As used in this title, the terms or words in this chapter shall have the meanings ascribed herein.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Abandonment"
means to cease or discontinue a use or activity without intent to resume, but excluding temporary or short term interruptions to a use or activity during periods of remodeling, maintaining, or otherwise improving or rearranging a facility, or during normal periods of vacation or seasonal closure.
2. "Abutting"
means having a common border with, or being separated from such common border by an alley or easement.
3. "Access"
means a means of vehicular ingress and egress to a lot or parcel. For the purpose of this code, a lot shall abut by no less than 20 feet upon and have direct access to: (a) an opened, constructed and maintained public road; or (b) a private road in plat or short plat approved by the City of Sultan; or (c) an exclusive, unshared, unobstructed permanent access easement at least 20 feet wide.
4. "Access panhandle"
means a strip of land designed to provide access to the lot, tract or parcel being less in width than the minimum lot width allowed under the applicable zoning district.
5. "Access road"
means a private or public road or street that provides direct access from abutting properties to a city collector or arterial road, as defined by the city's comprehensive plan.
6. "Accessory building"
means a subordinate building attached to or detached from the main building and used for purposes customarily incidental to the residential occupancy of the main building and not involving the conduct of a business or the sale of a service. Accessory buildings include but are not limited to an automobile storage garage, play house, laundry room, garden shelter, hobby room and mechanical room. Accessory dwelling units are not considered accessory buildings in the Sultan Municipal Code.
7. "Accessory dwelling unit (ADU)"
means a dwelling unit located on the same lot as a single-family housing unit, duplex, triplex, townhome or other housing unit.
8. "Accessory structure"
means a detached, subordinate structure, located on the same lot, the use of which is clearly incidental to that of the main building or to the principal use of the land. An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is not considered an accessory structure in the Sultan Municipal Code.
9. "Accessory use"
means a use incidental and subordinate to the use of the main building on the same lot.
10. "Acre, gross"
means a tract of land consisting of 43,560 square feet.
11. "Action"
means a vote by a quorum of the planning board, board of appeals, or city council upon a motion, proposal, resolution or order, and resulting in a collective decision by a majority of those voting members present. "Action" also means a decision by the community development director when exercising his or her authority under this zoning code.
12. "Addition (to an existing building)"
means any walled and roofed expansion to the perimeter of a building in which the addition is connected by a common load-bearing wall other than a fire wall. Any walled and roofed addition that is connected by a fire wall or is separated by independent perimeter load-bearing walls is considered to be new construction.
13. "Adjacent"
means that which lies near or close to, not widely separated nor necessarily touching.
14. "Adjacent property owner"
means any property owner of record, according to the records of the county assessor, whose property adjoins or abuts property proposed for division or any portion thereof, or whose property is within 300 feet of the property proposed for division.
15. "Adjoining"
means that which is joined or united, and actually touching.
16. "Adult bookstore"
means an establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock in trade books, magazines, tapes, or films that are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to sexual activities or anatomical areas. For the purposes of the zoning code, an adult bookstore shall be deemed to be an adult entertainment establishment.
17. "Adult entertainment establishment"
means any business which, as a substantial portion of its operations, offers for sale or viewing for any consideration any live performances, photographic or film depictions, or devices or paraphernalia that depict or are characterized by an emphasis on the depiction, description, or engagement in specified sexual activities or anatomical areas including male or female sexual organs, buttocks, or female breasts. (For the purposes of this definition, the term "paraphernalia" shall not be deemed to include condoms or other birth control measures.)
18. "Aesthetics"
means a characteristic of development relating to its physical beauty.
19. "Affordable housing"
means a dwelling unit(s) reserved for occupancy by eligible households and having monthly housing expenses to the occupant no greater than 30% of a given monthly household income, adjusted for household size, as published by the U.S. Census Bureau for Snohomish County, as follows:
20. "Aggrieved person"
means any person, including the applicant, who, in connection with a decision or action of the building and zoning officer or the planning board, board of appeals, and/or city council on an application for a development permit, takes issue with the decision rendered.
21. "Agricultural use"
means the principal use of land for agricultural purposes, such as the tilling of soil, the raising of crops, horticulture, viticulture, small livestock farming, pasturing, grazing, poultry, dairying and/or animal husbandry, including all uses customarily incidental thereto; provided that "agricultural use" does not include maintaining household gardens or keeping domestic pets.
23. "Airport"
means any area of land or water designed and set aside for the landing and take-off of aircraft, including all necessary facilities for the housing and maintenance of aircraft.
24. "Alley"
means any public thoroughfare for the use of pedestrians and/or vehicles which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.
25. "Alterations"
means any change, addition, or modification of type of occupancy; any change in the structural members of a building such as walls, partitions, columns, beams, girders; or any change which may be referred to herein as "altered" or "reconstructed."
26. "Ambient"
means, within the context of this code, an adjective that is generally attached to the term "air quality." Ambient air quality refers to the condition of the atmosphere within the environs of a particular use or geographic area.
27. "Amusement park or center"
means a group of amusement devices for children and/or adults and their accessory uses. Such a park or center may include miniature golf areas, bumper cars, batting cages, arcades, bumper boats, go-carts, and such similar activities.
28. "Apartment"
means a room or suite of rooms within an apartment building, used as a dwelling unit for one family with facilities that function or are intended to function for living, sleeping, cooking, and sanitation.
29. "Apartment accessory to a commercial use"
means an apartment which is attached to a legally established commercial use to be occupied by the property owner, a lease holder, or in some other way supporting a commercial use on site.
30. Apartment building or house
See "Dwelling, multifamily."
31. "Appeal"
means a request for a review of the city's interpretation or action of any provision of this title.
32. "Applicant"
means any person or his or her authorized agent or representative who has applied for a permit and who has a valid, existing legal interest in the property proposed to be developed.
33. "Appropriate"
means anything that is compatible with a facility's natural, cultural, or recreational resources, recognizing the purpose of the established area.
34. "Aquaculture"
means the regulation and cultivation of water plants and animals for human use or consumption. Aquaculture may include hatcheries, marine crop production and other similar uses that occur in either fresh or salt water.
35. "Aquifer"
means a groundwater bearing geologic formation or formations that contain sufficient amounts of saturated material to yield water.
36. "Aquifer recharge area"
means a body of permeable materials that collects precipitation or surface water and transmits it to the aquifer.
37. "Arcade"a. b.
"Game/video arcade" means any establishment, room, place, or business location in which there are available to the public more than three coin or token operated amusement devices or where a fee is charged for the operation of such devices.
"Structural arcade" means a permanently roofed arched covered continuous area or passageway at ground level, open to a street, plaza, open space, or building, that is accessible and open to the public.
38. "Area of shallow flooding"
means a designated "AO" or "AH" zone on the city's flood insurance rate map (FIRM) with base flood depths from one to three feet, where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate, and where velocity flow may be evident.
39. "Area of special flood hazard"
means the land in the floodplain subject to a one% or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
40. "As-graded"
means the extent of surface conditions on completion of grading.
41. "Assessment"
means an estimation or determination of the significance, importance, or value of land, buildings, or a proposed development activity.
43. "Automobile parking area, public"
means an open area, other than a street or private automobile parking area, designed to be used for the parking of two or more automobiles.
44. "Automobile parking area, private"
means an open area, located on the same lot with a dwelling or hotel, for parking automobiles of the occupants of such buildings.
45. "Automobile sales and service establishments, new or used"
means an establishment that provides for the sale of motorized vehicles as its primary use, and allows for minor or major repairs, or paint and body work. No body damaged vehicle or vehicle components exposed to view from a public roadway shall be permitted.
46. "Automobile service station"
means a building or structure designed or used for the retail sale or supply of fuels (stored only as prescribed by existing legal regulations), lubricants, air, water, and other operating commodities for motor vehicles or boats. The cross-section areas of service station canopy supports where they meet the ground shall be measured as coverage for the purposes of determining maximum lot coverage, and also shall be used for measurement of setback requirements. Automobile service stations may include the following: customary space and facilities for the installation of such commodities on or in such vehicles; space for facilities for the storage, minor repair, or servicing of such vehicles; and space for car washing.
47. "Automobile wrecking yard"
means any premises devoted to dismantling or wrecking of motor vehicles or trailers, or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled or wrecked vehicles or their parts.
48. "Automotive repair establishment"a. b. c.
"Major repair" means a retail sales and service establishment that provides for the painting, repainting, or retouching and/or major mechanical repairs and adjustments of motor vehicles such as engine overhauls, transmission overhauls, and the like which usually require more than one working day for service. No outdoor sales, repair or service work shall be allowed. No body damaged vehicle or vehicle components exposed to view from a public roadway shall be permitted.
"Minor repair" means a retail sales and service establishment that shall include only those repairs able to be effected within one working day, such as brake repair, engine tune-ups, oil changes, lubrications, front end alignments, transmission services, tire services, battery services, brake services, and the like. No outdoor sales, repair, or service work shall be allowed. Repair services of a major nature, including but not limited to engine or transmission overhauls or body work shall not be included within this definition. Outdoor storage or display of vehicles, parts, equipment, or tires shall not be included within this definition. The service or repair of trucks or other similar vehicles that exceed a one-ton rated capacity shall be prohibited. No body damaged vehicle or vehicle components exposed to view from a public roadway shall be permitted.
"Paint and/or body shop" means a building or other structure used for painting, repainting, or retouching and/or major nonmechanical bodywork and adjustment of motor vehicles.
49. "Awning"
means any movable roof-like structure cantilevered, or otherwise entirely supported from a building, so constructed and erected as to permit its being readily and easily moved within a few minutes' time to close an opening, or rolled or folded back to a position flat against the building or a cantilevered projection thereof, or which is detachable.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1304-19B § 1; Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Background water quality"
means the concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, or radiological constituents or other characteristics in or of groundwater at a particular point in time and upgradient of an activity that have not been affected by that activity.
2. "Bakery or bakery shop"
means an establishment where the majority of retail sale is of products such as breads, cakes, pies, pastries, etc., that are baked or produced and sold on premises.
3. "Bar or cocktail lounge"
means any premises wherein alcoholic beverages are sold at retail for consumption on the premises. It shall not mean a restaurant use wherein alcoholic beverages are sold in conjunction with the sale of food for consumption on the premises and the sale of alcoholic beverages comprises less than 20% of the gross receipts.
4. "Base flood"
means the flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
5. "Base flood elevation"
means the height above mean sea level expected to be reached by the 100-year flood, as officially determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
6. "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.
7. "Basin plan"
means a plan and all implementing regulations and procedures, including but not limited to land use management adopted by ordinance for managing surface water and stormwater management facilities and features within individual sub-basins.
8. "Bed and breakfast inn"
means an owner-occupied, single-family detached dwelling where meals and short-term lodging are provided for compensation to guests and other transient persons. An Air B&B is not a bed and breakfast inn for the purposes of the zoning code. (See "Guest house.")
9. "Bedrock"
means the more or less solid rock in place either on or beneath the surface of the earth. It may be soft, medium, or hard and have a smooth, irregular surface.
10. "Bedroom"
means a room other than a kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, or closet that is marketed, designed, or otherwise likely to function primarily for sleeping.
11. "Belongings"
means moveable articles of personal property, such as household goods or removable fixtures.
12. "Bench"
means a relatively level step excavated into earth material on which fill is to be placed.
13. "Best management practice (BMP)"
when associated with stormwater management, means physical, structural, and/or managerial practices that, when used singly or in combination, prevent or reduce pollution of water; when associated with groundwater protection, means a written plan outlining accepted practices, such as liquid containment, transfer practices, and emergency procedures whose purpose is to prevent contamination from contaminated land uses; for instance, monitoring and secondary containment for underground storage tanks.
14. "Billboard"
means a surface whereon advertising matter is set in view conspicuously and which advertising does not apply to the premises or any use of the premises wherein it is displayed or posted.
15. "Binding site plan"a. b.
means a drawing and/or agreement which includes the following:
A record of survey and drawing(s) which identify the location of all proposed and required site improvements including but not limited to: streets, roads, easements, buildings, utilities, open spaces, parks, parking, landscaping, signs, drainage facilities, and other site improvements specified by the City of Sultan; and
"Development agreement" incorporating the conditions of approval, limitation for the use of the land, and improvement guarantees to ensure compliance of all conditions of approval for the binding site plan.
16. "Blight"
means that concentration of forces which puts a building or neighborhood on its way to becoming a poverty-stricken area. A "blighted" area is one that has deteriorated or has been arrested in its development by physical, economic, or social forces. Blight can be caused by unsightly, odor, unhealthy, noisy, and other conditions that adversely impact the surrounding environment, neighboring land uses, and/or property values in the community.
17. "Block"
means the property abutting one side of a street and lying between the two nearest intersecting streets, or between the nearest such street and nonsubdivided acreage, watercourse, or body of water; or between any of the foregoing and any other barrier to the continuity of development.
18. "Boarding house"
means a dwelling where meals or lodging and meals are provided for compensation to at least five persons and no more than 20 persons by prearrangement for definite periods of at least one month's duration. A boarding house is to be distinguished from a hotel, motel, lodging house, and guest house.
19. "Bog/fen"
means a wetland which accumulates organic soils, has little or no inflow and is characterized by acidophilic (acid loving/producing) vegetation such as sphagnum moss, Labrador tea and bog laurel.
20. "Bollard"
means a post permanently affixed into the ground or pavement, at least two feet and no more than four feet in height after installation, whose purpose is to segregate automotive traffic from certain areas.
