparation for construction. For the purposes of this title, "minor adjustments" include, but are not limited to tilling of soil, and addition or removal of no more than 12 inches of topsoil.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Grading"
means movement of earth requiring the removal of most or all of the existing vegetation and in sufficient quantities to alter the natural topography and general character of a site.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Ground-related dwelling unit"
means a dwelling unit with individual unit entries no more than four vertical feet from the street grade and direct access to private ground-level usable open space. In no case shall individual units be stacked vertically one upon another. Examples of ground-related dwellings include single-family detached, single-family semi-attached, cottages, tandem houses, and zero lot line dwellings.
(Ord. 2134 § 1, 2005)
"Group home"
means a residential dwelling used as a home for unrelated persons to whom medical or psychological treatment, supervision, training, or other support services may be provided. Supervision may be provided by a resident or nonresident. Group homes may include adult family homes and recovery residences, and include:
"Group home, small"
includes group homes with up to eight residents.
"Group home, large"
includes group homes with nine or more residents.
"Group home"
does not include dwellings in a federally, state or locally approved institution (see "Behavioral health facility, inpatient").
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2878 § 9, 2024)
"Guest house"
means living quarters within an accessory building for the sole use of the occupants of the premises, persons employed on the premises or for temporary use by the guests of the occupants of the premises. Guest houses shall have no kitchen facilities and shall not be rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Guyed tower"
means a support structure for a wireless communication facility, consisting of metal cross strips or bars, which is steadied by wire guys in a radial pattern around the tower.
(Ord. 1830 § 2, 1998)
"Hazardous waste treatment and storage facility"
means a facility that treats and stores hazardous waste and is authorized pursuant to chapter 70.105 RCW, chapter 173-303 WAC. It includes all contiguous land and structures used for recycling, reusing, reclaiming, transferring, storing, treating, or disposing of hazardous waste. Treatment includes physical, chemical, or biological processing of hazardous wastes to make such waste nondangerous or less dangerous and safer for transport, amendable for energy or material resource recovery. Storage includes the holding of waste for a temporary period but not the accumulation of waste on the site of generation as long as the storage complies with applicable state requirements.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Harm reduction program"
means a program that emphasizes working directly with people who use drugs to prevent overdose and infectious disease transmission, improve the physical, mental, and social well-being of those served, and offer low threshold options for accessing substance use disorder treatment and other services.
(Ord. 2878 § 11, 2024)
"Heavy equipment sales"
means a retail sales and service use in which equipment, including, but not necessarily limited to, construction and farm tractors, excavating machinery, and machinery for mining and similar uses, are rented or sold.
(Ord. 2394 § 3, 2012; Ord. 2798 § 3, 2021)
"Historic landmark"
means a place which has considerable and significant importance because of past events, experience or phenomena of the city of Sumner as formally designated by the National Register of Historic Places, the Washington State Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, or by the city of Sumner.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Home for the aged"
means any state, federally or locally approved dwelling providing board and domiciliary care but no nursing or medical care except incidental health care to aged persons not related by blood.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Home occupation"
means any accessory activity customarily conducted in a dwelling, or in a building or structure accessory to a dwelling, for gainful employment involving the manufacture, provision or sale of goods and/or services, and where the residential character of the dwelling and neighborhood is maintained.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Homeless encampment"
means a group of homeless persons temporarily residing out of doors on a site with services provided by a sponsor and supervised by a managing agency. A managing agency may only be an established church.
(Ord. 2615 § 2 (part), 2017)
"Homeless shelter"
means a facility set up to provide for the needs of homeless people, including shelter, food, sanitation and other forms of support. This definition does not include homeless encampments or community food banks.
(Ord. 2615 § 2 (part), 2017)
"Hospice"
means a facility or program designed to provide a caring environment for supplying the physical and emotional needs of the terminally ill.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Hotel"
means any building containing six or more guest 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. Access to individual units is predominately by means of common interior hallways.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Impervious surface"
means those hard surfaced areas either which prevent or retard the entry of water into the soil in the manner that such water entered the soil under natural conditions preexistent to development, or which cause water to run off the surface in greater quantities or an increased rate of flow than that present under natural conditions preexistent to development, including, without limitation, such surfaces as roof tops, asphalt or concrete paving, driveways and parking lots, walkways, patio areas, storage areas or other surfaces which similarly affect the natural infiltration or runoff patterns existing prior to development. (Refer to Figure 18.04-C.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Interior alteration"
means construction activities that modify interior space(s) within an existing building. The term excludes modifications that alter building height, alter the exterior building footprint, alter existing building parking facilities, or alter any exterior building features or finishes.
(Ord. 2901 § 1, 2024)
"Junkyard"
means an area of more than 1,000 square feet of any parcel of land where junk, waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including automobile wrecking yards, building wrecking yards or places or yards devoted to the storage of inoperable vehicles, salvaged building, wrecking or structural steel materials and equipment. A junkyard does not include such uses when conducted entirely within an enclosed building nor pawn shops or establishments for the sale, purchase or storage of used furniture or household equipment, used cars in operable condition or the processing of used, discarded or salvaged materials as part of a manufacturing operation.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Judicial system"
when referenced in any administrative hearing or appeal process outlined herein shall mean the appropriate local or federal, municipal, district, superior, appellate or supreme court with jurisdiction to hear the subject matter being appealed or another specifically designated forum.
