These regulations were made in accordance with
a Comprehensive Plan and were designed to lessen congestion in the
streets; to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers; to promote
health and the general welfare; to provide adequate light and air;
to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration
of population; to facilitate the adequate provisions of transportation,
water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements. These
regulations were made with reasonable consideration as to the characters
of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses and
with a view to conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the
most appropriate use of land throughout the municipality.
From and after the effective date of this chapter,
the use of all land and every building or portion of a building erected,
altered with respect to height and area, added to or relocated and
every use within a building or use accessory thereto, in the Town
of Elsmere shall be in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
Any existing building or structure and any existing use of a building
or land not in conformity with the regulations herein prescribed shall
be regarded as nonconforming but may be continued, extended or changed
subject to the special regulations herein provided with respect to
nonconforming buildings or uses.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Art. VI, Nonconforming
Uses.
In interpreting and applying the provisions
of this chapter, they shall be held to be the minimum requirements
for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience
and general welfare. Where the provisions of this chapter impose greater
restrictions than those of any law, other ordinance or regulation,
the provisions of this chapter shall be controlling. Where the provisions
of any law, other ordinance or regulation impose greater restrictions
than this chapter, the provisions of such law, other ordinance or
regulation shall be controlling, provided that in all cases arising
within the Floodplain District the laws and ordinances concerning
land use and control and other measures designed to reduce flood losses
shall take precedence over any conflicting law, ordinance or code.
These regulations and the accompanying map shall
be known and may be cited as the "Town of Elsmere Zoning Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words and phrases shall be construed throughout this chapter to have
the meanings herein indicated:
A building subordinate to the main building on a lot and
used for purposes customarily incidental to those of the main building.
A use subordinate to the main use of land or of a building
on a lot and customarily incidental thereto.
An area of land which includes 43,560 square feet.
A commercial establishment which as its primary business
purpose offers for sale or rental for any form of consideration any
one or more of the following:
Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed
matter or photographs, films, motion pictures, videocassettes or video
reproductions, slides or other visual representations which depict
or describe specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas;
or
Instruments, devices or paraphernalia which
are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities.
An enclosed building used for presenting material distinguished
or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or
relating to specified anatomical areas (as defined below) for observation
by patrons therein.
As applied to a building or a structure, a change or rearrangement
in the structural parts in the existing facilities or an enlargement
whether by extension of a side or by increasing in height or by moves
from one location or position to another.
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year.
A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its
clear ceiling height above the average level of the adjoining ground.
In the Floodplain District, any area of the building having
its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
Any sign used to identify or advertise the product made or
the activity being pursued by any individual business, service, commercial
or industrial enterprise and for the purpose of apprising the public
of the location of such enterprise and/or the type of activity in
which it is engaged.
A noticeable imperfection that impairs appearance.
[Added 3-13-2008 by Ord. No. 488]
The officially established Board of Adjustment of the Town
of Elsmere.
A zone lying between two others, designed to separate the
two. The buffer zone shall have no other use.
The aggregate of the maximum horizontal cross-section areas,
excluding cornices, eaves and gutters, of all buildings on a lot.
The vertical dimension measured from the average elevation
of the finished lot grade at the front of the building to the highest
point of the ceiling of the top story of a flat roof, to the deckline
of a mansard roof and to the average height between the plate and
ridge of a gable, hip or gambrel roof.
The line parallel to the street line at a distance therefrom
equal to the depth of the front yard required for the district in
which the lot is located, except that in the case of a rear lot, the
building line shall be located to the rear of the rear property line
of the front lot, not less than the depth of the required front yard.
A buildings or buildings, in which is conducted the main
or principal use of the lot on which said building is situated.
A business establishment which does not offer a product or
merchandise for sale to the public but offers a service to the public.
However, personal services, such as barber- and beauty shops and repair
shops, such as radio and television repair shops, are not to be included
within the definition of business services.
A folding structure, mounted on wheels and designed for travel,
recreation and vacation use.
A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its
clear ceiling height below the average level of the adjoining ground.
A certificate issued by the Building Official upon completion
of construction, alteration or change in occupancy of a building.
Said certificate shall acknowledge compliance with all requirements
of this chapter, such adjustment thereto granted by the Board of Adjustment
and that the building was constructed in accordance with the plans
and specifications filed with the Building Official and meets all
other applicable Town regulations.
A building or group of buildings, including customary secondary
buildings, designed or intended for public worship. For the purpose
of this chapter, the word "church" shall include chapels, congregations,
cathedrals, temples and similar designations as well as rectories,
parish houses, convents and such accessory uses.
The officially established grade of the curb in front of
the midpoint of the lot or, in the absence of an officially established
curb level, the mean level of any existing curb or of the lot at the
street line.