21. "Bond or performance security"
means a surety bond, assignment of funds, escrow agreement, irrevocable letter of credit, or other financial security device acceptable to the director, which is required to assure that work is completed in accordance with all applicable requirements of this chapter.
22. "Boundary line adjustment"
means the adjustment of boundary lines as defined and regulated by Chapter 19.16 SMC.
23. "Breakaway wall"
means a wall that is not part of the structural support of the building and is intended through its design and construction to collapse under specific lateral loading forces, without causing damage to the elevated portion of the building or supporting foundation system.
24. "Buffer"
means an area adjacent to a critical area consisting of naturally occurring or re-established vegetation and having a width adequate to protect the critical area.
25. "Buffer area"
means a landscaped area intended to separate and partially obstruct the view of two adjacent land uses or properties from one another, or intended to reduce the impact of noise levels generated on one property from the surrounding properties and intended to enhance the level of safety and promote the aesthetic qualities of the area.
26. "Buildable area"
means the space remaining after the minimum open space and yard setback requirements of this code have been complied with.
27. "Building"
means any structure built for the support, shelter, or enclosure of persons, animals, belongings, or property of any kind.
28. Building, accessory
See "Accessory building."
29. "Building official"
means the officer designated by the City of Sultan to enforce and administer the building codes of the City of Sultan, or his or her duly authorized representative. (See Chapter 15.01 SMC.)
30. "Building, completely enclosed"
means a building designed and constructed with all exterior walls of the structure solid from the ground to the roof line, and containing no openings except for windows and doors that are designed to be closed.
31. Building, elevated
See "Elevated building."
32. "Building front"
means that exterior wall of a building which faces a front lot line of the lot.
33. Building height
See "Height, building."
34. "Building, nonconforming"
means a legally existing building that fails to comply with this zoning code (for height, number of stories, size, area, yards, location, or use) applicable to the district in which the building is located.
35. "Building permit"
means the document or certificate issued by the City of Sultan that verifies adherence to all applicable building and development regulations and gives permission to the applicant to proceed with the actions for which the permit was requested.
36. "Building, principal or main"
means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.
37. "Building site or area"
means a portion or parcel of land considered as a unit, devoted to a certain use or occupied by a building or group of buildings that are united by a common interest or use, and the customary accessories and open spaces belonging to the same.
38. "Building support structure"
means any structure that supports floor, wall, or column loads and transmits them to the foundation. The term shall include beams, grade beams, or joists and includes the lowest horizontal structural member exclusive of piles, columns, or footings.
39. "Bulk"
means the term used to describe the size of buildings or other structures, and their relationship to each other and to open areas and lot lines.
40. "Bulkhead"
means a structure of timber, concrete, steel, rock or similar substance erected parallel to a shoreline for erosion control purposes.
41. "Bus and mass transit storage and maintenance facility"
means any building and adjacent outdoor space required for the servicing, washing, and the overnight parking of buses or other mass transit vehicles that are used for transporting the general public, tourists, school children, the elderly, and/or handicapped or construction workers.
42. "Business service"
means an establishment primarily engaged in rendering services to other business establishments on a fee or contract basis, not involving the sale of any goods or commodities available on the premises, and not dispensing a personal service. Business service establishments may include but are not necessarily limited to activities such as real estate, insurance, accounting or bookkeeping, financial institutions, management or consulting firms, or other similar uses.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Canopy"
means a roof-like structure made of any material that projects from the wall of a building and overhangs a sidewalk.
2. "Capital improvement"
means any substantial physical facility built by expending public monies. The construction of schools, highways, public sewer and water systems, landscaping a park, or the purchase of and for a public building or use are all examples of capital improvements.
3. "Capital improvement program"
means a government schedule of permanent improvements budgeting to match the government's financial resources. The capital improvement program is usually projected six years in advance an updated annually.
4. "Carnival"
means a temporary commercial entertainment with rides, games, etc., for the general public.
5. "Carrying capacity"
means the maximum number of units that can be accommodated by a facility without reducing the efficiency of that facility. Carrying capacity is used to measure the ability of a facility to accommodate more units. For example, the carrying capacity of a roadway is the maximum number of vehicles that can pass over a given section of a lane in one direction during a given time period. For recreation areas, the carrying capacity is the number of persons that can utilize the elements (play equipment, basketball courts, benches, etc.) at any given point in time.
6. "Car wash"
means a building, or portion thereof, containing facilities for washing automobiles utilizing mechanical devices.
7. "Carport"
means space for the housing or storage of motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, or boats that has a roof and no more than two walls.
8. "Casino or gambling establishment"
means any establishment where gambling has been approved and is monitored by the State of Washington. See "Gambling establishment."
9. "Cemetery"
means a place for the burial or interment of dead persons or household pets.
10. "Census"
means the official count of the population, its age, sex, and social and economic characteristics, conducted on a decennial basis by the Bureau of the Census of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
11. "Certificate of occupancy (occupancy permit)"
means the official certification that a premises conforms to the provisions of this zoning code and the city building codes, and may be used or occupied. Such a certificate is granted for new construction or for alteration or additions to existing structures. Unless such a certificate is issued for new construction, a structure cannot be occupied.
12. "Channel, drainage"
means a large natural or constructed waterway, ordinarily lined to speed, control, and conduct the flow of stormwater runoff.
13. Child care center
See "Daycare facility."
15. "Clearing"
means the destruction and removal of vegetation by manual, mechanical, or chemical methods.
16. "Clinic"
means an establishment where patients who are not lodged overnight are admitted for examination and treatment by one person or group of persons licensed as a physician, dentist, chiropractor, therapist, or other similar health related professional.
17. "Club"
means buildings or facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons for a social, educational, fraternal, civic, religious, or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit or to render a service that is customarily carried on as a business.
18. Club, private
See "Private clubs."
19. "Clubhouse"
means a building used to house a club or social organization, including clubs associated with golf courses.
20. "Clustered housing"
means single-family detached dwelling units or middle housing developed through the land division regulations of Chapter 19.46 SMC, Cluster Subdivisions.
21. Cocktail lounge
See "Bar or cocktail lounge."
22. "Co-living housing"
means a complex of sleeping units that share a common kitchen and dining area for group meals and/or a common living area for socializing, as required by RCW 36.70A.535. The sleeping units are independently rented, lockable, and provide sleeping and living space. See also "sleeping unit."
23. "Collector road"
means a road that provides for traffic movement between arterial roads, and local (residential) streets, and direct access to abutting properties.
24. "Commercial kennel"
means a building in which four or more domestic animals at least four months of age are kept commercially for boarding or treatment.
25. "Commercial use"
means the use of any structure or property for a purpose directly related to the sale of goods, the furnishing of services of any kind, or used in conjunction with the adjacent littoral commercial property.
26. "Commercial vehicle home basing"
means the parking and maintenance of two or more vehicles in operable condition on property wherein resides a person who uses them in his or her business.
27. "Common area"
means the total area not designed for rental or sale to tenants and that is available for common use by all tenants or groups of tenants and their guests, including such areas as parking lots and their appurtenances, lobbies, malls, sidewalks, landscaped areas, public rest rooms, truck and service facilities, etc.
28. "Community center"
means a place, structure, area, or other facility used for and providing social, fraternal, religious, and/or recreational programs generally open to the public and designed to accommodate and serve significant segments of the community.
29. "Compatible use"
means a use that is capable of existing in harmony with other uses situated in its immediate vicinity.
30. "Completeness, determination of"
means a written letter issued by the City of Sultan and addressed to an applicant that states whether an application is complete. If an application is deemed incomplete by the community development director, the determination of completeness must list the necessary items to make the application complete.
31. "Completeness (of a permit application)"
means the information, reports, and documents submitted by the applicant that address or discuss each of the areas required by the applicant form and/or as a result of the preapplication meeting. Completeness does not mean that the information, reports, and documents submitted are sufficient or adequate to assess the impact of the proposed development on the environment, but simply that the requested information, reports, and documents have been submitted.
32. "Comprehensive plan"
means the goals, objectives and policies, documents and maps adopted by motion by the council to guide the physical development of the city, to coordinate city programs, services and controls, and to promote the general welfare.
33. "Concept plan"
means a preliminary plan for the development of property, indicating contour lines; any significant existing natural features, such as rock outcroppings and stands of trees; proposed building layouts with approximate square footage of floor area; proposed off-street parking areas and, if required, off-street loading areas; and the proposed internal (within the lot) circulation system.
34. "Concession stand, agricultural or produce"
means an open air structure, not to exceed 20 feet by 30 feet in its dimensions, and at which fresh eggs, fruits, vegetables, and/or other agricultural products may be sold from local farms to the public.
35. "Conditional use"
means a use allowed in one or more zones as defined by this code but which, because of characteristics peculiar to such use, the 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 permit in order to provide a particular degree of control to make such uses consistent and compatible to other existing or permissible uses in the same zone.
36. "Condominium"
means a form of ownership of property where the purchaser normally acquires title to a part of a building and/or a portion of land, and an undivided interest in the common areas and facilities; as distinguished from a cooperative, where the purchaser usually acquires stock that represents their interest in the property. Where the building so acquired consists of bedrooms with individual baths or combined bedrooms and living rooms with individual baths and/or has separate entrances for each unit, each unit shall be considered a separate dwelling unit or a separate hotel room for the purposes of this code.
37. "Confectionery"
means an establishment engaged solely in the preparation and production of candy products for direct retail sale to the consumer on the premises.
38. "Conflict of interest"
means any conflict between an individual's private interests and his or her actions as a government employee or appointed or elected government official.
39. "Congregate care facility"
means a complex of facilities that provides a residence and a care component with varying degree of assistance from independent living arrangements to totally dependent assistance with all bodily needs. (See also "Residential care facility.")
40. "Conservation areas"
means lands that are environmentally sensitive, naturally or culturally unique, valuable, or of other special interest that should be considered for protection from any activity that would significantly alter their ecological integrity, balance, or character. Conservation areas may be improved for the purpose of making them accessible to the public in a manner consistent with the preservation of their natural features.
41. "Construction"
means the building of, or substantial improvement to, any structure or the clearing, filling, or excavation of any land. It shall also mean any alterations in the size or use of any existing structure or the appearance of any land. When appropriate to the context, "construction" refers to the act of construction or the result of construction.
42. "Contaminant"
means a substance which, when distributed in the soil, renders the groundwater unpotable.
43. Contiguous
Lands are contiguous if they actually adjoin each other and share a common boundary.
44. Convalescent home
See "Nursing, rest, or convalescent home."
45. "Convenience store"
means a retail establishment that is usually open for extended daily hours of business (12 to 24 hours), normally located as a single entity or in a strip building configuration along major roadways, is typically a self-service facility not dependent upon comparison shopping, and by its manner of display and merchandising, usually sells a limited selection of items and brands of prepackaged or prepared foods, ready-to-eat foods, snacks, gum, candy, beverages, dairy products, or sundries, all of which are frequently purchased for immediate use. It may be developed with facilities for the dispensing and sales of vehicular fuels, but with no sale or installation of tires, batteries or similar accessories. If such establishment is combined with said fuel sales and dispensing, it shall be regulated as an automobile service station and there shall be limitations and controls placed upon the nature, size, delivery, storage, location and type of said fuel sales or dispensing facilities to provide maximum possible protection to adjacent properties, and it must meet the specific requirements of an automobile service station. Additionally, any retail establishment that falls within this definition but sells a substantial portion of its merchandise (more than 25% of its sales) described in the definition of an "adult entertainment facility" shall not be deemed to be a convenience store.
46. "Conversion"
means the change of use or purpose to which a structure or building is put.
47. Corner lot
See "Lot, corner."
49. "Council"
means the city council of the City of Sultan. (Where the term "commission" is used in the Washington State Department of Transportation editions for standard specifications for road and bridge construction, it shall be interpreted to mean the city council.)
50. Coverage, ground
See "Lot coverage."
52. "Critical areas"
at a minimum, means areas which include wetlands; areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water; fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas; frequently flooded areas; geologically hazardous areas, including unstable slopes; and associated areas and ecosystems.
53. "Critical species"
means all species listed by the federal or state government as endangered, threatened or sensitive, as designated by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife in WAC 220-200-100 and 220-610-010.
54. "Cul-de-sac"
means a local street having only one means of vehicular access to another street and terminating at its other in a circular-shaped turn around. This definition of cul-de-sac shall in no way be interpreted to include a dead-end street.
55. "Curb cut"
means an indentation or depression through or into a raised curb forming a driveway or walkway.
56. "Curb level"
means the level of the established curb in front of a building measured at the center of such front. Where no curb elevation has been established, the mean elevation of the finished lot grade immediately adjacent to a building shall be considered the "curb level."
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Daycare facility"a. b. c.
The following definitions shall apply to the various daycare facilities allowed in the different zoning districts:
"Daycare center" means a structure used for the care of children under the age of 12 located in a facility other than a family dwelling of those individuals under whose direct care the child or children are placed which accommodates 13 or more children regardless of whether such services are provided for compensation.
"Family daycare home" means a residence used for the care of children located in the family dwelling of the person or persons under whose direct care the child or children are placed, generally accommodating 12 or fewer children, such numbers to include those children of the resident family. This definition shall apply regardless of whether the care is provided for compensation. The general limit of 12 or fewer children being cared for may be increased by waiver from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families pursuant to RCW 43.216.692.
