For the purposes of this chapter, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows:
A. 
The singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular, unless the context clearly indicates the contrary.
B. 
Words used in the present tense include the past and future tenses, and the future the present.
C. 
The word "shall" is always mandatory. The word "may" is permissive.
D. 
The word "building" or "structure" includes any part thereof, and the word "building" includes the word "structure."
E. 
Words and terms not defined herein shall be interpreted in accord with their normal dictionary meaning and customary usage.
F. 
The word "person" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well as an individual.
G. 
The words "used" or "occupied" include the words "intended," designed," or "arranged to be "used" or "occupied."
H. 
The word "lot" includes the words "plot" or "parcel."
For the purposes of this chapter, certain terms and words are hereby defined:
ACCESSORY BUILDING
An accessory building is a subordinate building or a portion of the main building, the use of which is clearly incidental to or customarily found in connection with, and (except as otherwise provided in this chapter) located on the same lot as the main building or principal use of the land. The term "accessory building" shall not include motor vehicles or trailers that are designed to be towed by motor vehicles.
[Amended 11-6-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-20]
ACCESSORY USE
An accessory use is one which is clearly incidental to or customarily found in connection with, and (except as otherwise provided in this chapter) is located on the same lot as the principal use of the premises. When the term "accessory" is used in this chapter, it shall have the same meaning as accessory use.
ADMINISTRATOR
The Zoning Administrator of Federalsburg as designated by the Planning and Zoning Commission (unless reference is made to the Town Administrator in the context of the specific section).
AGGREGATED AREA OR WIDTH
The sum of two or more designated areas or widths to be measured, limited, or determined under the provisions of this chapter.
AGRICULTURE
The use of land for the purposes of farming, dairying, pasturing, apiculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, fish culture, and animal and poultry husbandry. The processing, packaging or manufacture of agricultural products is not included.
ALLEY
A narrow public thoroughfare which provides only a secondary means of access to abutting properties and is not intended for general traffic circulation.
APARTMENT
A part of a building containing cooking and housekeeping facilities, consisting of a room or suite of rooms intended, designed, and used as a residence by an individual or a single family.
APARTMENT HOUSE
Same as "dwelling, multiple-family."
AQUACULTURE, LAND-BASED
Farming or culturing of finfish, shellfish, other aquatic plants or animals, or both, in tanks or impoundments, including hatching, cultivating, planting, feeding, raising, and harvesting of aquatic plants and animals and the maintenance and construction of necessary equipment, buildings, and growing areas. For the purpose of this definition, related activities such as wholesale and retail sales, processing and product storage facilities are not considered aquacultural practices.
[Added 11-2-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-07]
ARTERIAL STREET
A street so designated in the Federalsburg Comprehensive Plan, Transportation Section.
BASEMENT
That portion of a building between the floor and ceiling which is wholly or partly below grade and having more than 1/2 of its height below grade.
BED-AND-BREAKFAST
A building that contains a dwelling unit and guest rooms where the guests receive a room and one meal per day. bed-and-breakfast home means a single-family, owner-occupied dwelling that provides no food or beverage service for the transient guests other than for breakfast (which is provided in the area of the dwelling that is generally used by the resident for the consumption of food). The resident(s) may choose to occupy separate, or detached, sleeping quarters in what would otherwise be considered a guesthouse, carriage house, or finished space over a garage, if such facilities exist on the premises.
BOARD
The Board of Appeals of Federalsburg.
BOARDINGHOUSE
Same as "rooming house."
BUILDABLE AREA
The area of that part of the lot not included within the yards or open spaces herein required.
BUILDABLE WIDTH
The width of that part of a lot not included within the open spaces herein required.
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the housing or enclosure of person or property of any kind. The term "building" shall not include motor vehicles or trailers that are designed to be towed by motor vehicles.
[Amended 11-6-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-20]
BUILDING, COMPLETELY ENCLOSED
Any building having no outside openings other than ordinary doors, windows, and ventilators.