(Ord. 2691 § 2, 2019)
"Kennel"
means any premises wherein a person(s) engages in the business of boarding, breeding, letting for hire, training for a fee, selling of domesticated animals including, but not limited to, dogs, and/or cats, under 200 pounds.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Kitchen"
means a room or part of a room which is used, intended, or designed to be used for preparing food. The kitchen includes facilities, or utility hookups for facilities, sufficient to prepare, cook, and store food, and wash dishes, including, at a minimum, countertops, a kitchen-style sink, space and utilities sufficient for a gas or 220/240v electric stove and oven, and a refrigerator.
(Ord. 2953, 4/6/2026)
"Light-medium equipment sales"
means a retail and service use in which equipment of less than 20,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, including but not necessarily limited to construction and farm tractors, excavation machinery and similar machinery, and consumer equipment for lawn care and similar property maintenance uses, are rented or sold.
(Ord. 2394 § 4, 2012)
"Live-work unit"
means a structure that predominantly functions as a work space and secondarily as a residence, and:
A. 
Combines a commercial or light manufacturing activity that is allowed in the zone or overlay zone with a residential living space for the owner of the business activity, or the owner's employee, and that person's household;
B. 
The resident owner or employee of the business is responsible for the commercial or light manufacturing activity performed; and
C. 
The commercial or light manufacturing activity conducted takes place subject to a valid business license associated with the premises.
(Ord. 2774 § 4, 2021)
"Livestock"
means animals, including but not limited to horses, bovine animals, sheep, goats, swine, reindeer, llama, donkeys and mules.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Loading space"
means an area required to be maintained on certain business and commercial lots, used for the loading and unloading of trucks or other vehicles or passengers of vehicles.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Lot"
means a platted or unplatted parcel of land unoccupied, occupied or to be occupied by a principal use or building and accessory buildings, together with such yards and open spaces as are required by this title. A lot is not a building site unless it is a lot of record.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Lot area"
means the land space contained within the various lines forming the perimeter boundary of any described lot, tract or parcel of land. For the purpose of this title, any portion of a lot, tract or parcel of land in any access easement, or private street or lying below the line of vegetation or natural shoreline, except for a body of water entirely confined within said lot, tract or parcel of land, shall be excluded from calculated lot area.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1885 § 1, 1999)
"Net lot area"
means the land space contained within the various lines forming the perimeter boundary of any described lot, tract or parcel of land, excluding land lying below the line of vegetation or natural shoreline (except for a body of water entirely confined within said property), public or private streets, alleys, public open spaces, utility rights-of-way, and other public facilities/uses.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Lot coverage"
means the area of a site covered by buildings or roofed areas including covered porches and accessory buildings, measured at the building foundation. (Refer to Figure 18.04-C.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Front lot line"
means that boundary of a lot which is along an existing or dedicated public street, or where no public street exists, along a private road, shared driveway or drive aisle. On an interior lot, it is the lot line abutting a street. On a pipestem (flag) lot, it is either the interior lot line most parallel to and nearest the public street from which access is or the interior lot line most parallel to the private road by which the lot accesses the public street. On a corner lot, the front yard shall be determined by the director, to be the yard which best conforms to the pattern of the adjacent block faces. On a "through lot," both street lines shall be deemed front lot lines. (Refer to Figure 18.04-D.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2851 § 8, 2023)
"Rear lot line"
means a line which is most nearly opposite and most distant from the front lot line. Where the side property lines of a lot meet in a point, the rear property line shall be assumed to be a line not less than 10 feet long, lying within the lot and parallel to the front property line. In the event that the front property line is a curved line, then the rear property line shall be assumed to be a line not less than 10 feet long, lying within the lot and parallel to a line tangent to the front property line at its midpoint. (Refer to Figure 18.04-E.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Lot of record"
means a lot as shown on an officially recorded plat or short plat or a parcel of land officially recorded or registered as a unit of property and is described by metes and bounds, and lawfully established on the date of recording of the instrument first referencing the lot.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Lot, pipestem"
(flag lot) means an interior lot in which the buildable area is not bounded laterally by a public street or private road, and which gains vehicle access by means of a lot extension, a shared driveway, a private drive aisle, or the terminus of a private road or public street. (Refer to Figure 18.04-F.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2851 § 9, 2023)
"Through lot"
means a lot having a pair of opposite lot lines along two more or less parallel streets and which is not a corner lot. On a "through lot," both street lines shall be deemed front lot lines. (Refer to Figure 18.04-F.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Unplatted lot"
means a parcel of property or tract of land which has not been created through subdivision procedures. It is a lot of record, but is not described by a lot and block legal description within a named and recorded subdivision.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Lot width"
means the horizontal distance between the lot side lines measured at right angles to the line comprising the depth of the lot as a point midway between the lot front line and the lot rear line, or midpoints of frontage lines on through lots.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Low impact development"
means a stormwater management and land development strategy that emphasizes conservation and use of on-site natural features integrated with engineered, small-scale hydrologic controls to more closely mimic predevelopment hydrology. The goal is to prevent measurable harm to streams, lakes, wetlands, and other natural aquatic systems from commercial, residential or industrial development sites.
(Ord. 2343 § 1 (part), 2010)
[1]
Code reviser's note: Ordinance 2343 adds this section as Section 18.04.595. The section has been renumbered to avoid duplication of numbering and to preserve alphabetization.
"Manufactured home"
means a single-family dwelling built in accordance with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act, which is a national, preemptive building code.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2135 § 1 (part), 2005)
"Specified manufactured home"
means a manufactured home constructed after June 15, 1976, in accordance with state and federal requirements for manufactured homes, which:
A. 