"Mini daycare facility" means a structure used for the care of children under the age of 12 located in a facility other than a family dwelling or located in the family dwelling of the person or persons under whose direct care the child or children are placed which accommodates 12 or fewer children including those of the resident family who are under the age of 12 years, regardless of whether said services are provided for compensation.
2. "Decision"
means written notification to an applicant that his or her permit application has been approved or denied.
4. "Dedication"
means the deliberate appropriation of land by an owner for the general and public uses, reserving to himself or herself no other rights than such as are compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of the public uses to which the property has been devoted. The intention to dedicate shall be evidenced by the owner by the presentment for filing of a final plat or short plat showing the dedication thereon, and the acceptance by the public shall be evidenced by approval of such plat for filing by the city.
5. "Deed"
means a written instrument under seal by which an estate in real property is conveyed by the grantor to the grantee.
6. "Density"
means the number of permitted dwelling units allowed on each acre of land or fraction thereof.
7. "Department"
means the community development department of the City of Sultan.
8. "Design storm"
means a prescribed hyetograph and total precipitation amount (for a specific duration recurrence frequency) used to estimate runoff for a hypothetical storm of interest or concern for the purposes of analyzing existing drainage, designing new drainage facilities or assessing other impacts of a proposed project on the flow of surface water. A hyetograph is a graph of percentages of total precipitation for a series of time steps representing the total time during which the precipitation occurs.
9. "Detention facility"
means an above-ground or below-ground facility, such as a pond or tank, that temporarily stores stormwater runoff and subsequently releases it at a slower rate than it is collected by the drainage facility system. There is little or no infiltration of stored stormwater.
10. "Determination"
means written notification to the issuing authority and all appropriate interested parties that the decision of the issuing authority has been affirmed or nullified.
11. "Developer"
means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or organization of any kind, engaged in any type of manmade change of improved or unimproved land.
12. "Development"
means the placement, erection, or removal of any fill, solid material, or structure on land, in or under the water; discharge or disposal of any dredged material or of any liquid or solid waste; or the grading, removing, dredging, mining, or extraction of any materials, including mineral resources; the construction, reconstruction, removal, demolition or alteration of the size of any structure; or the removal or harvesting of vegetation. Development shall not be defined or interpreted to include activities related to or undertaken in conjunction with the cultivation, use, or subdivision of land for agricultural purposes that do not disturb the coastal waters or sea, or any improvement made in the interior of any structure.
13. "Development right"
means a legal claim to convert a tract of land to a specific purpose by construction, installation, or alteration of a building or other structure.
14. "Development, substantial"
With regard to projects that have been initiated, substantial development shall constitute at least 10% of the total expected cost (including architectural and engineering fees) to complete the project as it was approved. Development shall also be considered to be substantial if the developer of an approved project has secured financing for the project and can demonstrate, in writing, his or her financial commitments to the project in question.
15. "Director"
means the community development director for land use decisions and public works director for public infrastructure decisions made through the authority vested with the City of Sultan.
16. "District, zoning"
means any portion of the city within which, on a uniform basis, certain uses of land and buildings are permitted and certain other uses of land and buildings are prohibited as set forth in the zoning code; and within which certain minimum and maximum dimension requirements for dwelling unit density, property line setbacks such as yards and other open spaces, building heights, lot width and depth, and other conditions are required. (See also "Zone.")
17. "Domestic pet"
means a domestic animal normally kept inside and incidental to a residential dwelling unit. Included are dogs, cats, fish, birds, and guinea pigs; excluded are wild or exotic animals and other domestic animals such as horses, cows, chickens, ducks, geese, goats, pigs, sheep, or similar livestock associated with husbandry. (See also "Agricultural use.")
18. "Drainage"
means the removal of surface water or groundwater from land by drains, grading, or other means. Drainage includes the control of runoff to minimize erosion and sedimentation during and after development and includes the means necessary for water supply preservation, prevention, or alleviation of flooding.
19. "Drainage basin"
means a geographic and hydrologic subunit of a watershed.
20. "Drive-in establishment"
means a business establishment so developed that its principal retail or service character is dependent on providing a driveway approach or parking spaces for motor vehicles so as to either serve patrons while in the motor vehicle, or intended to permit consumption in the motor vehicle of food or beverages obtained by a patron of said business establishment (restaurants, cleaners, banks, etc.).
21. "Drive-in or drive-through facility"
means an establishment that, by design, physical facilities, service, or by packaging procedures, encourages or permits customers to receive services or obtain goods while remaining in their motor vehicles.
22. "Driving range (golf)"
means an unconfined recreational facility (i.e., without netting overhead or alongside the facility) situated on a plot of land at least 400 yards in length and a minimum of 300 feet wide. A golf driving range may be built with overhead netting, as well as netting (or other confining material) along the sides and the rear of the facility. In such cases, the land requirements shall be at least 100 yards in length and a minimum of 150 feet wide. The purpose of such facility is to allow golfers an opportunity to practice their golf shots.
23. "Driveway"
means that space specifically designated and reserved on the site for the movement of vehicles from one site to another or from a site to a public street.
24. "Duplex"
means a building used or designed as a residence for two families living independently of each other and each with facilities that are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, sanitation in said building. Each dwelling unit shall have separate ingress/egress.
25. "Dwelling"
means a building or portion thereof, occupied or intended to be occupied exclusively for residential purposes, but not including hotels, motels, lodging houses, travel trailers, sleeping units in co-living housing, or recreation vehicles. (See also "Dwelling, multifamily," "Dwelling, single-family," and "Family.")
26. "Dwelling, attached"
means a dwelling having any portion of a wall in common with adjoining dwellings and includes townhouses, duplexes, and zero lot line houses.
27. "Dwelling, detached"
means a dwelling that is entirely surrounded by open space on the same lot.
28. "Dwelling, duplex"
means a detached building used or designed as a residence for two families living independently of each other and each with a separate ingress/egress and each with facilities that are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and sanitation in said building. Duplex dwelling shall not include a mobile home.
29. "Dwelling, multifamily"
means a building or portion thereof, used or designed as a residence for five or more families living independently of each other and each with facilities that are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and sanitation in said building. This definition includes apartment buildings but does not include middle housing, hotels, motels, lodging houses, or guest houses. This definition applies only to SMC Title 16 unless stated otherwise within other titles.
30. "Dwelling, principal or main"
means a building in which is conducted the principal residential use of the lot on which it is situated.
31. "Dwelling, single-family"
means a detached building designed for or occupied by one family, or a group of individuals sharing the space.
32. "Dwellings, single-family detached (clustered)"
means a development of single-family detached dwelling units that are clustered on small lots sharing pedestrian access through a common rear yard or joined rear yards.
33. "Dwelling, stacked"
is a vertical residential building configuration with two or more dwelling units in which each floor may be separately rented or owned. Examples include vertically stacked duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, sixplexes, or other multiplex structures with at least one unit per floor. ADUs above or below other single-family or middle housing units are not included in this definition.
34. "Dwelling unit"
means any room or group of rooms located within a residential building and forming a single habitable unit with facilities that are used or intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking, and sanitation. Sleeping units are not dwelling units and are subject to different standards within this code, as required by RCW 36.70A.535.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1347-21 § 9; Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Easement"
means a right granted by a property owner to specifically named parties or to the public for the use of certain land for specified purposes. Where appropriate to the context, "easement" may also refer to the land covered by the grant. This may include access, pedestrian paths, bicycle paths, utility easements, drainage, open space, etc.
2. "Ecosystem"
means a characteristic assemblage of plant and animal life within a specific physical environment, and all interactions among species, and between them and their environment.
3. "Efficiency dwelling unit"
means a dwelling unit consisting of one room exclusive of bathroom, kitchen, hallway, closets, or dining alcove, whether or not directly off the principal room.
4. "Effluent"
means liquid sewage discharged by a collection network, various sewage treatment units, or a sewage treatment plant; also, the product discharged or emerging from a sewage treatment process.
5. "Elevated building"
means a nonbasement building constructed in such a manner as to have the lowest floor elevated above the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter walls, pilings, columns (post and piers), shear walls, or breakaway walls.
6. "Elevation"
shall mean:
7. "Emergency"
means an unexpected situation that poses an immediate danger to life, health, or property and demands immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss or damage to life, health, property, or essential public services.
8. "Emergency hazardous situation"
means a condition that is an immediate and substantial danger to human health, safety, or welfare, or to the environment.
9. "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.
10. "Emergency shelter"
means a facility whose primary purpose is to provide housing for individuals and families in the event of an emergency or an emergency hazardous situation, or 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.
11. "Eminent domain"
means the authority of the City of Sultan or other government agency to take, or to authorize the taking of, private property for public use with just compensation to the owner.
12. "Enclosed"
means within the context of permitted or conditional uses of the zoning code that the use is inside a building and not visible from a public right-of-way.
13. "Engineer"
means the public works director of the City of Sultan.
14. "Enlargement"
means an addition to the floor area of an existing building, an increase in the size of any other structure, or an increase in that portion of a tract of land occupied by an existing use.
15. "Environment"
means the physical, social and economic conditions that exist within the area which will be affected by a proposed project.
16. "Environmental impact assessment or statement"
means an informational report prepared by an applicant for a proposed development and made available to public agencies and the general public that, when required by this code, shall be considered by the community development director prior to its approval or disapproval of an application for a development permit. Such report shall include detailed information about the existing environment in the area of a proposed development; the effects that a proposed development is likely to have on the natural and human environment; an analysis and description of ways in which the significant adverse impacts of such development are proposed to be mitigated and minimized; and an identification and analysis of reasonable alternatives to such development.
17. "Erected"
includes built, constructed, reconstructed, moved upon, or any physical operations on the premises required for the building. Excavations, fill, drainage, paving, and the like shall be considered within the definition of "erected."
18. "Erosion"
means the detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, and/or gravity.
19. "Establishment"
means an economic unit that is located in a building or other structure, where business is conducted or services are offered.
20. "Existing building"
means a building that received a certificate of occupancy at least three years prior to the permit application to add housing units.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Facade"
means the front of a building, particularly that part of a building facing a street or courtyard.
2. "Facing or surface"
means the surface of a sign upon, against, or through which a message is displayed or illustrated on the sign.
3. "Family"
means one person or group of two or more persons living together and interrelated by bonds of kinship, marriage, mutual consent, or legal adoption, occupying the whole or part of a dwelling as a separate housekeeping unit with a common set of cooking facilities. The persons thus constituting a family may also include foster children, and gratuitous guests.
4. "Family day care provider"
mean a child care provider who regularly provides early childhood education and early learning services for not more than 12 children at any given time in the provider's home in the family living quarters. Family day care providers must be certified with the department of early learning, and must comply with the sign, building, fire, safety, and health codes, and business licensing requirements.
5. "Farmers market"
means an occasional sales activity held within a building, structure, or open area where groups of individual sellers offer new and used goods, produce, and other foods for sale to the public, but not to include private garage sales.
6. "Fence"
means any artificially constructed barrier of any material or combination of materials erected to enclose or screen areas of land and is six feet or less.
7. "Fill"
means earth or any other substance or material, including pilings placed in a submerged area.
8. "Filled lands"
means all artificially made, filled, or reclaimed lands and marshes.
9. "Financial institutions"
means establishments such as, but not limited to, banks and trust companies, credit agencies, investment companies, brokers and dealers of securities and commodities, and other similar uses.
10. "Fitness centers"
means gymnasiums (except those associated with educational institutions), private clubs (athletic, health, or recreational), wellness and physical training facilities, reducing salons, and weight control establishments.
11. "Floating zone"
means a zoning district that has been established but not mapped in a specific location. For a developer to be allowed to construct a use that is featured in a floating zone, he or she shall be required to meet minimum lot size criteria, as well as other requirements.
12. Flood, base
See "Base flood."
13. Flood hazard, special area
See "Area of special flood hazard."
14. "Flood insurance rate map" or "FIRM"
means an official map of the City of Sultan on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the city.
15. "Flood insurance study"
means the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles, as well as the flood boundary and floodway map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
16. "Flood or flooding"
means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
17. "Flood, regulatory"
means a flood that is representative of large floods known to have occurred generally in the area and reasonably characteristic of what can be expected to occur on a particular watercourse. The regulatory flood generally has a flood frequency of approximately 100 years, as determined from an analysis of floods on a particular watercourse and other watercourses in the same general area.
18. "Flood, 20-year"
means the highest level of flooding that, on average, is likely to occur once every 20 years.
19. Flooding, shallow area
See "Area of shallow flooding."
20. "Floodplain area having special flood hazard"
means that maximum area of the floodplain that, on average, is likely to be flooded once every 100 years (i.e., that has a 1% chance of being flooded each year).
21. "Floodplain or flood-prone area"
means a land area adjoining a river, stream, watercourse, or pond that is likely to be flooded.
22. "Floodway"
means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.
23. "Floor"
means the top surface of an enclosed area in a building (including basement), i.e., the top of a slab in concrete slab construction or the top of wood flooring in wood frame construction. The term does not include the floor of a garage used primarily for the parking of vehicles and where openings are installed to allow the free passage of water.
24. "Floor area"
means the sum of the gross horizontal areas of all of the floors of all buildings on the lot, measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the centerline of walls separating two buildings. Floor area shall include the area of basements when used for residential, commercial or industrial purpose, but need not include a basement or portions of a basement used for storage or housing of mechanical equipment, or the basement apartment of a custodian in a multifamily dwelling, except that portion of said custodian's dwelling unit which is in excess of 50% of the total basement area.