An exterior floor system supported on at least two opposing
sides by an adjoining structure and/or posts, piers, or other independent
supports, which is located in other than a front yard, and is not
enclosed or covered.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining,
dredging, filling, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage
of equipment or materials.
To locate an item in such a manner that, without obtaining
assistance from an employee of the business establishment, it is available
to the general public for handling and inspection; or the cover or
outside package on the item is visible to members of the general public.
SINGLE-FAMILY—A building, on a lot, designed
and occupied exclusively as a residence for one family.
TWO-FAMILY—A building, on a lot, designed
and occupied exclusively as a residence for two families.
MULTIPLE— A building, on a lot, designed
and occupied exclusively as a residence for three or more families.
An assemblage of equipment for purposes other than generation
or utilization, through which electric energy in bulk is passed for
the purposes of switching or modifying its characteristics to meet
the needs of the general public, provided that in residence districts
an electric substation shall not include rotating equipment, storage
of materials, trucks or repair facilities or housing of repair crews.
A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction
of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes
are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities,
the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the
pouring of concrete pads) is completed before December 31, 1976.
One or more persons, related by blood or marriage, occupying
a dwelling unit and living as a single nonprofit housekeeping unit.
Any building used for storing agricultural equipment or farm
produce, housing livestock and poultry and processing dairy products.
The term "farm building" shall not include dwellings.
A general and temporary condition of partial
or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
The overflow of inland or tidal waters.
The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff
of surface waters from any source.
Mudslides (i.e., mudflows) which are approximately
caused by flooding as defined herein and are akin to a river of liquid
and flowing mud on the surfaces of earth which is carried by a current
of water and deposited along the path of the current.
The collapse or subsidence of land along the
shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining
caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical
levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural
body of water, accompanied by a severe storm or by an unanticipated
force of nature, such as a flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge
or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results
in flooding as defined herein.
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood
damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary
facilities, structures and their contents.
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent
land area that must be reserved to discharge the base flood without
increasing the water surface elevation of that flood more than one
foot at any point.
The sum of the horizontal areas of the floor or floors of
a building which are enclosed and usable for human occupancy. Said
areas shall be measured from the inside face of exterior walls or
from the center line of walls separating two dwelling units. Said
areas shall not include areas below the average level of the adjoining
ground, garage space or accessory building space.
A line parallel to the street, tangent only to the furthermost
projection of the building's facade.
A building or group of buildings designed to accommodate
more than one dwelling unit within a single structure and which is
designed so that the group of dwelling units utilize such common facilities
as pedestrian walks, parking and garage areas, open space, recreation
areas and utility and service facilities.
An area of 50 or more contiguous acres containing a full-size
golf links, at least nine holes totaling a minimum of 2,700 yards
from tee to green, together with such necessary and usual accessory
uses as a clubhouse, caretakers' dwellings, dining and refreshment
facilities and other such uses, provided that the operation of such
facilities is incidental and subordinate to the operation of a golf
course.
The quality of any description or representation, in whatever
form, of nudity, sexual contact, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic
abuse which predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful or morbid
interest of minors; is patently offensive to prevailing standards
in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable
material for minors and is, when taken as a whole, lacking in serious
literary, artistic, political or scientific value for any reasonable
minor.
Any structure that is:
Listed individually in the National Register
of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of Interior)
or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting
the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;
Certified or preliminarily determined by the
Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance
of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined
by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
Individually listed on a state inventory of
historic places in states with historic preservation programs which
have been approved by the Secretary of Interior; or
Individually listed on a local inventory of
historic places in communities with historic preservation programs
that have been certified either:
An occupation or profession which:
Is carried on in a dwelling unit, building or
other structure accessory to a dwelling unit;
Is carried on by a member of the family residing
in the dwelling unit;
Is clearly incidental and secondary to the use
of the dwelling for residential purposes; and
Conforms to the following additional conditions:
The occupation or profession shall be carried
on wholly within the principal building or within a building or structure
accessory thereto and already existing on the premises.
Not more than one person outside the immediate
family is employed.
There is no exterior evidence of the home occupation
other than a nameplate sign that conforms to the Sign Ordinance.[1]
No offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust,
odors, heat or glare shall be produced.
Any area and/or structure used or intended to be used for
the conducting and operating of the business of selling, buying, storing
or trading in used or discarded metal, glass, paper, cordage or any
used or disabled fixtures, vehicles or equipment of any kind.
A parcel of land on which a main building and any accessory
buildings are or may be placed, together with the required open spaces.
The area of a lot which abuts a street shall be measured to the street
line only. In the case of a rear lot, the computed area of a lot shall
not include the accessway from the front lot line to the street.