Is comprised of at least two fully enclosed parallel sections each of not less than 12 feet wide by 36 feet long;
B. 
Was originally constructed with and now has a composition or wood shake or shingle, coated metal, or similar roof of not less than 3:12 pitch;
C. 
Has exterior siding similar in appearance to siding materials commonly used on conventional site-built uniform building code single-family residences; and
D. 
Meet the provisions of the State Energy Code.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Manufactured home site"
means a space or pad within a manufactured home park, for the accommodation of one manufactured home, its accessory buildings or structures and accessory equipment for the exclusive use of the occupants. The boundaries of a manufactured home site are established on the approved manufactured home park plot plan.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2135 § 1 (part), 2005)
"Manufactured home subdivision"
means a subdivision or short subdivision approved in accordance with Sumner subdivision standards in SMC Title 17, meeting or exceeding the requirements of the Sumner Municipal Code, and where the lots are principally intended to accommodate manufactured homes as residences. The lots within the subdivision shall be held in private ownership.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Heavy manufacturing or industrial"
means a manufacturing or industrial use typically having the potential of creating substantial noise, smoke, dust, vibration and other environmental impacts or pollution, and including, but not limited to:
A. 
The extraction or mining of raw materials, such as quarrying of sand or gravel;
B. 
Processing or refining of raw materials, such as but not limited to minerals, petroleum, rubber, wood or wood pulp, into other products;
C. 
The milling of grain or refining of sugar, except when accessory to a use defined as food processing for human consumption or as a retail sales and service use;
D. 
Refining, extruding, rolling or drawing of ferrous or nonferrous metals, or the use of a noninduction foundry for ferrous metal;
E. 
Mass production of commercial or recreational vessels of any size and the production of vessels 120 feet in length or larger, constructed to individual specifications;
F. 
Production of large durable goods such as motorcycles, cars, manufactured homes, airplanes, or heavy farm, industrial or construction machinery;
G. 
Manufacturing of electrical components, such as semiconductors and circuit boards, using chemical processes such as etching or metal coating;
H. 
Production of industrial organic and inorganic chemicals, and soaps and detergents; and
I. 
Conversion of solid waste into useful products or preparation of solid waste for disposal at another location by processing to change its physical form or chemical composition.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Light industrial or manufacturing"
means a manufacturing use, typically having little or no potential of creating noise, smoke, dust, vibration or other environmental impacts or pollution, and including, but not limited to, the following:
A. 
Production, assembly, finishing, and/or packaging of articles from parts made at another location, such as assembly of clocks, electrical appliances, or medical equipment;
B. 
Production of finished household and office goods, such as jewelry, clothing or cloth, toys, furniture, or tents, from materials that are already refined, or from raw materials that do not need refining, such as paper, fabric, leather, pre-milled wood, or wool, clay, cork, semiprecious or precious metals or stones, fiber, or other similar materials;
C. 
Canning or bottling of food or beverages for human or animal consumption using a mechanized assembly line;
D. 
Printing plants;
E. 
Production of large durable goods such as motorcycles, cars, manufactured homes, airplanes, or heavy farm, industrial or construction machinery.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2319 § 3, 2010)
"Marijuana processor"
means a person licensed by the State Liquor Control Board to process marijuana into usable marijuana and marijuana-infused products, package and label usable marijuana and marijuana-infused products for sale in retail outlets, and sell usable marijuana and marijuana-infused products at wholesale to marijuana retailers (RCW 69.50.101).
(Ord. 2411 § 1 (part), 2012)
"Public meeting"
means an informal meeting, hearing, workshop, or other public gathering of people to obtain comments from the public or other agencies on a proposed project permit prior to the local government's decision. A public meeting may include, but is not limited to, the following: a design commission meeting, a community meeting, or a scoping meeting on a draft environmental impact statement. A public meeting does not include an open record hearing. The proceedings at a public meeting may be recorded and a report or recommendation may be included in the local government's project permit application file.
(Ord. 1762 § 5, 1996)
"Mineral extraction use"
means all surface mining or extraction of rock, stone, gravel, sand, earth, and other minerals, exclusive of reclamation, that include, but are not limited to, accessory uses such as: (1) equipment maintenance, sorting, crushing, and loading; (2) on-site mineral processing, including asphalt or concrete batching, concrete recycling, and other aggregate recycling; and (3) transporting minerals to and from the mine, on-site road maintenance, road maintenance for roads used extensively for surface mining activities, traffic safety, and traffic control.
(Ord. 2737 § 1, 2020)
"Miniwarehouse"
means a facility consisting of separate storage units which are rented to customers having exclusive and independent access to their respective units for storage of residential or commercial-oriented goods.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Mixed-use development"
means a tract of land, building or structure with a variety of complementary and integrated permitted uses, such as, but not limited to, residential, office, manufacturing, retail, public or entertainment, in a compact urban form.
(Ord. 2940, 11/24/2025)
"Mixed-use structure"
is a single structure containing at least two complementary, integrated, or mutually supporting permitted principal uses (such as housing, offices, light-manufacturing, retail, public service, or entertainment). The structure must achieve physical and functional integration within itself.