25. "Floor area ratio" or "FAR"
means the horizontal area of all of the floors of any building or buildings on a lot, divided by the area of such lot, or in the case of planned unit developments, by the net lot area. Where off-street parking is provided in the principal building or in a building on a lot across a street or alley from the principal building, the area of the lot upon which such building providing off-street parking is provided may be included in determining the permitted floor area of the principal building. Space provided within a building for off-street parking shall not be counted in determining the floor area of such building.
26. "Floor area, usable"
means any floor area within the outside wall of a building exclusive of areas in cellars, basements, unfinished attics, garages, open porches, and accessory buildings.
27. "Foster home"
means a home licensed and regulated by the state and classified by the state as a foster home, providing care and guidance for unrelated juveniles, adults or both.
28. "Frequently flooded areas"
means the 100-year floodplain designations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Flood Insurance Program.
29. "Fueling area"
means an area that is used or planned to be used for fueling motor vehicles incidental to the principal permitted or conditional use of the property.
30. "Functions and values"a. b. c.
means those functions performed by a critical area or buffer which are highly beneficial to the maintenance of the aquatic system and surrounding environment. As used in this code, "functions and values" for wetlands, streams and buffers include but are not limited to the following elements:
Streams. Fish and wildlife habitat, water quality maintenance, water supply and water conveyance.
Wetlands. Fish and wildlife habitat, water quality maintenance, pollution assimilation, shore stabilization, sediment retention, runoff and floodwater storage and conveyance, runoff control, stream base-flow maintenance, and groundwater discharge/recharge.
Buffers. Fish and wildlife habitat, runoff absorption, pollution assimilation, streambank stabilization, sediment entrapment, water quality maintenance, noise and visual screening, upland flood protection, recreation, and provision of nutrients and woody debris for streams.
31. "Funeral home"
means a building used for the preparation of the deceased for burial, the display of the deceased, and ceremonies connected with burial or cremation.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Gambling establishment"
means a casino, card room, or other business that has roulette, dice, various card games, slot machines and/or other games of chance or forms of betting and that has been approved and is monitored by the State of Washington. (See also "Casino or gambling establishment.")
2. "Garage"
means a building or portion thereof other than a private or storage garage, designed or used for equipping, servicing, repairing, or storing motor vehicles internally and enclosed within the building.
3. "Garage, parking"
means a building, or portion of building, or area beneath a building or structure, except those described as a private garage, used for the parking only of automotive vehicles.
4. "Garage, private"
means an accessory building less than 1,000 square feet used primarily for the storage of self-propelled vehicles for the use of occupants of a lot on which such building is located. The foregoing definition shall be construed to permit the storage on any one lot for the occupants thereof within such garage, of commercial vehicles that otherwise may be used as private vehicles. However, this shall not be construed to include construction equipment or vehicles with a rated base curb weight in excess of 5,000 pounds.
5. "Garage, public"
means any premises, except those described as a private or community garage, used principally for the storage of automobiles or other motor vehicles, for remuneration, hire, or sale, where any such vehicle may also be equipped for operation or repaired.
6. "Geologically hazardous areas"
means areas that, because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake or other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial, residential or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns.
7. "Golf course"
means a tract of land for the playing of the game of golf, with tees, greens, fairways, hazards, etc. A golf course may be nine or 18 holes in length.
8. "Governmental use"
means public land areas and facilities that are utilized for daily administration and operation of government business which house personnel, records, equipment and the like, belonging to or leased by the city, state, or federal government, special district, or agency.
9. "Grade"
means the established grade of the street or sidewalk as prescribed by the department of public works. Where no such grade has been established, the grade shall be the average computed by a licensed land surveyor at the sidewalk at the property line. Where no sidewalk exists, the grade shall be established in the same manner on the street adjacent to the property line.
10. "Gradient terrace"
means an earth embankment or a ridge-and-channel constructed with suitable spacing and an acceptable grade to reduce erosion damage by intercepting surface runoff and conducting it to a stable outlet at a stable nonerosive velocity.
11. "Greenhouse"
means an enclosed building, permanent or portable, that is used for the growth of small (i.e., less than 10 feet in height) plants.
12. "Gross leasable area" or "GLA"
means the total floor area designed for tenant occupancy and exclusive use, including basements, mezzanines, and upper floors, if any, expressed in square feet and measured from the centerline of joint partitions and from outside wall faces. GLA is that area on which the tenants pay rent; it is the area producing income to the landlord, and is the square footage amount used for determining required parking area. GLA includes all areas less common areas. (See also "Common area.")
13. Ground coverage
See "Lot coverage."
14. "Ground floor area"
means the square footage area of a building within its largest outside dimensions, exclusive of open porches, breezeways, terraces, patios, swimming pools, parking areas, driveways, garages, exterior stairways, secondary stairways, and drive-through teller lanes or walk-up windows of financial institutions only. Ground floor area is the total building area used in determining the percentage of lot coverage.
15. Ground sign
See "Sign, ground."
16. "Groundwater"
means the portion of water contained in interconnected pores or fractures in a saturated zone or stratum located beneath the surface of the earth or below a surface water body.
17. "Groundwater management"
means the management and coordination of groundwater regulations, strategies, policies, and technical information for the protection and use of groundwater resources.
18. "Group care facility"
means a facility licensed by the state to provide, on a 24-hour basis, training, care, custody, correction or control, or any combination of those functions, to one or more persons who may be children, the aged, disabled, underprivileged, indigent, handicapped or other special class of persons, either by governmental unit or agency or by a person or organization devoted to such functions. This term shall not include schools, hospitals, prisons or other social service facilities.
19. "Group home"
means a residential dwelling housing persons with disabilities, the elderly, or caregivers for nonrelated children; examples include foster home, recovery home, and state-funded home caregivers of nonrelated children/aged/handicapped/developmentally disabled/mentally ill or other special class of persons in compliance with RCW 36.70A.410, 70.128.140, 70.128.150, and 49.60.222 through 49.60.225 and WAC 365-196-860.
20. "Guest house"
means an owner-occupied, single-family detached dwelling, containing a limited number of guest rooms, including bed and breakfast inns.
21. "Guest room"
means a bedroom or suite of rooms that are occupied only for sleeping purposes by guests, whether rent is paid in money, goods, labor, or otherwise. Guest rooms do not constitute a dwelling unit.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Halfway house"
means a licensed home for inmates on release from more restrictive custodial confinement or initially placed in lieu of such more restrictive confinement wherein supervision, rehabilitation, and counseling are provided to mainstream a person back into society.
2. "Hardship"
refers, within the context of this code, to special conditions or circumstances existing that are peculiar to the location, size, and characteristics of the land, structure, or building involved and which are not applicable to the same degree to the lands, structure, or buildings in the same zoning district; or special conditions or circumstances that did not result from the action of the applicant; or from a literal interpretation of this code would deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same zoning district.
3. "Hazardous substances"
means any substances or materials that, by any reason of their toxic, caustic, corrosive, abrasive, or otherwise injurious properties, may be detrimental or deleterious to the health of any person handling or otherwise coming into contact with such material or substance.
4. "Health care facility"
means an establishment primarily engaged in furnishing medical, surgical or other services to individuals, including the offices of physicians, dentists, and other health practitioners such as opticians and chiropractors; medical and dental laboratories; outpatient care facilities; blood banks; and oxygen and miscellaneous types of medical supplies and services. (See also "Hospital," "Clinic.")
5. "Health spa"
means beauty, wellness, and health treatment establishments, including massage therapy with practitioners certified and licensed by the State of Washington.
6. "Hearing examiner"
means the hearing examiner duly appointed pursuant to Chapter 2.26 SMC.
7. "Height, building"
means the vertical distance from the average curb elevation to the highest point of the roof surface of a flat roof, to the deck line of a mansard roof and to the mean height level between the eaves and ridge for a gable, hip or gambrel roof; provided, however, that where buildings are set back from the street line, the height of the building shall be measured from the average elevation of the finished grade at the front of the building. Where flood pedestals are used, the additional height necessary for the pedestal will not be included in the total building height calculation.
8. "Highest adjacent grade"
means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface, prior to construction, adjacent to the proposed walls of a structure.
9. "Highway"
means a major roadway or thoroughfare with intersections at grade and direct access to abutting property, primarily designed for through traffic, on a continuous route, and not having access control.
10. "Historic property"
means a building, structure, object, area, or site that is significant in the history, architecture, archaeology, or culture of Sultan or the nation.
11. "Home occupation"
means an economic enterprise carried on within an owner-occupied dwelling unit (which includes mobile homes), or accessory building, which is incidental and subordinate to the primary residential use of the dwelling unit as outlined in the residential performance standards of this code. A home occupation (a) has no employees who are not also residents of the dwelling unit and (b) may not have more than one client visiting the dwelling unit at any given time, both of which distinguish a home occupation from other businesses. A City of Sultan business license is required and shall be in conformance with the home occupation regulations.
12. "Homeless shelter"
means a facility that provides temporary housing for individuals or families which, due to personal adverse financial situations, have lost their homes. (See also "Residential care facility.")
13. "Homeowners' association"
means a private, nonprofit corporation of homeowners of a fixed area constituted for the purpose of owning, operating, and maintaining various common properties.
14. "Horticulture"
means the science and art of cultivating flowers, fruits, vegetables, or ornamental plants.
15. "Hospital"
means a facility providing primary health services and medical or surgical care to persons, primarily inpatients suffering from illness, disease, injury, deformity, other abnormal physical or mental conditions, chemical or substance dependency or abuse, and including, as an integral part of the institution, related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient facilities, and training facilities.
16. "Hotel"
means any building containing more than six guest rooms used, or intended to be used, rented, or hired out to be occupied or that are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests, whether rent is paid in money, goods, labor, or otherwise. It does not include buildings in which sleeping accommodations are provided for persons who are harbored or detained to receive medical, charitable, or other care or treatment, or provided for persons who are involuntarily detained under legal restraint. (See also "Motel" and "Lodging house.")
17. House, apartment
See "Dwelling, multifamily."
18. House, boarding
See "Boarding house."
19. House, lodging
See "Lodging house."
20. "House of worship/church/meeting hall"
means a building or structure wherein persons regularly assemble for religious worship or secular gathering, is specifically designed and used primarily for such purpose, and is maintained and controlled by a religious or secular body organized to sustain worship or gathering.
22. "Hydric soil"
means soil that is saturated, flooded or ponded long enough to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part. The presence of hydric soil shall be determined by following the procedure described in the 1989 Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands, or subsequent amendments.
23. "Hydrogeologic site evaluation"a. i. ii. iii. iv. v. b. c. i. ii. iii. (A) (B) (C) iv. v. vi. vii.
means an evaluation which encompasses some or all of the following checklist items. It shall be prepared by a professional who has training and experience in hydrogeology:
Hydrogeologic Setting.
Describe the geologic setting of the site and illustrate with geologic and soil maps;
Generally describe the lithology, stratigraphy, and areal distribution of soil and rock material in the area;
Discuss geologic features which may control groundwater movement such as faults, folds, joint patterns, igneous intrusions, etc.;
Describe the occurrence and movement of groundwater in the area. Generally discuss such topics as recharge and discharge, depth to groundwater, and regional groundwater flow patterns. Illustrative material such as water level maps or flow nets are recommended;
Generally discuss groundwater quality trends, natural and human induced, including discussion of cumulative changes over an area.
Site-Specific Hydrogeology.
Depict on an appropriately scaled map the location of well(s) (whether abandoned or active) and springs within 1,000 feet of the site, or within a five-year time of travel (whichever is greater);
Prepare hydrogeological cross-sections through the site and surrounding area which illustrate available borehole and trench formation. Include references of other information used to prepare the cross-sections;
Describe the nature of groundwater movement beneath the site. This description should consider the following:
Areal distribution, stratification, and hydraulic conductivity of saturated and unsaturated earth materials;
Probable migration pathways for wastewater released to the septic drain fields;
An estimate of probable time of travel through the soil horizontally from a potential contaminant source;
Describe how the contaminants of concern will be attenuated within the unsaturated zone;
Estimate the quantity and quality of water recharged to the saturated zone under anticipated operation;
Describe the contaminant attenuation processes anticipated within any saturated zone upon which an estimate is based;
Devise a system for monitoring groundwater quality. Describe what steps will be taken if monitoring results show considerably higher levels of contaminants than predicted.
24. "Hydrology"
means the study of groundwater – its origin, occurrence, movement, and quality.
25. "Hydrologically isolated"
means those wetlands which have no surface or subsurface water connection to another wetland, stream, river, or lake.
26. "Hydroperiod"
means the seasonal occurrence of flooding and/or soil saturation; it encompasses depth, frequency, duration, and seasonal pattern of inundation.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Illicit discharge"
means all nonstormwater discharges to stormwater drainage systems that cause or contribute to a violation of state water quality, sediment quality or groundwater quality standards, including, but not limited to, sanitary sewer connections, industrial process water, interior floor drains, car washing and greywater systems.
2. "Illuminated sign"
means any sign that has characters, letters, figures, designs or outlines illuminated by electric lights, or from a remote position.
3. "Immediate vicinity"
With regard to the built or manmade environment, refers to all development that is within 300 linear feet of any proposed development, measured in a straight line from the property line that is closest to any existing development.
4. "Impervious surfaces"
means those surfaces that do not absorb water and consist of all buildings, parking areas, driveways, roads, sidewalks, and any areas of concrete or asphalt on a lot.
5. "Improvement"
means any building, structure, place, work of art, or other object constituting a physical betterment of real property, or any part of such betterment.
6. Improvement, substantial
See "Substantial improvement."