BUILDING, HEIGHT OF
A. 
The vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, or to the deckline or highest point of coping or parapet of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, shed, and gambrel roofs. When the highest wall of a building with a shed roof is within 30 feet of a street, the height of such building shall be measured to the highest point of coping or parapet.
B. 
Roofline designations refer to definitions of projecting signs and roof signs in Article XVI.
BULK
A term used in this chapter to describe the size and shape of a building or structure and its relationship to other buildings, to the lot area for building, and to open spaces and yards.
BUSINESS DISTRICT
See "District, Commercial."
CANOPY
A detachable, rooflike cover, supported from the ground, or deck, floor, or walls of a building, for protection from sun or weather.
CLINIC
A building or portion thereof designed for, constructed or under construction or alteration for, or used by two or more physicians, surgeons, dentists, psychiatrists, physiotherapist, or practitioners in related specialties, or a combination of persons in these professions, but not including lodging of patients overnight.
CLUB, PRIVATE
Buildings and facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons for a social, educational, or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit which inures to any individual and not primarily to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.
CONDITIONAL USE
A use that would not be appropriate generally or without restriction throughout the district, but which, if controlled as to number, area, location, or relation to the neighborhood, would promote the public health, safety, welfare, morals, order, comfort, convenience, appearance, prosperity, or general welfare. Such uses may be permitted in such district as conditional use is made in this chapter.
CONVALESCENT HOME
A building where regular nursing care is provided for more than one person not a member of the family which resides on the premises.
COURT
An open space which may or may not have direct street access and around which is arranged a single building or a group of related buildings.
DISTRICT
Any section of Federalsburg in which the zoning regulations are uniform.
DISTRICT, COMMERCIAL
Any district designated in these regulations as a business or commercial district or special commercial district under various sections of this chapter or containing the words "business" or "commercial" in the title.
DISTRICT, INDUSTRIAL
Any district designated in this chapter as an industrial district under the various sections or containing the word "industrial" in its title.
DISTRICT, RESIDENTIAL
Any district designated in this chapter as a residential district under the various sections of this chapter.
DOG KENNEL, COMMERCIAL
The keeping of any dog or dogs, regardless of number, for sale, breeding, boarding or treatment purposes, except in an animal hospital, dog beauty parlor, or pet shop, as permitted by these regulations, or the keeping of five or more dogs, six months or older, for any purpose.
DRIVE-IN
A term used to describe an establishment designed or operated to serve a patron while seated in an automobile parked in an off-street parking space.
DWELLING
A building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for residential occupancy, as described below.
A. 
DWELLING, SEMIDETACHEDA building containing not more than two dwelling units attached at the side to not more than one other building by a party wall with each building a separate lot.
B. 
DWELLING, ATTACHEDA building containing more than two dwelling units attached at the side to two or more buildings.
C. 
DWELLING, MULTIFAMILYA detached building designed for use by more than two families (an apartment).
D. 
DWELLING, TOWNHOUSEOne of a group of attached or semidetached dwellings divided by party walls along the dividing lot line.
E. 
DWELLING, DUPLEXA detached building with two duplicate mirrored dwelling units and separate entrances.
F. 
DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY: A dwelling unit separate from structures on all adjacent lots (detached) and used by one family.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by three or more families living independently of each other.
DWELLING UNIT
A room or group of rooms occupied or intended to be occupied as separate living quarters by a single family or other group of persons living together as a household or by a person living alone.
FAMILY
An individual or two or more persons who are related by blood or marriage living together and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities, or a group of not more than four persons living together by joint agreement and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities on a nonprofit, cost-sharing basis. Domestic servants, employed and residing on the premises, shall be considered as part of the family.
FILLING STATION
Any building, structure, or land used for the sale at retail of motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, or accessories, or for the servicing of automobiles or repairing of minor parts and accessories, but not including major repair work such as motor replacement, body and fender repair, or spray painting.
FLOOR AREA
A. 