(Ord. 2940, 11/24/2025)
"Mobile home"
means a factory-built dwelling built prior to June 15, 1976, to standards other than the HUD code, and acceptable under applicable state codes in effect at the time of construction or introduction of the home into the state. Mobile homes have not been built since introduction of the HUD Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Used mobile home"
means a mobile home which has been previously sold at retail and has been subjected to state retail sales tax, or which has been previously used and has been subjected to state use tax, and which has substantially lost its identity as a mobile unit at the time of sale by virtue of its being fixed in location upon land owned or leased by the owner of the mobile home and placed on a foundation (posts or blocks) with fixed pipe connections with sewer, water, and other utilities.
(Ord. 2135 § 1 (part), 2005)
"Modular home"
means any factory-built housing designed primarily for residential occupancy by human beings which does not contain a permanent frame and must be mounted on a permanent foundation.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Motel"
means a lodging use, located in a structure in which access to individual units is predominately by means of common exterior corridors, and in which a majority of rooms are provided to guests on a daily or short-term basis, and in which off-street parking is provided on the lot.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Motion picture theater"
means any premises in which motion pictures, slides or similar photographic reproductions are shown as the principal use of the premises or are shown as an adjunct to some other business activity which is conducted on the premises and constitutes a major attraction, and wherein fees of any kind are charged, and wherein such movies are shown on a regular basis, and not to include school or public auditoriums used for generally noncommercial purposes on an infrequent basis.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Motor vehicle wrecker"
means every person, firm, partnership, association or corporation engaged in the business of buying, selling or dealing in vehicles of a type required to be licensed under the laws of the state of Washington for the purpose of wrecking, dismantling, disassembling or essentially changing the form of any motor vehicle.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Multifamily dwelling"
means a type of housing contained in a single structure with three or more dwelling units. Examples of multifamily dwellings include, but are not limited to, ground-level or multi-level triplexes, fourplexes, senior housing, co-living housing and multifamily residential infill (MRI) dwellings as may be permitted pursuant to SMC § 18.16.040F.
(Ord. 2900 § 1, 2024; Ord. 2953, 4/6/2026)
"Neighborhood shopping area"
means a small retail shopping area dealing in convenience goods such as food and pharmaceuticals, or personal services. The area serves the everyday personal needs of a neighborhood population, has considerable walk-in trade, generates little traffic from outside the neighborhood, and is integrated within a residential development or area.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Nonconforming use"
means a lawful use of land or structure in existence on the effective date of this title or at the time of any amendments thereto and which does not conform to the provisions of the zone, prior zone, or overlay zone in which such use is located, or general provisions of this title.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Office"
means a building or portion of a building wherein services are performed involving predominantly administrative, professional, or clerical operations.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Open record hearing"
means a hearing, conducted by a single hearing body or officer authorized by the local government to conduct such hearings, that creates the local government's record through testimony and submission of evidence and information, under procedures prescribed by the local government by ordinance or resolution. An open record hearing may be held prior to a local government's decision on a project permit to be known as an "open record predecision hearing." An open record hearing may be held on an appeal, to be known as an "open record appeal hearing" if no open record predecision hearing has been held on the project permit.
(Ord. 1762 § 6, 1996)
"Open space"
means land used for recreation, resource protection, project utilities, safety or buffers, and is protected by the provisions of the municipal code and ordinances of Sumner to ensure that it remains in such use. Open space shall be left in a substantially natural state except in the case of recreation or other approved uses that may contain limited impervious surfaces.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Opioid treatment program"
means a program that (1) engages in the treatment of opioid use disorder with medications approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid use disorder and reversal of opioid overdose, including methadone; and (2) provides a comprehensive range of medical and rehabilitative services.
(Ord. 2878 § 14, 2024)
"Ordinary high water mark"
on all lakes, streams, and tidal water is that mark that will be found by examining the bed and banks and ascertaining where the presence and action of waters are so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil a character distinct from that of the abutting upland, in respect to vegetation as that condition exists on June 1, 1971, as it may naturally change thereafter, or as it may change thereafter in accordance with permits issued by a local government or the Department of Ecology; provided, that in any area where the ordinary high water mark cannot be found, the ordinary high water mark adjoining salt water shall be the line of mean higher tide and the ordinary high water mark adjoining fresh water shall be the line of mean high water.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Park"
means any public or private land available for recreational, educational, or aesthetic use.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Permanent supportive housing"
means subsidized, leased housing with no limit on length of stay that prioritizes people who need comprehensive support services to retain tenancy and utilizes admissions practices designed to use lower barriers to entry than would be typical for other subsidized or unsubsidized rental housing, especially related to rental history, criminal history, and personal behaviors. Permanent supportive housing is paired with on-site or off-site voluntary services designed to support a person living with a complex and disabling behavioral health or physical health condition who was experiencing homelessness or was at imminent risk of homelessness prior to moving into housing to retain their housing and be a successful tenant in a housing arrangement, improve the resident's health status, and connect the resident of the housing with community-based health care, treatment, or employment services. Permanent supportive housing is subject to all of the rights and responsibilities defined in chapter 59.18 RCW.
(Ord. 2794 § 4, 2021)
"Person"
means a natural person, heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, and also includes a firm, partnership or corporation, its or their successors or assigns, or the agent of the any of the aforesaid.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Planned development"
means land under unified control to be planned and developed as a whole in a single development or a definitely programmed series of development operations or phases. A planned development includes principal and accessory structures and uses substantially related to the character and purpose of the planned development. It often incorporates innovations or special features in the development of the site.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Porch"
means an outdoor, roofed, unheated, flat surface attached to a residential structure. The porch may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.