7. "Include"
means to contain or comprise without limitation, to consider as part of a whole, or to take into account.
8. "Incompatible use"
means a use that is incapable of existing in harmony with the natural environment or with other uses situated in its immediate vicinity.
9. "Indoor amusement"
means establishments engaged in providing entertainment indoors for a fee or admission charge, including such activities as theaters, bowling, pool, billiards, or arcades, that feature three or more coin or token operated devices, such as pinball and video games.
10. "Indoor storage"
means the keeping of any goods, materials, merchandise, or supplies as an accessory use to any retail, office, or service use. Any retail or office use shall not devote more than 35% of its gross floor area to indoor storage.
11. "Industrial park"
means a planned, coordinated development of a tract of land with two or more separate industrial buildings. Such development is planned, designed, constructed, and managed on an integrated and coordinated basis with special attention given to on-site circulation, parking, utility needs, building design and orientation, and open space.
12. "Industry, heavy"
means a use engaged in the basic processing and manufacturing of materials or products predominantly from extracted or raw materials, or a use engaged in the storage of, or manufacturing processes that potentially involve hazardous or commonly recognized offensive conditions.
13. "Industry, light"
means a use engaged in the manufacture, predominantly from previously prepared materials, of finished products or parts, including process, fabrication, assembly, treatment, packaging, incidental storage, sales, and distribution of such products, but excluding basic industrial processing.
14. "Infill development"
means the addition of new housing or other buildings on scattered vacant sites in an existing built-up area.
15. "Infrastructure"
means the roads, sewage system (including collection lines, treatment plants, and outfalls), water system (including distribution lines and wells), police and fire protection services, health care facilities, schools, electricity system, telephone system, cable television system, and solid waste disposal facilities.
16. "Institutional use"
means a nonprofit corporation or establishment for public use.
17. "Intent"
means the objective toward which any section of this zoning code strives or for which it exists.
18. "Interflow"
means that portion of rainfall that infiltrates into the soil and moves laterally through the upper soil horizons until intercepted by a stream channel or until it returns to the surface, for example, in a wetland, spring or seep.
19. "Interpretation"
within the context of this code, shall mean a finding or determination made by the community development director as to the meaning or intent of any work, phrase, or section contained herein.
20. "Intersection"
means any street, public way, court, or alley that joins another at an angle, whether or not it crosses the other.
21. "Irregular lot"
means a lot which is shaped so that application of setback requirements is difficult. Examples include a lot with a shape which is not close to rectangular, or a lot with no readily identifiable rear lot line.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Junkyard"
means a place where junk, waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including automobile wrecking yards, house wrecking yards, and places or yards for storage of salvaged house wrecking and structured steel materials and equipment. A junkyard shall not be construed to include such uses 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 registered with the State of Washington and in operable condition, used or salvaged machinery in operable condition or the processing of used, discarded or salvaged materials as part of a manufacturing operation. (See also "Automobile wrecking yard.")
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Kennel"
means a place at or adjoining a private residence where at least four but not more than 10 adult dogs are owned, kept or maintained by the persons residing on said property, for the purpose of hunting, training, field work, obedience trials, other competition, the enjoyment of the species or for any other purpose.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Laboratory"
means a place devoted to experimental study, such as testing and analyzing, as well as physical diagnostic facilities and soil and water testing facilities. The manufacturing of any product or products is not considered to be part of this definition.
2. "Land clearing"
means the exposure of earth by the removal of vegetative cover of any kind.
3. "Land-disturbing activity"
means any activity that results in a change in the existing soil cover (both vegetative and nonvegetative) and/or the existing soil topography. Land-disturbing activities include, but are not limited to, demolition, construction, clearing, grading, filling and excavation.
4. "Land use"
means the employment of a site or holding so as to derive revenue or other benefit from it; also the delineation by the government of the utilization to which land may be put so as to promote the most advantageous development of the City of Sultan.
5. "Landfill"
means the depositing of soil, sand, gravel, shell, or other materials on or in any land area, or the artificial alteration of water levels for land reclamation purposes.
6. "Landscape"
means the use of materials such as trees, ornamental shrubs, gravel, river rock, driftwood, rockeries, lawn, artificial turf or combination of such materials.
7. "Landscape areas and features"
means an area of land within a site or development including but not limited to street medians and planting strips; development or project entryways; off-street parking areas; and landscaped barriers and buffers.
8. "Landscape, perimeter"
means a continuous area of land, required to be set aside along the perimeter of a lot, in which landscaping is used to provide a transition between uses and/or to reduce the environmental, aesthetic, and other impacts of one type of land use or activity upon another.
9. "Landscape plan"
means a detailed sketch to scale illustrating the type, size, location and number of plants and other landscape elements to be placed in a development.
10. "Landscape strip"
means a strip of land along the perimeter of the site containing trees, barriers, ground cover and/or other plant material.
11. "Laundromat"
means an establishment providing washing, drying, or dry cleaning machines on the premises for rental use to the general public for family laundering or dry cleaning purposes.
12. "Laundry plant"
means an establishment for the mechanized washing and/or dry cleaning of clothing, linens, and the like.
13. "Laundry service"
means a retail sales and service establishment that provides for the drop-off of clothing, linens, and the like to be washed, dry cleaned, ironed, mended, or repaired with no machines or equipment for the dyeing of same, and specifically no machines or equipment available for self service directly by the consumer.
14. "Livestock"
means domestic animals, such as horses, cattle, pigs, goats, fowl, or poultry, kept for their services or raised for food and other products.
15. "Live/work"
means a structure or portion of a structure containing a nonseparated commercial business, retail, or low-intensity craft workshop use that is allowed in the zone with a residential living space for the owner, tenant, or the owner or tenant's employee and that person's household. The resident is responsible for the work performed in the live-work unit and there must be a valid business license associated with the premises.
16. "Loading space"
means an off-street space on the same lot with a building or group of buildings for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading and unloading merchandise or materials.
18. "Local road or street"
means a roadway providing for direct access to abutting land, and for local traffic movements.
19. "Lodging house"
means a building, other than a hotel or motel, containing six or less guest rooms used or intended to be used, rented, or hired out to be occupied only for sleeping purposes by guests. (See also "Hotel," "Motel," and "Guest house.")
20. "Lot"
means a single tract of land legally created as a separate building site with a frontage on a street or access easement. (See also "Parcel.")
21. "Lot area"
means the total horizontal area contained within the boundary lines of a lot.
22. "Lot, building"
means land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings, or by a dwelling unit grouping and its accessory buildings, together with such open spaces as are required under the provisions of this code, having not less than the minimum area and width required by this code for a lot in the district in which such land is situated, and having its principal frontage on a street or on such other means of access as may be determined in accordance with the provisions of this code to be adequate as a condition of the issuance of a development permit for a building on such land.
23. "Lot, corner"
means a lot located at the intersection of two streets or a lot bounded on two sides by a curving street and any two chords of which form an angle of 120 degrees or less. The point of intersection of the street lot lines is the "corner." In the case of a corner lot with curved street lines, the corner is that point on the street lot line nearest to the point of intersection of the tangents described above.
24. "Lot coverage"
means the part or percent of the lot occupied by buildings or structures, including accessory buildings or structures, but not to include at-grade off-street parking lots, terraces, swimming pools, pool deck areas, or walkways, roadways, or driveways.
25. "Lot depth"
means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines of a lot measured within the lot boundaries.
26. "Lot, interior"
means a lot other than a corner lot.
27. "Lot, legal building"
means a recorded formal plat or short plat that has had final approval and is recorded with the Snohomish County auditor's office. It must also meet:
28. "Lot line, front"
In the case of a lot abutting upon one or more public streets, shall mean the line separating such lot from such street.
29. "Lot line, rear"
means, ordinarily, that lot line which is opposite and most distant from the front lot line of the lot. In the case of an irregular, triangular or gore shaped lot, a line 10 feet in length entirely within the lot, parallel to and at the maximum distance from the front lot line of the lot shall be considered to be the rear lot line for the purpose of determining depth of rear yard. In cases where none of these definitions are applicable, the community development director shall designate the rear lot line.
30. "Lot line, side"
means any lot line that, as defined by this code, does not constitute a front or rear lot line.
31. "Lot of record"
means an area or parcel of land as shown on an officially recorded plat or subdivision, or an area or parcel of land to which a deed or contract is officially recorded as a unit of property, or which is described by metes and bounds, or as a fraction of a section.
32. "Lot, through"
means an interior lot having frontages on two parallel streets as distinguished from a corner lot, which has frontages on two perpendicular streets (also referred to as a "double-frontage lot").
33. "Lot, parent"
means a lot which is subdivided into unit lots through the unit lot subdivision process.
34. "Lot, unit"
means a lot created from a parent lot and approved through the unit lot subdivision process, as required by RCW 58.17.060.
35. "Lot width"
means the mean horizontal distance between the side lines, measured at right angles to the side lot line. Where side lot lines are not parallel, the lot width shall be considered as the average distance between such side lot lines.
36. "Lot, zoning"
means a single tract of land located within a single block which (at the time of filing for a development permit) is designated by its owner or developer as a tract to be used, developed or built upon as a unit under single ownership or control. A zoning lot may or may not coincide with a lot of record.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Major public community drinking water supply"
means those public water systems that are permitted to withdraw an average daily amount of at least 100,000 gallons of groundwater.
2. "Manufactured home"
means a single-family residence constructed after June 15, 1976, in accordance with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements for manufactured housing, and bearing the appropriate insignia indicating such compliance. It is a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. (Note: Manufactured homes were formerly called "mobile homes" before the federal government assumed control of the construction standards for the industry by way of the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. § 5401).) A manufactured home may be placed on any residentially zoned lot.
3. "Manufacturing"
means any industrial activity that takes raw materials to make a product, even products that may require more refinement to become a finished product. See "Industry, heavy" and "Industry, light."
4. "Marquee"
means a sign, usually for a theater or similar use, that is part of the building, especially a canopy. See "Canopy."
5. "Massage"
means the manipulation of the superficial tissue of the human body with the hand, foot, leg, arm, elbow, face, head, neck, or back, whether or not such manipulation is aided by hydrotherapy or thermal therapy, or any electrical or mechanical device, or the application to the human body of a chemical or herbal preparation, and is not intended to be sexually arousing.
6. "Massage therapy clinic or health spa"
means a business establishment offering massage by a practitioner certified and licensed by the State of Washington to relieve tension, provide relaxation, make muscles or joints supple, or stimulate circulation. (See also "Health spa.")
7. "Mean high water"
means the average height of the high waters over a 19-year period, or for shorter periods of observation, the average height of the high water after corrections are applied to eliminate known variations and to produce the result of the equivalent of a mean 19-year value. Alternatively, mean high water may be defined as the average height of the high waters as established and accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
8. "Mean high water line"
means the intersection of the tidal plane of mean high water with the shoreline.
9. "Mean low water"
means the average height of the low waters over a 19-year period, or for shorter periods of observation, the average height of the low waters after corrections are applied to eliminate known variations and to produce the result of the equivalent of a mean 19-year value. Alternatively, mean low water may be defined as the average height of the low waters as established and accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
10. "Mean low water line"
means the intersection of the tidal plane of mean low water with the shoreline.
11. "Mezzanine"
means a floor level between two main floors of a building, usually immediately above the ground floor.
12. "Middle housing"
means any dwelling units that are compatible in scale, form, and character with single-family houses and contain two or more attached, stacked, or clustered homes including duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhouses, stacked flats, courtyard apartments, and cottage housing, as required by RCW 36.70A.030.
13. "Minimum living area"
means the area within the outside perimeter of the exterior walls with no deduction for corridors, stairs, closets, thickness of walls, columns or other features, exclusive of areas open and unobstructed to the sky, and not to include garages, carports, open porches, open breezeways, store rooms, screened-in porches, or basements.
14. "Minimum lot area"
means the required minimum area for a lot in a particular zoning district at the time of subdivision. (See SMC Title 19.)
15. "Mini storage unit facility or mini warehouse"
means a building or group of buildings consisting of individual storage units not exceeding 400 square feet per storage unit that are leased or owned for the storage of business and household goods or contractor's supplies. These facilities shall not be used for any other use in the zoning code such as wholesale or retail operations.
16. "Mitigation"
means an action or actions taken to lessen or to compensate for unavoidable adverse effects on environmentally sensitive or historic properties.
17. "Mixed-use development"
means development of a combination of typically separated uses within a single development. A planned unit development could be an example of mixed-use development. Commercial centers or malls which include residential uses are another type of mixed-use development. Mixed-use development in an urban context often refers to development of multiple uses in a single building with more than one type of activity taking place within its confines. An example of such a type of development could have commercial uses on the ground floor, offices above them, and residential units above the offices. Other combinations of uses may also occur in a mixed-use development setting.
18. "Mobile home"
means a single-family dwelling constructed in accordance with the requirements prescribed under RCW 43.22.340, as amended, and bearing the "mobile home" insignia of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. It is a dwelling transportable in one or more sections that are eight feet or more in width and 32 feet or more in length, built on a permanent chassis, designed to be used as a permanent dwelling and constructed before June 15, 1976. (Note: Manufactured homes were formerly called "mobile homes" before the federal government assumed control of the construction standards for the industry by way of the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. § 5401).) A mobile home may not be placed on a residentially zoned lot and must be located in a mobile home park.
19. "Mobile home park"
means land under single ownership and control designed and used for the temporary or permanent parking of two or more mobile homes for human occupancy.