For commercial, business, and industrial buildings, or buildings containing mixed uses: the sum of the gross horizontal area of the several floors of a building measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls or from the center line of walls separating two buildings but not including: (1) attic space providing headroom of less than seven feet; (2) basement space not used for retailing; (3) uncovered steps or fire escapes; (4) accessory water towers or cooling towers; (5) accessory off-street parking spaces; and (6) accessory off-street loading space.
B. 
For residential buildings: The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a dwelling, exclusive of garages, basements, and open porches, measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls, but not including attic space providing headroom of less than seven feet.
FRONTAGE
A. 
STREET FRONTAGEAll of the property on one side of a street between two intersecting streets (crossing or terminating), measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead-ended, then all of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.
B. 
LOT FRONTAGEThe distance for which the front boundary line of the lot and the street line are coincident.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
A garage used for storage purposes only and having a capacity of not more than four automobiles or not more than two automobiles per family housed in the building to which the garage is accessory, whichever is the greater. Space therein may be used for not more than one commercial vehicle and that one of not more than one-ton capacity, and space may be rented for not more than two vehicles to persons other than occupants of the buildings to which such garage is accessory.
GRADE
Grade elevation shall be determined by averaging the elevations of the finished ground at all the corners and/or other principal points in the perimeter wall of the building.
GUESTHOUSE
Living quarters within a detached accessory building located on the same premises with the main building for use by temporary guests of the occupants of the premises, such quarters having no kitchen facilities or separate utility meters, and not rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any occupation or activity which is clearly incidental and secondary to use of the premises for dwelling purposes and which is carried on by a member of a family residing on the premises, and in connection with which there is no display or substantial storage of materials or generation of substantial volumes of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or parking demand or other exterior indication of the home occupation or variation from the residential character of the building, and in connecting with which no person outside the resident family is employed and no equipment used which creates offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odor, heat, or glare. A home occupation shall show proof of all state and local licenses, if so required.
HOSPITAL
A building or group of buildings, having room facilities for overnight patients, used for providing services for the in-patient medical or surgical care of sick or injured humans, and which may include related facilities, central service facilities, and staff offices; provided, however, that such related facility must be incidental and subordinate to the main use and must be an integral part of the hospital operations.
HOTEL
A building in which lodging or boarding and lodging are provided for more than 15 persons, primarily transient, or with more than 10 guest rooms or rental units offered to the public for compensation. Ingress and egress from all rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge at all hours. As such, it is open to the public, in contradistinction to a boarding, rooming, or lodging house, or an apartment house, which are herein separately defined. A hotel may include restaurants, taverns, club rooms, public banquet halls, ballrooms, and meeting rooms.
JUNK
Dilapidated or unlicensed automobiles, trucks, tractors, and other such vehicles and parts thereof, dilapidated wagons, trailers, and other kinds of vehicles and parts thereof, scrap building materials, scrap contractor's equipment, tanks, casks, cans, barrels, boxes, drums, piping, bottles glass, old iron, machinery, rags, paper, excelsior, hair mattresses, beds, bedding, or any other kind of scrap or waste material which is stored, kept, handled or displayed.
LAUNDROMAT
A business that provides washing, drying, and/or ironing machines or dry-cleaning machines for hire to be used by customers on the premises.
LOADING SPACE
A space within the main building or on the same lot, providing for the standing, loading, or unloading of trucks, having minimum area of 540 square feet, minimum width of 12 feet, a minimum depth of 45 feet, and a vertical clearance of at least 14.5 feet.
LODGING HOUSE
Same as "rooming house."
LOT
A parcel of land which may include one or more platted lots, occupied or intended for occupancy by a use permitted in this chapter, including one main building together with its accessory buildings, and the yard areas and parking spaces required by this chapter, and having its principal frontage upon a street or upon an officially approved place.
LOT AREA
The total horizontal area within the lot lines of the lot.
LOT, CORNER
A lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.