A parcel of land at the junction of and fronting on two or
more intersecting streets.
[Amended 9-11-2014 by Ord. No. 583]
The percentage of a total lot or parcel that is:
Occupied by a structure, accessory structure, parking area,
driveway, walkway, or roadway; or
Covered with gravel, stone, shell, impermeable decking, a paver,
pavement, or any man-made material; or
The ground area covered or occupied by a stairway or impermeable
deck, even when the deck is not directly touching the ground surface;
or
Any decking material that is not attached to a dwelling is considered
lot coverage.
The horizontal distance between the side lot lines, measured
between the points on the side lot lines at which they are intersected
by the rear line of the required front yard area, said line being
the required setback line.
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement).
An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking
of vehicles, building access or storage in an area other than a basement
area, is not considered a building's lowest floor; provided that such
enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation
of the applicable nonelevation design requirements.
Any structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without
a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. For
floodplain management purposes, the term "manufactured home" also
includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles
placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days. For insurance
purposes, the term "manufactured home" does not include park trailers,
travel trailers and other similar vehicles.
Any parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two
or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
The average height of the sea for all stages of the tide.
A building or use which is designed or intended to be used
for the storage, servicing, repair, maintenance or cleaning of motor
vehicles or other automotive equipment.
The area of a lot remaining after deduction of all easements
(streets, accessways, sidewalks, etc.).
Structures for which the start of construction as herein
defined commenced on or after December 31, 1976, and includes subsequent
improvements to such structure.
A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction
of facilities for servicing the lots in which the manufactured homes
are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities,
the construction of streets and either final site grading or the pouring
of concrete pads) is completed on or after December 31, 1976.
The lawful use of a building or structure or the lawful use
of any land, as existing and lawful at the time of the enactment of
a zoning regulation or, in the case of a change of regulations, then
at the time of such change, may be continued although such use does
not conform to the provisions of such regulations or change, and such
use may be extended throughout the same building, provided that no
structural alteration of such building is proposed or made for the
purpose of such extension.
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year.
An unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with
a principal and/or accessory building.
An open space or a garage, on a lot, used for parking motor
vehicles, the area of which is not less than 200 square feet and to
which there is access from a street or alley.
Any individual or group of individuals, corporation, partnership,
association or other entity, including state and local governments
and agencies.
A development of 40 contiguous acres, which provides housing
at varying densities and of various types and necessary commercial,
recreational and community facilities.
The Planning Commission of the Town of Elsmere.
The main or principal activity taking place or intended to
take place in a building or on a lot.
Where at least 51% of the actual cash value of a structure,
less ground land, is above ground.
An accessory building used for the storage of any number
of motor vehicles owned and used by the owner or tenant of the premises
and for the storage of not more than two motor vehicles owned and
used by persons other than the owner or tenant of the premises.
A building, not a private garage, used for the storage, repair
or servicing of motor vehicles of any type of ownership.
A vehicle which is:
Built on a single chassis;
Four hundred square feet or less when measured
at the largest horizontal projection;
Designed to be self-propelled or permanently
towable by a light-duty truck; and
Designed primarily not for use as a permanent
dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping,
travel or seasonal use.
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent
land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood
without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than
a designated height.
The total number of dwelling units which may be or are developed
on an area of land, before requirements for public access and required
open spaces are provided.
The resulting number of dwelling units which may be or are
developed on a site or lot after public access and required open spaces
are provided.
A professional office when conducted on residential property
and shall be limited to those of the practice of medicine, law, dentistry,
architecture and engineering. The conduct of such profession shall
permit the employment of not more than one employee and shall be limited
to 1/4 of the total floor area of the buildings.
Any establishment, however designated, at which food is sold
for consumption on the premises to patrons seated within an enclosed
building. However, a snack bar at a public or a community playground,
playfield, park or swimming club operated solely by the agency or
group operating the recreational facilities and for the sole use of
the patrons of the facility shall not be deemed to be a restaurant.
An establishment where patrons are served soft drinks, ice
cream and other food products for consumption outside the confines
of the principal building or in automobiles parked on the premises,
regardless of whether or not, in addition thereto, seats or other
accommodations are provided for the patrons.
As applied to garden apartment developments, a "room" shall
be defined as a living room, dining room, kitchen and/or bedroom.
A kitchenette, which does not include space for eating, and a dining
area of which one full wall is open into a living room shall be counted
as 1/2 room. A bathroom shall not count as a room.
Any device, structure or object for visual communication
that is used for the purpose of bringing the subject thereof to the
attention of others, but not including any flag, badge or insignia
of any public, quasi-public, civic, charitable or religious groups.