(Ord. 2193 § 1 (part), 2007)
"Poultry"
means domesticated birds that serve as a source of eggs or meat, including, but not limited to chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, peafowl, pigeons, and pheasants.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Premises"
means buildings in which a use or activity is conducted and/or the grounds over which the operator of the use or activity has direct control.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Private off-street parking lot"
means privately owned parking area accessible to vehicles, which area is provided, improved, maintained, and used for the sole purpose of accommodating the parking of noncommercial vehicles of less than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, except that private off-street parking lots shall not be for the parking of trucks designed or operated for the transportation of commodities, merchandise, produce, freight, animals, or property, and whose body weight or whose combined body and load weight or whose rated capacity exceeds 10,000 pounds. Private off-street parking lots do not include areas used by truck and/or heavy vehicle operators for sleeping, resting, or other extended uses. This use does not include paid parking lots.
(Ord. 2286 § 1, 2009; Ord. 2302 § 2, 2009; Ord. 2334 § 1, 2010; Ord. 2352 § 1, 2011; Ord. 2366 § 1, 2011; Ord. 2388 § 1, 2012; Ord. 2573 § 2, 2016)
"Public off-street parking lot"
means a publicly owned parking area accessible to vehicles, which area is provided, improved, maintained, and used for the sole purpose of accommodating the parking of noncommercial vehicles of less than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, except that private off-street parking lots shall not be for the parking of trucks designed or operated for the transportation of commodities, merchandise, produce, freight, animals, or property, and whose body weight or whose combined body and load weight or whose rated capacity exceeds 10,000 pounds. Public off-street parking lots do not include areas used by truck and/or heavy vehicle operators for sleeping, resting, or other extended uses. This use may include paid parking lots.
(Ord. 2573 § 3, 2016)
"Preschool"
means a public or private facility which provides instruction for children who are not old enough to attend a public elementary school. Preschools differ from day care facilities by the number of hours children are kept. Preschools do not keep children for more than four hours. All the children arrive at approximately the same time and leave at approximately the same time.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Professional office"
means a low-intensity office use occupied by an accountant, architect, attorney-at-law, engineer, surveyor, insurance agent, real estate broker, landscape architect, or practitioner of the human healing arts, or other professional business similar in type, scale and character. A professional office is not a retail sales business.
(Ord. 2499 § 1, 2014)
"Project permit" or "land use permit" or "project permit application"
means any land use or environmental permit or license required from a local government for a project action, including, but not limited to, subdivisions, binding site plans, planned unit developments, conditional uses, shoreline substantial development permits, site plan review, permits or approvals required by critical areas ordinances, and site-specific rezones which do not require a comprehensive plan amendment but excludes the adoption or amendment of a comprehensive plan, subarea plan, or development regulations, except as otherwise specifically included in the section.
(Ord. 1762 § 7, 1996; Ord. 2901 § 2, 2024)
"Proposed"
means that a complete application has been received and acknowledged by the department of development services and that the request has not been approved or denied.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Public facilities"
means buildings or uses of land owned and operated by a public agency for such purposes as providing places for public assembly and recreation, operating services of benefit to the public, or for the administration of public affairs. Examples include, but are not limited to, city offices, police and fire stations, senior center, museum, and maintenance facilities. Public housing, utility facilities, streets, and parks do not constitute a public facility.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Railroad right-of-way"
means a strip of land with tracks and auxiliary facilities for track operation, but not including freight depots or stations, loading platforms, train sheds, warehouses, car or locomotive shops, or car yards. Abandoned right-of-way is included under this definition.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Recovery residence"
means a home-like environment that promotes healthy recovery from a substance use disorder and supports persons recovering from a substance use disorder through the use of peer-recovery support. A recovery residence is considered a type of group home.
(Ord. 2878 § 16, 2024)
"Recycling center"
means a salvage and recycling use in which recyclable materials are collected, stored, and/or processed, by crushing, breaking, sorting and/or packaging, but not including any use which is defined as a salvage yard.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Recycling collection station"
means a salvage and recycling use in which weather resistant containers are provided for the collection of the following recyclable materials only: glass, aluminum cans, tin cans, plastic, and paper; and/or fully enclosed containers are provided for the collection of secondhand goods for processing at another location.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
A "regional community center"
means a facility used for recreational, social and cultural activities that has the capacity to serve both the local and regional needs of the population. Services and activities would include but not be limited to swimming pools, fitness centers, gym and recreational court facilities, limited clinical or health care, art centers, community rooms, classrooms and other uses deemed a community service.