20. "Mobile home space"
means that portion of land in a mobile home park allotted or designed for accommodation of one mobile home.
21. "Model home"
means a single-family residence open to the public for sales promotion to demonstrate the types and finishes of homes available in the subdivision. A model home is constructed in an approved preliminary plat, which has not yet received final plat approval.
22. "Modular home"
means a dwelling unit constructed in a factory in accordance with the International Residential Code and bearing the appropriate insignia indicating such compliance, and transported to the building site for final assembly and permanent foundation. This definition includes "prefabricated," "panelized," and "factory-built" units.
23. "Motel"
means a building or group of buildings containing more than six guest rooms used or intended to be used, rented, or hired out to be occupied or that are occupied only for sleeping purposes by guests, whether rent is paid in money, goods, labor, or otherwise. (See also "Hotel" and "Lodging house.")
25. Multiple-family dwelling.
See "Dwelling, multifamily."
26. "Mulch"
means nonliving, organic and synthetic materials customarily used in landscape design to retard erosion and retain moisture.
27. "Museum"
means a nonprofit, noncommercial establishment operated as a repository or a collection of natural, historic, scientific, or literary curiosities, or objects of interest or works of art. Restaurants and gift shops may be included as part of any museum, so long as the square footage for these activities constitutes not more than 25% of the total floor area of the museum building.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "National Geodetic Vertical Datum" or "NGVD"
means the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1988, which is a vertical control used as a reference for establishing varying elevations within the floodplain.
2. "National Register of Historic Places"
means a list of properties that have been formally judged to have historic significance and which have been accepted by the keeper of the National Register.
3. "Natural hazards"
means physical conditions found in nature that can be dangerous or cause great harm to occupants of an area that may be subject to flooding, landslides, earthquakes, wildland fires; severe winds and storms. Natural hazardous areas are required by the Growth Management Act[1] to be identified in the city's comprehensive plan, and mitigation measures will be required for any new development that may be proposed to take place in or near these areas.
[1]
Editor's Note: See RCW 36.70A.010 et seq.
4. "Nature preserve"
means an area designated to be maintained in an unimproved, natural state.
5. "Necessary"
means anything that is deemed by the City of Sultan to be required to meet the needs of the general public.
6. "Net floor area"
means the area actually occupied, not including accessory unoccupied areas such as corridors, stairs, closets, thickness of walls, columns, toilet rooms, mechanical areas, or other similar features.
7. "New construction"
means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of this zoning code.
8. "Night club"
means an establishment that has a capacity for at least 30 persons seated at tables or bar areas and that employs a bartender and maintains table service, dancing, and/or live entertainment for the guests.
9. "Noncombustible material"
means any material that will not ignite at or below a temperature of 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit and will not burn or glow at or below that temperature.
10. "Nonconforming structure"
means a structure that was legally constructed prior to the effective date of this code, but which would not be permitted as a new structure under the terms of this code because such structure is not in conformance with the yard, height, lot coverage, or open space requirements of the zone in which it is located.
11. "Nonconforming use"
means a utilization of land or structures or both, legally established prior to the effective date of this code, which would not be permitted as a new use in the zone in which it is located under the terms of this code.
12. "Notify"
means to inform by hand delivery or certified mail, email, or purpose-made software (except where otherwise specified) the applicant, their authorized agent or representative or the community development director.
13. "Nuisance"
means the use of property or course of conduct that interferes with the legal rights of others which causes damage, annoyance, inconvenience, or tends to injure the health, safety, or morals of the city's residents.
14. Nursery, plant
See "Plant nursery."
15. "Nursing, rest, or convalescent home"
means a private facility for the care of three or more children, aged or infirm persons, or a place of rest for those suffering bodily disorders. Such facility does not contain equipment for surgical care or for the treatment of injury. (See also "Residential care facility.")
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Occupancy"
means the physical placement of a structure on land, or the utilization of land on a temporary or permanent basis. This includes existing structures built prior to the enactment of this code that do not have authorization by virtue of a valid permit issued.
2. "Office"
means a building or portion of a building wherein services are performed involving predominantly administrative, professional, or clerical operations.
3. "Office park"
means a tract of land that has been planned, developed, and operates as an integrated facility for at least three separate office buildings and supporting ancillary uses, with special attention given to circulation, parking, aesthetics, and compatibility.
4. "Off-street parking"
means the minimum off-street, on-site parking of vehicles that shall be provided under the terms of this code.
5. "On-site"
means located on the lot in question, except in the context of on-site detention, when the term means within the boundaries of the development site as a whole.
6. "Open space or greenbelt areas"
means delineating areas required by the Growth Management Act[1] for separation of urban areas and rural areas. Open space areas also delineate the preservation of critical areas such as stream shorelines and wetlands and their buffers, steep slopes, wildlife habitat areas as new land development takes place. Open space and green belt areas and critical areas are required to be identified in the city's comprehensive plan, and mitigation measures will be required for any new development that may be proposed to take place in or near these areas.
[1]
Editor's Note: See RCW 36.70A.010 et seq.
7. "Open space, common"
means an area within or related to a development, not in individually owned lots or dedicated for public use, but that is designed and intended for the common use and enjoyment of the residents of a development or for the preservation of critical areas per the city's comprehensive plan and the requirements of the Growth Management Act.
8. Open storage
See "Storage, open."
9. "Ordinary high water mark"
means the mark on all lakes and streams that will be found by examining the beds 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 and vegetation, as that condition exists on the effective date of this title, or as it may naturally change thereafter. In any area where the ordinary high water mark cannot be found, the ordinary high water mark shall be the line of mean higher high tide in areas adjoining saltwater, and the line of mean high water in areas adjoining freshwater.
10. "Ordinary residential improvements"
means those structures and facilities which are commonly found with and are incidental to the development and use of a single-family residence and are located landward of the ordinary high water mark, including, but not limited to, garages, decks, driveways and serving utility systems.
11. "Outdoor encampment"
means any temporary tent or structure encampment, or both.
12. "Outdoor recreation facility"
means any number of places with or without buildings where physical recreation is made available; examples include golf courses, driving ranges, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, other sports fields, skateboard parks, walkways and trails, beaches, picnic areas, dog parks, Frisbee golf courses, sports stadiums, fishing areas, boating facilities, bicycling facilities, swimming pools and water parks, etc.
13. "Outdoor sales"
means the selling of any goods, material, merchandise, or vehicles for more than 24 consecutive hours, in an area open to the sky and/or visible from adjacent properties or rights-of-way. The display of said goods, material, merchandise, or vehicle shall, for the purpose of this code, constitute a sale.
14. Outpatient clinic
See "Clinic."
15. "Overlay zone"
means a zoning district within which certain uses of land and buildings are permitted and certain uses are prohibited; the certain uses of land and buildings that are permitted may also be permitted or conditional uses as specifically listed in other zones, although in some cases additional requirements beyond that required by the other zone may be imposed for the overlay zone uses.
16. "Owner-occupied"
means the property owner is the principal occupant of a dwelling unit.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Parcel"
means a continuous quantity of land in the possession of or owned by, or recorded as the property of, the same person or persons. A parcel may be differentiated from a lot, particularly for tax purposes. (See also "Lot.")
2. "Park, public"
means an area that may be improved for the purpose of providing public access in a manner consistent with the preservation of its recreational, educational, cultural, historical, or aesthetic qualities.
3. "Parking lot"
means an off-street facility used for the storage or parking of four or more motor vehicles to provide an accessory service to a commercial, industrial, public or residential use on an open-air grass, gravel, or paved surface.
4. "Parking space"
means an area of not less than 8 1/2 feet wide by 18 feet long, for each automobile or motor vehicle, such space being exclusive of necessary driving aisles, entrances, or exits, and being fully accessible for the storage or parking of permitted vehicles.
5. "Parking structure or garage"
means a stand-alone structure used for the storage or parking of motor vehicles. The footprint of a parking structure will be included in the calculation of lot coverage.
6. "Performance guarantee"
means a financial device to insure that all improvements, facilities, or work required by this zoning code will be completed in compliance with the approved plans and specifications of a development.
7. "Permanent supportive housing" (or "PSH")a. b. c. d.
is 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;
Enable a person to retain their housing and be a successful tenant in a housing arrangement;
Improve the resident's health status; or
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 and RCW 36.70A.030(31). |
8. "Permit"
means any license, certificate, approval, or other entitlement for use granted by any public agency.
9. "Person"
means any individual, organization, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity, including any utility, the City of Sultan, the government of Snohomish County or the State of Washington, the government of the United States, any department, agency, board, authority, or commission of such governments, and any officer or governing or managing body of any of the foregoing.
10. "Personal service"
means beauty parlors, shops or salons; barbershops; weight reducing studios; fitness centers; health spas; business establishments that provide electrolysis; manicures; massage therapy; and similar services for individuals.
11. "Petroleum product storage facility"
means an establishment that is used or intended for the storage of petroleum products for wholesale distribution. The facilities may be above-ground or underground storage tanks.
12. "Physical or natural sciences"
means one of the sciences dealing with inanimate matter or natural resources. For the purposes of this code, this term shall include, but not be limited to, foresters, geographers, ecologists, biologists, wildlife biologists, fisheries biologists, geologists, engineers, architects, landscape architects, soil scientists, horticulturists and agronomists.
13. "Planning board"
means the planning board established by Chapter 2.19 SMC as an advisory planning agency for the City of Sultan in accordance with RCW 35A.63.020.
14. "Plant communities"
means a natural association of plants that are dominated by one or more prominent species.
15. "Plant nursery"
means an enterprise, establishment, or portion thereof that conducts the retailing or wholesaling of plants grown on the site, as well as accessory items (but not farm implements) directly related to plant care and maintenance. The accessory items normally sold include items such as clay pots, potting soil, fertilizers, insecticides, hanging baskets, rakes, and shovels.
16. "Plat"
means a map indicating boundaries or property lines of subdivided lots as addressed in SMC Title 19.
17. "Plat, final"
means that map, plan, or layout of a subdivision of land as addressed in SMC Title 19.
18. "Plat, preliminary"
means an approximate drawing showing the layout of a proposed subdivision as addressed in SMC Title 19.
19. "Plot"
means a parcel of ground containing more than one lot upon which a building and its accessory buildings have been or may be erected. (See also "Parcel.")
20. "Potable water"
means water that is intended for drinking, cooking, or domestic purposes, subject to compliance with state or federal drinking water standards.
21. "Poverty-stricken area"
means a building or area that is deteriorating, hazardous, unsanitary, or lacking in standard facilities, including electricity, potable water and sanitary sewerage facilities. (See also "Blight.")
22. "Premises"
means land and all buildings and structures thereon a single lot.
23. "Preschool facility"
means an educational center or establishment, including a kindergarten, that provides primarily instruction, supplemented by daytime care, for four or more children between the ages of two and five years, and which operates on a regular basis.
24. "Preserve areas"
means areas restricted from land disturbing activities for the protection and preservation of natural or cultural resources.
25. "Primary association"
means a habitat area by critical species for rearing young, roosting, feeding, or foraging on a regular basis during the appropriate season.
26. Principal building
See "Building, principal or main."
27. Principal use
See "Use, principal."
29. "Private clubs"
means organizations that are privately owned and operated by their members and not operated for profit, and which maintain recreational, dining, and/or athletic facilities for the exclusive use of the members and their guests and uses accessory or incidental thereto.
30. Private garage
See "Garage, private."
31. "Private parking"
means parking facilities for the noncommercial use of the occupant and guests of the occupant, which includes garages and carports as long as dimensional requirements of off-street parking are met.
32. "Private road"
means that easement or parcel created to provide the access from a city road to short platted lots, the maintenance of which is to be the responsibility of the lot owners.
33. "Professional office"
means the office of a person engaged in any occupation, vocation, or calling, not purely commercial, mechanical, or agricultural, in which a professed knowledge or skill in some department of science or learning is used by its practical application to the affairs of others, either advising or guiding them in serving their interest or welfare through the practice of an art founded thereon.
34. "Professional service"
means the conduct of business in any of the following related categories: advertising, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, planning, law, medicine, music, art, interior design, dentistry, accounting, insurance, real estate, finance and securities investments, and any similar type business. (See also "Business service.")
35. "Project permit" or "project permit application"
means any land use or environmental permit or license required from the City of Sultan 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 area ordinances, site-specific rezones which do not require a comprehensive plan amendment.
36. "Public agency"
means the government of the United States, the government of the State of Washington, Snohomish County, the City of Sultan, or any department, agency, board, authority, or commission of these governments, and any officer or governing or managing body of any of the foregoing.
37. "Public assembly, place of"
means any area, building or structure where large numbers of individuals meet or collect to participate or to observe programs of participation. Places of public assembly shall include theaters, auditoriums, gymnasiums, stadiums, houses of worship, or comparable facilities.
38. "Public building"
means any building held, used, or controlled exclusively for public purposes by any department or branch of government without reference to the ownership of the building or of the realty upon which it is situated.
39. Public garage
See "Garage, public."
40. "Public improvement"
means any improvement, facility, or service, together with customary improvements and appurtenances thereto, necessary to provide for public needs such as vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems, storm sewers, flood control improvements, water supply and distribution facilities, sanitary sewage disposal and treatment, public utility, and energy services.
41. "Public notice"
means the legal advertisement given of an action or proposed action of the City of Sultan or its designee.
42. "Public use"
means the use of any land, water, or building by a public agency for the general public, or by the public itself.