LOT, DEPTH OF
The average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
LOT FRONTAGE
A measured distance taken in a straight line at right angles to the foremost of the side lot lines and joining those foremost side lot lines at their foremost points (for purposes of establishing minimum lot frontage on a street). [See also "lot width."]
LOT, INTERIOR
A lot other than a corner lot.
LOT LINE
The boundary line of a lot.
LOT, THROUGH (DOUBLE FRONTAGE)
A lot having a frontage on two approximately parallel streets or places.
LOT OF RECORD
A lot which is part of a subdivision recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, or lot or parcel described by metes and bounds, and description of which has been so recorded.
LOT WIDTH
A measured distance taken at the building line and at right angles to the site lot lines and which shall be no less than the minimum horizontal distance required by distance regulations to create the front yard, as measured between the required street line and the building line. (See also "lot frontage.")
MAJOR STREET OR HIGHWAY
A street or highway so designated on the Transportation Section of the Comprehensive Plan of Federalsburg.
MANUFACTURED HOME
A dwelling unit that is fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility for installation or assembly at the building site, bearing a label certifying that it is built in compliance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.
[Added 2-5-2007 by Ord. No. 2006-25]
MARINA
A place for docking pleasure boats or providing services to pleasure boats and the occupants thereof, including minor servicing and repair to boats while in the water, sale of fuel and supplies, and provision of lodging, food, beverages, and entertainment as accessory uses. A yacht club shall be considered as a marina, but a hotel, motel, or similar use, where docking of boats and provision of services thereto is incidental to other activities, shall not be considered a marina, nor shall boat docks accessory to a multiple dwelling where no boat-related services are rendered.
MOBILE HOME
A movable single-family living unit designed for long-term occupancy, containing indoor sanitary facilities to be connected to on-site utility systems, designed to be towed to the site, and without a solid foundation.
MOBILE HOME PARK
Any site designed to accommodate mobile homes, planned and developed in accordance with provisions contained in Article XVII.
MOBILE HOME SUBDIVISION
Any site designed to accommodate mobile homes in accordance with the provisions of Article XVII, provided that the lots within said subdivision conform to the lot area requirements for single detached dwellings in the zone in which the site is located.
NONCONFORMING USE
A building or land which does not conform with the sign, height, area, or use regulations of the district in which it is located.
NURSING HOME
Same as "convalescent home."
PARKING SPACE, OFF-STREET
An all-weather surfaced area not in a street or alley and having an area of not less than 200 square feet, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one vehicle and connected with a street or alley by a paved driveway which affords ingress and egress for an automobile without requiring another automobile to be moved.
PLACE
An open, unoccupied space other than a street or alley, permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.
PREMISES
A lot, together with all buildings and structures thereon.
RECREATIONAL CAMP or RESORT
Any area of land or water on which accommodations for temporary occupancy are located or may be placed, including hotels, summer homes, and which is primarily used for recreational purposes and retains an open-air or natural character.
REGULATIONS
The whole body of regulations, text, charts, tables, diagrams, maps, notations, references, and symbols, contained or referred to in this chapter.
RENTAL UNIT
A dwelling unit intended for rental to transients on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis, but not intended for use or used as a permanent dwelling and not including culinary facilities.
ROOMING HOUSE
A building where, for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods, lodging, meals, or lodging and meals are provided for three or more persons but containing no more than five guest rooms or rental units.
SERVANT'S QUARTERS
Living quarters within a portion of a main building or in an accessory building located on the same lot with the main building, used for servants employed on the premises, such quarters having no separate utility meters, and not rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling.
SIGN
Any device designed to inform, or attract the attention of persons not on the premises on which the sign is located, provided that the following shall not be included in the application for the regulations herein: See § 245-115.
A. 
Signs not exceeding one square foot in area and bearing only property numbers, post-box numbers, and/or names of occupants of premises not having commercial connotations.
B. 
Flags and insignias of any government except when displayed in connection with commercial promotion.
C. 
Legal notices; identification, information, or directional signs erected or required by governmental bodies.