(Ord. 2436 § 1, 2013)
"Residence"
means a building or structure or portion thereof, which is designed for and used to provide a place of abode for human beings, but not including hotel or motel units having no kitchen facilities.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
A "restaurant"
means a business establishment used, maintained, advertised and held out to the public as a place with a full dinner, lunch, and/or breakfast menu. The restaurant serves full course meals daily prepared in its own kitchen. The meals are served at a table or counter with take-out meals allowed as an accessory use. Alcoholic beverages may be served as incidental and complementary to the serving of food. A bar with the primary purpose of serving alcoholic beverages can be a part of the restaurant. Where the square footage of the bar exceeds 30 percent of the gross floor area of the restaurant and the bar combined, the establishment shall be considered a "tavern" per SMC § 18.04.1005.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2196 § 2, 2007)
"Drive-in restaurant"
means an establishment that provides ordering kiosks for customers to park their motor vehicles, place orders and consume their food and/or beverages either on or off the premises. Customers are usually served by staff who walk to take orders and deliver food encouraging patrons to remain parked at the kiosk and in their vehicle when they receive and consume their food. Drive-in restaurants may also have drive-up windows or the ability for patrons to order from a walk-up window.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2656 § 5, 2018)
"Fast-food restaurant"
means an establishment that offers quick food service, which is accomplished through a limited menu of items already prepared and held for service, or prepared, fried, or griddled quickly, or heated in a device such as a microwave oven. Orders are not generally taken at the customer's table, and food is generally served in disposable wrapping or containers.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Retail shopping"
means the selling of goods and services which may include convenience goods, such as food and drugs, personal services, such as tailoring, shoe repairing, and barbershops, and general merchandise, such as apparel, furniture and home furnishings.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Retirement home"
means individual apartments for residents that meet the age requirements under SMC § 18.04.0927, in an apartment complex featuring a central lobby, common dining area, and recreational rooms, with extra services included in the rent, such as meals, light housekeeping, laundry and recreational programs, but not including nursing or medical care.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2812 § 4, 2022)
"Right-of-way"
means the land held by the public for road and utility purposes. It usually refers to the land required for the traffic lanes plus the shoulders and drainage structures on both sides of highways, roadways, bikeways and alleys.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Risk potential activity"
means an activity or facility that provides a higher incidence of risk to the public from persons conditionally released from the special commitment center. Risk potential activities and facilities include: public and private schools, school bus stops, licensed day care and licensed preschool facilities, public parks, publicly dedicated trails, sports fields, playgrounds, recreational and community centers, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, public libraries, public and private youth camps, and others identified by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services following the hearings on a potential site required in RCW 71.09.315. "School bus stops" does not include bus stops established primarily for public transit.
(Ord. 2878 § 17, 2024)
"Salvage yard"
means a salvage and recycling use in which junk, waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled, or handled, including automobile wrecking yards, house-wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment. A "salvage yard" shall not be construed to include such activity when conducted entirely within an enclosed building, nor pawnshops and establishments for the sale, purchase, or storage of used furniture and household equipment, used cars in operable condition, used or salvaged machinery in operable condition or the processing of used, discarded or salvaged materials as a minor part of manufacturing operations.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"School"
means a public or private facility that provides a curriculum of primary and/or secondary academic instruction, including kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, and high school.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Portable school classroom"
means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which requires a chassis to be transported, and is designed to be used as an educational space with or without a permanent foundation. The structure shall be trailerable and capable of being demounted and relocated to other locations as needs arise.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Secure community transition facility"
means a residential facility for persons civilly committed and conditionally released to a less restrictive alternative. A secure community transition facility has supervision and security, and either provides or ensures the provision of sex offender treatment services. Secure community transition facilities include any community-based facilities established under chapter 71.09 RCW.
(Ord. 2878 § 18, 2024)
"Senior apartments"
means individual apartments for residents that meet the age requirements under SMC § 18.04.0927, in an apartment complex with individual kitchen facilities in each unit versus common dining services. May include common areas, but does not include food service, nursing or medical care except incidental services provided on an individual basis. Senior apartments are designed for independent living and are generally no different than other apartments except for having an age requirement.
(Ord. 2812 § 5, 2022)
"Senior housing"
refers to various types of housing stock, whether rental or occupant-owned, that specifically cater to residents aged 55 years and older, where the units are occupied by persons 55 years of age or older, except for spouses of such residents for whom there is no minimum age requirement. This definition shall include, at a minimum, all facilities that qualify as "housing for older persons" under the Fair Housing Act. Senior housing types may include zero lot line homes, cottage housing, duplex dwellings, townhomes, continuing care or life care communities, senior apartments, retirement homes, nursing homes or assisted living facilities, provided, residents at each facility meet the age requirements of this section.
(Ord. 2343 § 1 (part), 2010; Ord. 2812 § 6, 2022)
[1]
Code reviser's note: Ordinance 2343 adds this section as Section 18.04.809. The section has been renumbered to avoid duplication of numbering and to preserve alphabetization.
"Site plan"
means a plan, to scale, showing uses and structures proposed for a parcel of land. It includes, but is not limited to, lot lines, streets, building sites, open space, buildings, parking areas, major landscape features, both natural and manmade, and the locations of proposed utility features.
(Ord. 2901 § 1, 2024)
"Stable"
means an accessory building for the keeping of domestic animals, especially in a building having stalls or compartments.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Stock in trade"
means:
A. 
The dollar value of all products, equipment, books, magazines, posters, pictures, periodicals, pre-recorded video tapes, discs, or similar material readily available for purchase, rental, viewing or use by patrons of the establishment, excluding material located in any storeroom or other portion of the premises not regularly open to patrons; or
B. 