43. "Public utility"
means any person, firm, corporation, governmental department, or board duly authorized to furnish under government regulations to the public electricity, gas, communications, transportation, or water.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Quarrying and associated activities"
means operations that primarily involve surface mining or quarrying of nonmetallic minerals such as dimension stone, crushed and broken stone, including riprap, and sand and gravel pits. Primary preparation plants of quarried material for construction and other special uses are also included in this definition.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Ramps"
means structures (usually paved surfaces) that facilitate the placement into or removal from the water of small boats capable of being carried on a trailer which is pulled by another vehicle.
2. "Recovery home"
means a single-family dwelling occupied by people recovering from substance addictions or addictive behaviors; the residents may be under supervision but are operating as a family household. (See also "Group home" and "Family.")
3. "Recreation areas or facilities"
means any privately or publicly owned passive or active park, playground, sports field, access easement, beach, or other recreation area. All recreation areas, facilities, and equipment provided and constructed shall meet the minimum requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Guidelines for Public Playgrounds and the American Society for Testing and Materials F1487.
4. "Recreational vehicle"
means a vehicular-type unit primarily designed for recreational, camping, or travel use, that has either its own motive power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. The basic types of recreational vehicles include, but are not limited to, travel trailer, camping trailers, truck campers, motor homes, boats, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), motorcycles and jet skis.
5. "Recreation vehicle park"
means land under unified control and single ownership designed and improved to accommodate the temporary parking of two or more recreation vehicles. The term shall include campgrounds when designed to accommodate travel trailers, but does not include land zoned and used for the display or sale of travel trailers. For the purpose of this definition, "temporary parking" shall mean placement of a recreation vehicle on a single site for 180 days or less in any 12-month period.
6. "Related project"
means any project that is existing, under construction, or for which permits have been sought; an impact or impact of which may add to or change an impact or impacts of a development proposal under consideration. A related project need not be owned or operated or operated in common with the development proposal under consideration.
7. "Religious organization"
means the federally protected practice of a recognized religious assembly, school, or institution that owns or controls real property.
8. "Remediation"
means the cleanup and restoration of groundwater to some acceptable level.
9. "Requirements (water quality)"
means a set of predetermined distances (setbacks), design criteria and materials, and other groundwater protection measures such as disallowing the use of drywells, etc.
11. "Residential care facility"
means a facility that provides both a residence (for varying periods of time) and a care component. Among such facilities are group care facilities, emergency or homeless shelters (including victims of violence or domestic abuse), permanent supportive housing, recovery homes, and nursing homes/rest/convalescent homes, and orphanages. In such a facility service, equipment, and safety features necessary for the proper care of residents is normally provided. Such services may include:
12. "Residential use"
means use of land or structure thereon, or portion thereof, as a dwelling place for one or more families or households, but not including occupancy of a transient nature such as in hotels, motels, or time-sharing condominium uses.
13. "Resort"
means a hotel that serves as a destination point for visitors. A resort generally provides recreational facilities for paying guests on vacation. A resort shall be self-contained and provide personal services customarily furnished at hotels, including the serving of meals.
15. Restaurant
See "Retail food establishment."
16. "Retail food establishment"a. i. ii. iii. iv. b. i. ii. iii. iv. c. i. ii. iii. iv. v. d. i. ii. iii. iv. e.
means any fixed or mobile place or facility at or in which food or beverages are offered or prepared for retail sale or for service. The definition includes restaurants, fast food restaurants, carry-out restaurants, drive-in restaurants, and catering services as follows. A cafeteria that is open to the general public and is not associated with a school, hospital, or other similar public or quasi-public institution shall be deemed a restaurant for purposes of this title.
"Restaurant" means an establishment whose primary business is the sale of food and beverages to patrons for consumption on the premises and whose method of operation includes any of the following:
Patrons place their order at their table from which displays (menus) describe the food and beverage available to them.
Preparation, service and consumption of food and beverages takes place within a completely enclosed building, accommodating at least 50% of the establishment's permitted seating capacity.
Outside table dining is permitted in areas permanently designated for such use, and shall not exceed 50% of the establishment's permitted seating capacity, shall be in keeping with the exterior architectural theme of the building, and in no way shall permit the consumption of food or beverages within automobiles.
Food and beverages are regularly served to patrons while seated at their table by an employee of the establishment.
"Fast food restaurant" means any establishment whose principal business is sale of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages to the customer in a ready-to-consume state for consumption either within the restaurant building or for carry-out with consumption off the premises, and whose design or principal method of operation includes any of the following characteristics:
Food and beverages are ordered from a limited menu posted in sign form within the primary food service building or on the premises.
Foods, frozen desserts, or beverages are usually served in edible containers or in paper, plastic, or other disposable containers.
The consumption of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages within a motor vehicle parked upon the premises, or at other facilities on the premises outside the restaurant building, is posted as being prohibited and such prohibition is strictly enforced by the restaurateur.
The kitchen is in excess of 50% of the total floor area.
"Drive-in restaurant" means any establishment where provision is made on the premises for the sale of foods, frozen desserts or beverages to the consumer in automobiles or primarily within a completely enclosed building accommodating at least 90% of the establishment's permitted seating capacity and whose design, method of operation, or any portion of whose business includes any of the following characteristics:
Food and beverages are ordered from a limited menu posted in sign form within the primary food service building or on the premises.
Foods, frozen desserts, or beverages may be served directly to the customer in a motor vehicle by any means that eliminates the need for the customer to exit the motor vehicle.
The consumption of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages within a motor vehicle parked upon the premises, or at other facilities on the premises outside the restaurant building, is permitted.
The kitchen is in excess of 50% of the total floor area.
A restaurant that provides drive-in facilities of any kind in connection with regular restaurant activities shall be deemed a drive-in restaurant for purposes of this title.
"Carry-out restaurant" means any establishment whose principal business is the sale of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages to the customer in a ready-to-consume state, and whose design or method of operation includes any of the following characteristics:
Food and beverages are ordered from a limited menu posted in sign form within the primary food service building or on the premises.
Foods, frozen desserts, or beverages are usually served in edible containers or in paper, plastic, or other disposable containers.
The consumption of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages within a motor vehicle parked upon the premises, or at other facilities on the premises outside the restaurant building, is posted as being prohibited and such prohibition is strictly enforced by the restaurateur.
The kitchen is in excess of 50% of the total floor area.
"Catering service" means any establishment whose principal business is the sale and delivery of food, beverages, and services to the customer in a ready-to-consume or near ready-to-consume state. Catering services may operate as a home occupation. Hotel food service operations and restaurants may operate catering services in conjunction with the hotel and restaurant uses.
17. "Retail sales area"
means the area in square feet devoted exclusively for the sale or display of goods or commodities.
18. "Retail trade"
means establishments primarily engaged in providing finished products to individual consumers. Retail trade establishments may include, but are not limited to, apparel, books, groceries, camera shops, convenience stores and automobile service stations.
19. "Retirement home"
means a place of residence for several families or individuals in apartment-like quarters, which may feature services such as limited nursing facilities, minimum maintenance living accommodations and recreation programs and facilities.
20. "Right-of-way"
means a street, alley, or other thoroughfare or easement, whether physically accessible or not, that has been permanently established or dedicated for the passage of persons or vehicles. Title to this land remains with the public or private agency until the need no longer exists.
21. "Riparian wetlands"
means those wetlands that:
22. "Road, private"
means an easement or parcel created to provide access from a right-of-way to a lot, the maintenance of which shall be the responsibility of the lot owners having access thereto.
24. Rooming house
See "Lodging house."
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh.Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Safe parking areas"
means an area provides designated, off-street parking for people experiencing homelessness or those needing temporary, secure parking. They often include amenities like restrooms, showers, and access to services like case management and resource referral.
2. "Salmonid"
means a member of the fish family Salmonidae including chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, and pink salmon; rainbow, steelhead, sea run cutthroat, cutthroat trout, brown and bull trout; brook and Dolly Varden char; kokanee and whitefish.
3. Sanitarium
See "Hospital."
4. "Scenic corridor"
means any strip of land adjacent to public roadways that is visible to the motoring public and has natural aesthetic significance.
5. "Scenic easement"
means an easement, the purpose of which is to limit development or protect a view or scenic area.
7. "School, elementary"
means any school, public or private, intended for the education of children from kindergarten through the fifth grade.
8. "School, high"
means any school, public or private, intended for the education of children from the ninth through the twelfth grade.
9. "School, middle"
means any school, public or private, intended for the education of children from the sixth through eighth grade.
10. "Schools, other"
means places for systematic instruction, to include college, trade, vocational/technical, art, music, dance, and business schools or similar type educational institutions.
11. "Screening"
means a device or materials used to conceal adjacent land or development. Screening may include walls, berms, or vegetation that must be of sufficient density to block the view of adjacent land or development from either side of the screen. The screen, if vegetative, shall be planted and maintained to completely block the view of adjacent land or development after 12 months. The screen shall be maintained or constructed at such a density as to block the view to adjacent properties.
12. "Seasonal parking facility"
means a parking lot not employed for the regular needs of a business but used for a community celebration or festival, a fair, or other seasonal activity. It includes specifically a parking lot to provide parking and shuttle service to an athletic event, or for recreational activity such as skiing, rafting or fishing. To be a seasonal parking facility a parking lot may not be used for the permitted activity more than 30 days in a calendar year.
13. "Seating capacity"
means the actual number of people that can be accommodated in an area based upon the number of seats, or one seat per 20 inches of bench or pew length. For other areas where seats are not fixed, the seating capacity shall be determined by the building codes of the City of Sultan.
14. Self-service laundry
See "Laundromat."
15. "Setback"
means the horizontal distance between the front line, sideline, or rear line of the building site to the front, side, or rear of the building or structure, respectively. Setbacks shall be measured perpendicular to and parallel with property or right-of-way lines. Where any building or structure is not built parallel to any property line, the setback distance shall be measured perpendicular from that part of the building or structure which is closest to the relevant property line. The front, rear and side yard setbacks established for the various uses in the different zoning districts in this code are the lines beyond which no part of a building may project, except as may be otherwise provided in this code.
16. Shallow flooding, area of
See "Area of shallow flooding."
17. "Shopping center"
means a group of architecturally unified commercial establishments built on a site that is planned, developed, owned, and managed as an operating unit related in its location, size and type of shops to the trade area which the unit serves.
18. "Short plat"
means the map or representation of a short subdivision as addressed in SMC Title 19.
19. "Short subdivision"
means the division or redivision of land as addressed in SMC Title 19.
20. "Short-term rental"
means a lodging use, that is not a hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast, in which a dwelling unit, or portion of a dwelling unit, is offered or provided to a guest by a short-term rental operator for a fee for fewer than 30 consecutive nights.
Short-term rentals do not include rental units operated by an organization or government entity that is registered as a charitable organization with the secretary of state, State of Washington, or is classified by the federal internal revenue service as a public charity or a private foundation, and provides temporary housing to individuals who are being treated for trauma, injury, or disease, or their family members. |
Bed and breakfast inns are not short-term rentals for the purposes of this code. |
Air B&Bs are short-term rentals unless the owner operates the rental and occupies the unit, portion of the unit, or a unit on the same property for at least nine months of every year. |
21. "Sidewalk"
means that portion of a transition strip improved for pedestrian traffic in accordance with standards fixed by the city engineer. "Transition strip" means that portion of the public street abutting a tract of land lying between the traveled portion of the street and the property lines.
22. "Sight clearance triangle"
means an area at the intersection of streets, alleys, and driveways that must be kept free and clear of visual obstructions which impair the safety of pedestrians and moving vehicles traveling through such intersections. (See also SMC § 16.58.230 and Figure 16.58-1.)
23. "Sign"
means anything whatsoever placed, erected, constructed, posted, or affixed in any manner on the ground or to any post, fence, building, or structure for out-of-doors advertising, but not including devices, structures or representations installed by any governmental authority.
24. "Sign, business"
means a sign that directs attention to a business, commodity, service or activity conducted or offered upon the premises where the sign is located.
25. "Sign face"
means the portion of a sign that is or may be used for copy.
26. "Sign, flag or banner"
means any sign made of materials that move in the wind and thereby draw attention to a business or event.
27. "Sign, gross area"
shall be the entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of such a sign. However, such perimeter shall not include any structural elements lying outside the limits of such a sign and not forming an integral part of the display.
28. "Sign, ground"
means a sign supported by uprights or braces placed on or in the ground and not attached in any manner to a building or structure.
29. "Sign, group"
means a sign or signs on one sign structure serving two or more businesses sharing a parking facility.
30. "Sign, identification"
means a sign on the premises bearing the name of a residential development, the name of a group housing project or of a school, college, park, church or other public or quasi-public facility, or a professional or firm nameplate, and bearing information identifying, but not describing occupancy of the premises on which such sign is located.
31. "Sign, marquee"
means a sign that projects from the building, usually over the sidewalk, on a building canopy and that is most commonly used with many lights to display cinema showings and theater performances. See also "Canopy" and "Marquee."
32. "Sign, occupancy"
means a sign on the premises bearing the name or address of the piece of property, the name of the owner or resident, and/or any permitted home occupation, and bearing information pertaining only to the premises on which such sign is located.
33. "Sign, outdoor advertising"
means any card, cloth, paper, metal, painted, glass, wooden, plaster, stone, or other sign of any kind or character, placed for outdoor advertising purposes on the ground or on any tree, wall, rock, post, fence, bush, building, structure, or thing whatsoever. The term "placed" as used in the definition of "outdoor advertising sign" and "outdoor advertising structure" shall include erecting, constructing, posting, painting, printing, tacking, nailing, gluing, sticking, carving, or other fastening, affixing, or making visible in any manner.