D. 
Integral decorative or architectural features of buildings, except letters, trademarks, moving parts, or moving lights.
E. 
Signs directing and guiding traffic and parking on private property, but bearing no advertising matter.
SITE PLAN
A drawing illustrating a proposed development and prepared in accordance with the specifications of Article XVI.
STABLE, PRIVATE
An accessory building, not related to the ordinary operation of a farm, for the housing of not more than four horses or mules owned by a person or persons living on the premises and which horses or mules are not for hire or sale.
STABLE, PUBLIC
Any stable for the housing of horses or mules, operated for remuneration, hire, sale, or stabling, or any stable, not related to the ordinary operation of a farm, with a capacity for more than four horses or mules, whether or not such stable is operated for remuneration, hire, sale, or stabling.
STORY
The portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it; or, if there be no floor next above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling next above it.
STORY, HALF
A space under a sloping roof which has the line of intersection of roof decking and wall face not more than three feet above the top floor level, and in which space, not more than 2/3 of the floor area is finished for use. A half story containing independent apartments for living quarters shall be counted as a full story.
STREET
A public or private thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.
STREET LINE
A dividing line separating a lot, tract, or parcel of land and a contiguous street.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS
Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as footings, bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any substantial change in the roof or in the exterior walls, excepting such repair as may be required for the safety of the building.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the ground, or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground, or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, trailers or mobile homes, sings, swimming pools, fences, and backstops for tennis courts.
SWIMMING POOL
Any portable pool or permanent structure capable of containing a body of water 18 inches or more in depth but not including an ornamental reflecting pool or fish pond or other type of pool located and designed so as not to create a hazard or be used for swimming or wading.
TOWNHOUSE
A single-family dwelling forming one of a group or series of three or more attached single-family dwellings separated from one another by party walls without doors, windows, or other provisions for human passage or visibility through such walls from basement to roof, and having roofs which may extend from one of the dwelling units to another.
TRAILER or MOTOR HOME
Any vehicle or portable structure designed for temporary occupancy; or which contains holding tanks for waste disposal, or can operate independently of sewer, water and electrical systems; including travel trailers, pickup campers, bus campers, tent campers, tents, or other temporary vehicles which require installation to utility systems.
TRAILER PARK or TRAILER COURT
Any site, lot, field, or tract of land upon which is located one or more occupied trailers or which is held out for the location of any occupied trailer. The terms shall include any building, structure, vehicle, or enclosure for use as a part of the equipment for such park or court.
VARIANCE
A relaxation of the terms of this chapter where such variance will not be contrary to the public interest and where, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of the actions of the applicant, a literal enforcement of this chapter would result in unnecessary and undue hardship. As used in this chapter, a variance is authorized only for height, area, and size of structure or size of yards and open spaces. Establishment or expansion of a use otherwise prohibited shall not be allowed by variance, nor shall a variance be granted because of the presence of nonconformities in the zone or adjoining zones.
WATERWAY
Any body of water, including any creek, canal, river, lake, or bay, or any other body of water, natural or artificial except a swimming pool or ornamental pool located on a single lot.
WATERWAY LINE
A line making the normal division between land and a waterway as established by the Administrator or by Town ordinances.
UNIT
A dwelling space to be occupied by a single family, consisting of one or more individuals permanently living together and using certain rooms and housekeeping facilities in common. Example: an apartment building may contain a number of dwelling units.
YARD
An open space, other than a court, on a lot, and unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
YARD, FRONT
A yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance required between the street line and building line or the main building or any projections of uncovered steps, uncovered balconies, terraces, or uncovered porches not exceeding 30 inches in height.
YARD REAR
A yard extending across the rear of the lot between the side lot lines and measured between the rear lot line and the rear of the required minimum rear yard or the main building or any projections other than steps, unenclosed porches or entranceways.
YARD, SIDE
A yard between the main building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard and being the minimum horizontal distance between the site lot line and site of the main buildings or any projections thereof.