The number of titles of all products, equipment, books, magazines, posters, pictures, periodicals, other printed materials, pre- recorded video tapes, discs or other similar material readily available for purchase, rental, viewing or use by patrons of the establishment, excluding material located in any storeroom or other portion of the premises not regularly open to patrons.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Story"
means that portion of a building included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above, except that the topmost story shall be that portion of a building included between the upper surface of the topmost floor and the ceiling or roof above. If the finished floor level directly above a usable or unused under-floor space is more than six feet above grade as defined herein for more than 50 percent of the total perimeter or is more than 12 feet above grade as defined herein at any point, such usable or unused under-floor space shall be considered as a story.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"First story"
means the lowest story in a building which qualifies as a story, as defined herein, except that a floor level in a building having only one floor level shall be classified as a first story, provided such floor level is not more than four feet below grade, as defined herein, for more than 50 percent of the total perimeter, or not more than eight feet below grade, as defined herein at any point.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Street"
means a public or private thoroughfare or easement which affords primary means of access. For the purposes of this title, the definition of street includes all public and private utilities such as communication lines, cable television lines, electrical lines and equipment, natural gas distribution lines, storm water, water and sewer facilities, and other similar facilities commonly found in street rights-of-way.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Structure"
means that which is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner, but not including fences six or less feet in height, driveways or other paved areas.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Structure, tent"
means any structure which is designed to be freestanding and is covered with metal or canvas material supported by a wood or pipe-type skeletal frame.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2088 § 1, 2004)
"Structural alteration"
means any change in the supporting members of a building or structure, such as foundations, bearing walls, columns, beams, floor or floor joists, girders or rafters, or changes in the exterior dimensions of the building or structure, or increase in floor space.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Studio/workshop, artist"
means a use where someone teaches or creates fine art, such as, but not limited to, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, or photography, within a dedicated workspace known as an artist studio. Where a workshop or fabrication area exceeds 5,000 SF, some zones require a retail component.
(Ord. 2940, 11/24/2025)
"Tavern"
means an establishment, serving alcoholic beverages, in which the principal business is the sale of such beverages at retail for consumption on the premises and where food service may or may not be included as an accessory use.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2196 § 3, 2007)
"Townhouse"
means a type of ground-related housing that is a multistory building containing two or more dwelling units, each of which has primary ground floor access to the outside and which are attached to each other by common walls without openings.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2134 § 2, 2005; Ord. 2467 § 3, 2014)
"Tract"
means a fractional part of subdivided lands having fixed boundaries that is not a lot of record and is either: (A) dedicated; or (B) reserved for a specific purpose by appropriate covenants, plat restrictions, or maintenance agreements, for ingress, egress, utility access, open space, drainage, stormwater management, critical area buffers or other purpose necessary to the public welfare.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2544 § 4, 2015)
"Transitional housing"
means a project that provides housing and supportive services to homeless persons or families for up to two years and that has, as its purpose, facilitating the movement of homeless persons and families into independent living.
(Ord. 2794 § 5, 2021)
"Transmission tower"
means a freestanding structure, other than a building, on which wireless communication devices are mounted. Support structure types include, but are not limited to, monopoles, lattice towers, wood poles or guyed towers.
(Ord. 1830 § 8, 1998)
"Trellis"
is defined as a vertical structure attached to a fence comprised of lattice work designed to support the growth of vines or other vegetation, or a horizontal decorative element composed of lattice work that is predominantly open in design. A trellis which has a horizontal element which is more that 36 inches in width measured perpendicular to the fence shall be considered an arbor and therefore subject to the siting requirements for an arbor.
(Ord. 2022 § 1 (part), 2003; Ord. 2556 § 4, 2016; Formerly 18.04.1028)
"Truck stop"
means a facility for the relief and refreshment of truck drivers wherein diesel fuel and/or gasoline is available and food is available for immediate consumption on the premises. Such a facility may include accessory uses such as maintenance or repair of commercial motor vehicles; restaurants; motels; retail business; and business offices.
(Ord. 2207 § 1 (part), 2007)
"Truck terminal"
means a building or area in which freight brought by truck is assembled and/or stored for routing or reshipment, or in which semitrailers, including tractor and/or trailer units and other trucks, are parked and stored. A truck terminal is not a "truck stop." See SMC § 18.04.1029.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2207 § 1 (part), 2007)
"Truck-related retail and services"
means any use not otherwise specifically listed providing opportunity for the driver-operators of heavy trucks to access needed retail, medical, and/or personal services during either short-term or mandatory long-term stops and lay-overs. Examples include retail related to truck parts, tires, or accessories, retail addressing personal needs such as clothing or personal hygiene items, medical services, gifts, and web access.
(Ord. 2394 § 5, 2012)
"Use"
of property means the purpose or activity for which the land, or building thereon, is designed, arranged or intended, or for which it is occupied or maintained and shall include any manner of performance or operation of such activity with respect to the provision of this title. The definition of "use" also includes the definition of "development."
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Major utility facility"
is a facility for providing service to an area including:
A. 
Telephone exchanges;
B. 
Electrical switching substations;
C. 
Natural gas gate stations and regulating stations;
D. 
Propane, compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas storage tanks serving multiple lots or uses from which fuel is directly distributed to individual users, but does not include the storage and distribution by truck or rail transport;
E. 
Natural gas transmission pipelines;
F. 
Wastewater treatment plant; and
G. 
Utility facilities that are not minor utility facilities.
For the purposes of this title, "major utility facility" does not include utility lines, distribution pipelines, and other related facilities commonly found in street rights-of-way, battery energy storage systems, or uses included in the definition of "public facilities" or "essential public facilities."
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2319 § 2, 2010; Ord. 2899 § 3, 2024)
"Minor utility facility"
means:
A. 
Natural gas distribution lines, not located in a street right-of-way.
B. 
Developments within the confines of any electric substation, telephone exchange buildings, reservoir, pump station, well and similar.
C. 
Electrical facilities, lines, equipment or appurtenances with an associated voltage of 55,000 volts or less.
D. 
Upgrade of existing electrical transmission lines in commercial and industrial districts.
E. 
Detention ponds and other similar tracts dedicated to the city.
F. 
Wastewater pump or lift stations.
For the purposes of this title, "minor utility facility" does not include utility lines, distribution pipelines, and other related facilities commonly found in street rights-of-way, or uses included in the definition of "public facilities," "battery energy storage systems," or "essential public facilities."