34. "Sign, projecting"
means a sign other than a wall sign that is attached to and projects from a building.
35. "Sign structure"
means any construction used or designated to support a sign.
36. "Significant natural area"
means land and/or water areas of major environmental value, including fish or wildlife habitat areas, valuable biological or natural productivity areas, and unique or fragile ecological units or ecosystems that require special treatment and protection.
37. "Single-family dwelling.
See "Dwelling, single-family."
38. "Single owner"
means a person who or entity which alone has legal or equitable title to any property in question.
39. "Site plan"
means a graphic and textual presentation of a development proposal in accordance with the appropriate sections of this zoning code.
40. "Slaughterhouse"
means an establishment where animals are butchered for market.
41. "Sleeping units"
means an independently rented unit within co-living housing. Sleeping units are different from dwelling units and are subject to different density and parking standards within this code. Sleeping units must still comply with all requirements for habitable space within the International Building Code. The maximum permitted density for sleeping units within a co-living housing development is calculated as one sleeping unit for every 0.25 dwelling units permitted. These standards are based on the requirements of RCW 36.70.535.
42. "Small animal husbandry (commercial)"
means the raising of mink, fox, nutria, rabbits, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, guinea hens and similar small animals and fowl not for the primary consumption of or used by the occupants of the premises. (See "Agricultural use.")
43. "Small animal husbandry (noncommercial)"
means the raising of small animals for the primary consumption of or used by the occupants of the premises. (See also "Agricultural use.")
45. "Soil removal"
means removal of any kind of soil or earth matter, including top soil, sand, gravel, clay, rock or similar materials or combination thereof, except common household gardening.
46. "Sole source aquifer"
means an area so designated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
47. Special flood hazard, area of
See "Area of special flood hazard."
48. "Spill"
means the unpermitted release or escape of a regulated substance directly or indirectly to soils, surface waters, or groundwaters.
49. "Standards (groundwater)"
means standards established by EPA regulations and/or State of Washington regulations, which are represented by health-based numbers such as the maximum contaminant levels (MCL).
50. "STEP housing"
collectively refers to emergency shelter, transitional housing, emergency housing, and permanent supportive housing.
51. "Storage, open"
means the safekeeping of any goods or products in an unoccupied space, open to the sky, for eventual removal not expected within 72 hours or for continuous replacement by same or similar goods or products.
52. "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% 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 a story.
53. "Story, first"
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% of the total perimeter, or not more than eight feet below grade, as defined herein, at any point.
54. "Stream"
means those areas where naturally occurring surface waters flow sufficiently to produce a defined channel or bed which demonstrates clear evidence of the passage of water, including, but not limited to, bedrock channels, gravel beds, sand and silt beds and defined-channel swales. The channel or bed need not contain water during the entire year. This definition does not include watercourses which were created entirely by artificial means, such as irrigation ditches, canals, roadside ditches or storm or surface water runoff features, unless the artificially created watercourse contains salmonids or conveys a stream that was naturally occurring prior to the construction of the artificially created watercourse.
55. Street intersection
See "Intersection."
56. "Street line"
means the dividing line between any street, road or other thoroughfare and the adjacent lots.
57. "Street, public"
means a street affording the principal means of access to abutting property, and dedicated to or maintained by the City of Sultan, Snohomish County, or the State of Washington, affording the principal means of access to abutting property and with a right-of-way or easement.
58. "Structural alteration"
means any material or dimensional changes in the structural elements of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams, and roofs.
59. "Structural trim"
means the molding, battens, capping, nailing strips, latticing, and platforms that are attached to a sign structure.
60. "Structure"
means anything constructed or erected that requires permanent location on the ground or attachment to something having location. A building is always a structure; a structure may or may not be a building. (For the purposes of this code, the term "structure" shall not be construed to include any roadway, driveway, at-grade paved parking lots, parking garages, patio or courtyard, or any other paved surface, or swimming pool.)
61. "Subordinate"
means incidental to and less than half the size in building floor area square footage as the principal use.
63. "Substantial expenditure"
With regard to projects that have been approved for development under the terms of this code, "substantial expenditure" shall constitute at least 10% of the total expected cost to complete the project as it was approved. The total expected cost shall be derived from the cost figures used in the application for the building permit for the project, less the cost of the land.
64. "Substantial improvement"
means any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration, or improvements to a structure taking place during the life of a structure, in which the cumulative cost equals or exceeds 50% of the assessed value of the structure, or, in the case of a legal nonconforming use, where the cumulative costs equal or exceed 50% of the assessed value of the structure. For the purposes of this definition, "substantial improvement" is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure.
65. "Surface water"
means waters that flow over the land surface and frequently interact with groundwater.
66. "Swimming pool"
means any in-ground or above-ground structure designed for swimming, wading or other aquatic recreational purposes and may be located either inside a building or outdoors.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1414- 24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Tattoo parlor"
means an establishment that provides the services to create an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the surface of the body by the insertion of pigment under the skin with practitioners certified and licensed by the State of Washington.
2. "Tavern"
means a building where beer and/or wine is served to the public, which holds a tavern license from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board as defined by RCW 66.24.330 and WAC 314-02-070.
3. "Technical review"
means that review meeting conducted by the director(s) or the zoning administrator with the applicant and other personnel, when all reports, studies and other information are completed to inform the applicant of mitigation measures with which he or she may have to comply to receive preliminary plat approval.
4. "Temporary building or structure"
means a building or structure not having or requiring permanent attachment to the ground or to other structures which have no required permanent attachment to the ground.
5. "Temporary tiny house encampment"
means a collection of small, portable structures (like tiny houses) that are used for temporary housing, are not permanently affixed to the land, and do not utilize underground utilities.
6. "Theater"
means a building or part of a building, devoted to showing motion pictures, or for dramatic, musical, or live performances.
7. "Tiny houses"
including tiny houses on wheels, are defined as dwellings to be used as permanent housing with permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation built in accordance with the state building code.
8. "Toe of slope"
means a point or line of slope in an excavation or cut where the lower surface changes to horizontal or meets the exiting ground slope.
9. "Top of slope"
means a point or line on the upper surface of a slope where it changes to horizontal or meets the original surface.
10. "Topography"
means the drawing accurately on a map, lines that represent particular and consistent elevation levels on the land area depicted on said drawing; also, the actual physical surface's relief characteristics.
11. "Tour bus lot"
means a paved parking area provided at hotels, various shopping areas, and tourist attractions for the accommodation of tour buses. Each parking space for a tour bus shall be 12 feet wide and 50 feet long, with appropriate additional space to accommodate all turning and maneuvering needs in a safe and efficient manner. A tour bus lot shall not be construed to include the overnight parking and/or storage for these vehicles, nor shall this definition include the cleaning or maintenance area for tour buses.
12. "Tower"
means any structure whose principal function is to support an antenna, or has been built to store water or to provide air traffic control services, or is used in the recreational activity known as "bungee jumping."
13. "Towing yard"
means a secured place where motor vehicles registered with the State of Washington are taken for storage when they have been damaged or in some other way are temporarily inoperable and/or have been impounded.
14. "Townhouse"
means a dwelling unit designed for occupancy by one family, no portion of which lies vertically under or over any portion of an adjacent unit unless the other unit is an ADU, is two or more stories, and which is attached to one or more other dwelling units by common walls which may be located on side lot lines with zero side yard setbacks between adjoining townhouses.
15. "Tract"
is used interchangeably with the term "lot," or "block" particularly in the context of subdivisions, where one "tract" may be subdivided into several lots or blocks.
16. "Trailer"
means a separate vehicle, not driven or propelled by its own power, but drawn by some independent power; to include any portable or movable structure or vehicle including trailers designed for living quarters, offices, storage, or for moving or hauling freight, equipment, animals, or merchandise of any kind, including boats, boat trailers, jet skis, half-tracks, snowmobiles, and the like.
17. "Transitional housing"
means a project that provides housing and supportive services to homeless persons or families and that has as its purpose facilitating the movement of homeless persons and families into independent living, generally in less than two years.
18. "Travel trailer"
means a vehicle with or without motor power primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use, and in which the plumbing, heating, and electrical systems contained therein may be operated without connection to outside utilities, being of such size or weight as not to require a special highway movement permit. The term shall include recreational vehicles, motor homes, and truck campers.
20. "Trip end"
means the origin or destination of a trip. Each trip has two ends that constitute a two direction vehicle movement at the origin or destination of the trip.
21. "Trip generation"
means the total number of trip ends produced by a specific land use or activity.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1414-24 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Unit lot subdivision"
means the division of a parent lot into two or more unit lots within a development and approved through the unit lot subdivision process, as required by RCW 58.17.060.
2. "Unstable slopes"
means those sloping areas of land which have in the past exhibited, are currently exhibiting, or will likely in the future exhibit, mass movement of earth and which can be classified by the degree of steepness of a sloping area. See also "Natural hazards."
3. "Use"
means the purpose that land or structures now serve or for which it is occupied, maintained, arranged, designed or intended.
4. Use, accessory
See "Accessory use."
5. Use, agricultural
See "Agricultural use."
6. Use, commercial
See "Commercial use."
7. Use, nonconforming
See "Nonconforming use."
8. "Use, principal"
means the main use of land or buildings as distinguished from a subordinate or accessory use.
9. "Use, temporary"
means a use established for a fixed period of time with the intent to discontinue such use upon the expiration of such time. Such uses do not involve the construction or alteration of any permanent structure.
10. "Utilities easements"
means rights-of-way that may be used by public utilities, including, but not limited to, electricity, water, natural gas, sewer, telephone, and television cable for the construction, operation, maintenance, alteration, and repair of their respective facilities.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Variance"
means a modification of the terms of the zoning code to a particular piece of property which, because of special circumstances, is deprived of privileges enjoyed by other properties of the same zone and which modification remedies the disparity in privileges.
2. "Vehicle"
means any self-propelled conveyance designed for and used for the purpose of transporting or moving persons, animals, freight, merchandise, or any substance, and shall include passenger cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, scooters, and recreational vehicles.
3. "Vehicular use area"
means that portion of a lot that is used by vehicles for access, circulation, parking, and loading and unloading. It comprises the total of internal traffic circulation areas, loading and unloading areas, and parking areas.
4. "Veterinary hospital or clinic"
means a building used to provide health care services to animals.
5. "Video sales and rental"
means commercial establishments engaged in the sale and rental of video equipment, tapes and accessories for home entertainment.
6. "Vulnerability"
means the degree to which groundwater may become contaminated depending on the local hydrogeologic characteristics and amounts of potential groundwater contaminants present.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. Wall, breakaway
See "Breakaway wall."
2. "Warehouse"
means a building used primarily for the storage of goods and materials.
3. "Water body"
means surface waters including rivers, streams, lakes, marine waters, estuaries, and wetlands.
4. "Water park"
means a commercial recreational facility that contains a variety of water-oriented activities such as, but not limited to, water slides and swimming pools. Such facilities may be found in association with a larger recreational activity.
5. "Water table"
means the surface between the vadose zone and the groundwater, that is the surface of a body of unconfined groundwater at which the pressure is equal to that of the atmosphere.
6. "Watercourse"
means a channel, natural or manmade, through which water flows either continuously or intermittently.
7. "Watershed"
means a geographic region within which water drains into a particular river, stream, or body of water as identified and numbered by the State of Washington Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs) as defined in Chapter 173-500 WAC.
8. "Wetland class"
means any of the wetland class designations described in Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States (Cowardin et al. 1979). Cowardin's deep water and wetland classes include: rock bottom, unconsolidated bottom, aquatic bed, reef, rocky shore, unconsolidated shore, emergent wetland, scrub-shrub wetland, forested wetland, stream-bed and moss-lichen wetland.
9. "Wetlands"
means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands include, but are not limited to, swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas, as well as artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas to mitigate for conversion of wetlands, as permitted by the county. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined or biofiltering swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds and landscaping amenities.
10. "Wholesale (trade)"
means the sale of goods or commodities usually in bulk or large quantities and usually at a lower cost to a retailer for resale. Such sales activity takes place in establishments or places of business primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, or professional business users; or to other wholesalers, or acting as agents or brokers and buying merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such individuals or companies.
11. "Working days,"
within the framework of the zoning code, the term "working days" is used as the unit of measure by which either the applicant/developer or a City of Sultan agency must complete a specified action. "Working days" refer to all days of the week, except Saturdays, Sundays, all official City of Sultan holidays, as opposed to calendar days that refer of all days in a week, month, or year.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
Reserved.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Yard"
means an open space of generally uniform width or depth on the same land with a building or group of buildings, which open space lies between the building or group of buildings and the nearest lot line and is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided herein.
2. "Yard, front"
means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying between any front line of the lot and the nearest line of the principal building.
3. "Yard, rear"
means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the rear line of the lot and the nearest line of the principal building.
4. "Yard, side"
means a yard between the side line of the lot and the nearest line of the principal building and extending from the front yard to the rear yard, or, in the absence of either of such yards, to the front or rear lot line, as the case may be.
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)
1. "Zone"
means an area within which certain uses of land and buildings are permitted and certain others are prohibited; yards and other open spaces are required; lot areas, building height limits, and other requirements are established. (See also "District, zoning.")
2. "Zoning administrator"
means the community development director.
3. Zoning district
See "District, zoning."
(Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 1418-25, 7/24/2025)