The area defined by the edge or frame of a sign. Where there
is no geometric edge of frame of the sign, the area shall be defined
by a projected, enclosed, four-sided (straight sides) geometric shape
which most closely outlines said sign.
Any sign which shall be used to advertise and identify the
business conducted on the premises on which the sign is located.
The ownership of a lot by one or more persons, partnerships
or corporations, which ownership is separate and distinct from that
of any adjoining lot.
A plan of a lot or subdivision on which is shown topography,
location of all existing and proposed buildings, structures, roads,
rights-of-way, boundaries, all essential dimensions and bearings and
any other information deemed necessary by the Planning Commission
in unusual or special cases.
A use which by virtue of its own peculiar characteristics
may be permitted in particular areas only after review, public hearing
and approval by the Board of Adjustment.
An area having special flood hazard and shown on a Flood
Insurance Rate Map as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, AH, VO, V1-30, VE, V,
M, or E.
Defined as those terms are defined in Title 24 of the Delaware
Code, § 1602(17) and (18).
For other than new construction or substantial improvements
under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (Pub. L. 97-348), includes
substantial improvement and means the date the building permit was
issued, provided that the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction,
placement or other improvement was within 180 days of the permit date.
The "actual start" means either the first placement of permanent construction
of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of slab footings, the
installation of piles, the construction of columns or any work beyond
the stage of excavation, or the placement of a manufactured home on
a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation,
such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation
of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement,
footings, piers or foundations or the erection of temporary forms;
nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory
buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units
or not part of the main structure.
For other than new construction or substantial improvements
under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (Pub. L. 97-348), includes
substantial improvements and means the date the building permit was
issued, provided that the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, addition, placement or other improvement was within
180 days of the permit date. The "actual start" means either the first
placement of permanent construction of a structure on site, such as
pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction
of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement
of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does
not include land preparation such as clearing, grading and filling;
nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor
does it include excavation for a basement, footing, piers, or foundations
or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation
on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not
occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For
a substantial improvement, the "actual start" of construction means
the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor or other part of
a building whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions
of the building.
An establishment located in a permanent structure where goods
are regularly offered for sale.
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the next floor above it or, if there
is no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling
next above it. A split-level story shall be considered a second story
only if its floor level is six feet or more above the floor of the
level next below it.
That portion of a building under a gable, hip or gambrel
roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls
are not more than two feet above the floor of such half-story. A basement
shall also be included as a half-story.
The limits of the land area covered by the waters in a stream
under conditions of an average twenty-five-year storm.
The dividing line between a lot and the outside boundary
of a public street, road or highway legally open or officially plotted
by the Town or between a lot and a private street, road or way over
which the owners or tenants of two or more lots held in single and
separate ownership have the right-of-way.
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires
location on or in the ground or attachment to something having location
on or in the ground.
In the Floodplain District, a walled and roofed building,
including a gas or liquid storage tank that is primarily above ground,
as well as a manufactured home.
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the
cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would
equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure before the
damage occurred.
Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure,
the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the
structure either before the improvement or repair is started or, if
the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage
occurred. 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.
The term does not, however, include either any project for improvement
of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary
or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure
safe living conditions or any alteration of a structure listed on
the National Register of Historic Places or a State of Delaware Inventory
of Historic Places.
A swimming pool operated as a secondary use to a residential
dwelling unit or units and located on an individual residential lot.
A building designed and occupied exclusively as a residence
for one family and one of a group of three or more attached dwellings,
placed side-by-side, separated by party walls, each containing one
or two stories and each having separate front and rear or side entrances
from the outside.
A lot or premises used for occupancy by two or more trailers
or any other vehicles used for living or sleeping purpose.
A vehicular, portable structure built on a chassis, designed
as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreation and vacation, having
a body width not exceeding eight feet and its body length not exceeding
29 feet.
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed,
arranged, intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
A grant of relief by the Board of Adjustment from the terms
of this chapter of floodplain management regulations.
FRONTThe required open space, extending along the street line or, in the case of a rear lot, extending along the building setback line, throughout the full width of the lot, exclusive of overhanging eaves, gutters, cornices or steps.
REARThe required open space, extending along the rear line of the lot throughout the full width of the lot, exclusive of overhanging eaves, gutters, cornices or steps.
SIDEThe required open space, extending along the side line of the lot throughout the full depth of the lot, exclusive of overhanging eaves, gutters, cornices or steps.
A permit stating that the purpose for which a building or
land is to be used is in conformity with the uses permitted and all
other requirements under this chapter for the zone in which it is
located or is to be located or as such requirements may be modified
by the Board of Adjustment.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Art. VII, Sign Regulations.