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2899 § 3, 2024)
"Utility yard"
means a location used for the storage and maintenance of materials, equipment and vehicles to facilitate the provision of utility services. A utility yard is frequently co-located with a utility office.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Variance"
means an adjustment in the application of the specific provisions of this title to a particular piece of property, which property, because of special circumstances applicable to it, is deprived of privileges commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same vicinity and zone and which adjustment remedies disparity in privileges.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Major vehicle repair"
means a use in which one or more of the following activities are carried out:
A. 
Reconditioning of any type of motorized vehicle, including any repairs made to vehicles over 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating;
B. 
Collision services, including body, frame or fender straightening or repair;
C. 
Painting of vehicles including painting in a paint shop; or
D. 
Dismantling of motorized vehicles in an enclosed structure.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2798 § 5, 2021)
"Automotive collision repair"
means a use in which one or more of the following activities are carried out on passenger vehicles and similar small vehicles listed under automotive sales at SMC § 18.04.0135, but not on boats, recreational vehicles or heavy equipment:
A. 
Reconditioning; or
B. 
Collision services, including body, frame or fender straightening or repair; or
C. 
Painting of vehicles including painting in a paint shop; or
D. 
Dismantling of vehicles.
(Ord. 2798 § 7, 2021)
"Minor vehicle repair"
means an automotive sales or motorized vehicle sales and service use in which general motor repair work is done as well as the replacement of new or reconditioned parts in motorized vehicles; but not including any operation included in the definition of "major vehicle repair."
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2798 § 6, 2021)
"Walking distance"
means the distance measured from the entrance to a train station with a commuter rail stop; or measured from the center point of a front lot line of a subject parcel, along streets and sidewalks for a specified distance (e.g. 1/4 mile).
(Ord. 2953, 4/6/2026)
"Exterior wall"
means any wall or element of a wall, or any member or group of members, which defines the exterior boundaries or courts of a building and which has a slope of 60 degrees or greater with the horizontal plane.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Wetland mitigation bank"
means a site where wetlands are restored, created, enhanced or, in exceptional circumstances, preserved, expressly for the purpose of providing compensatory mitigation in advance of unavoidable impacts to wetlands or other aquatic resources that typically are unknown at the time of certification.
(Ord. 2531 § 1, 2015)
"Winery, craft"
means a producer of wine up to 125,500 liters or 30,000 gallons per year primarily of products produced on site, typically pressed in small batches, and typically including a wine tasting area open to the public. A craft winery is independently owned and operated.
(Ord. 2774 § 4, 2021)
"Yard"
means an open, unoccupied space, other than a court (as defined in the Uniform Building Code), unobstructed from the ground to the sky, except where specifically provided by this code, on the lot on which a building is situated. (Refer to Figure 18.04-G.)
A. 
"Front yard"
means an area extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the lot front line and a line drawn parallel thereto, and at a distance therefrom equal to the required front yard depth as prescribed in each classification.
B. 
"Side yard"
means an area extending from the front yard line to the rear yard line at a depth measured from the side lot line to a line drawn parallel thereto at a distance equal to the required side yard depth as prescribed in each classification.
C. 
"Rear yard"
means an area extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the lot rear line and a line drawn parallel thereto, at a distance equal to the required rear yard depth as prescribed in each classification.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Youth activity center"
means a public or private establishment which caters to or is attended in substantial part by minors including, but not limited to, youth community centers, boy scout or girl scout club houses, arcades, miniature golf courses, amusement parks, batting cages, or other similar facilities.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Zero lot line detached dwelling"
means a detached single-family building located on a lot in such a manner that one or more of the building's sides rests directly on a lot line, with the other building sides separated by a minimum distance of one side yard from other detached dwellings. (Refer to Figure 18.04-H.)
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995; Ord. 2842 § 10, 2023)
"Zero lot line dwelling"
means an attached single-family dwelling that is attached to additional zero lot line dwellings at one or both common side lot lines by means of a common wall. A zero lot line dwelling is attached to no more than one other zero lot line dwelling at any common side lot line. Zero lot line dwellings may be constructed in groups of multiple units as provided in specific zones. Each zero lot line dwelling is located entirely on its own lot, and residents hold a fee simple title to the dwelling and lot. A zero lot line dwelling may be in the form of a duplex, multiplex, townhouse or similar attached single-family dwelling.
(Ord. 2134 § 3, 2005; Ord. 2842 § 11, 2023)
"Zone"
means an area accurately defined as to boundaries and location, and classified by the zoning ordinance as available for certain types of uses and within which other types of uses are excluded.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Overlay zone"
means a classification contained in this title which combines with the underlying classification and adds specific restrictions to properties located within such zone. The combination of zones, for the purpose of this definition and title, shall be considered a separately zoned area and shall not be construed as applying different standards to properties within the same zone. An example of an overlay zone would be the planned mixed-use development overlay designation.
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)
"Underlying zone"
means a zone classification applicable to a property which provisions continue in full force in conjunction with an "overlay zone."
Figure 18.04-A Block Front Diagram
Figure 18.04-B Building Height Diagram
Figure 18.04-C Impervious Surface/Lot Coverage
Figure 18.04-D Lot Lines
Figure 18.04-E Rear Lot Line Examples
Figure 18.04-F Lot Types
Figure 18.04-G Yard Diagram
Figure 18.04-H Zero Lot Line
(Ord. 1694 § 1, 1995)