This chapter shall be known as the "Zoning Ordinance
for the Town of Leonardtown, Maryland" and shall apply to the incorporated
area of the Town. The extent of applicability of this chapter shall
be automatically changed in accordance with the provisions thereof
or provisions of state law which may alter the applicability of this
chapter.
The purpose of zoning regulations is set forth
in Article 66B of the Code of Public General Laws of Maryland, Maryland
Planning and Zoning Enabling Act, of November 1971:
"Such regulations shall be made in accordance
with the plan and designed to control congestion in the streets; to
secure the public safety; to promote health and the general welfare;
to provide adequate light and air; to promote the conservation of
natural resources; to prevent environmental pollution; to avoid undue
concentration of population; to facilitate the adequate provision
of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, recreation, parks and
other public requirements. Such regulations shall be made with reasonable
consideration, among other things, to the character of the district
and its suitability for particular uses and with a view to conserving
the value of buildings and encouraging the orderly development and
the most appropriate use of land throughout the jurisdiction."
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For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms
and words shall be hereby defined:
ACCESSORY APARTMENT
A second dwelling unit either within, or added to, a single-family
detached dwelling, or in a separate accessory structure on the same
lot as the principal dwelling, that functions as a complete, independent
living facility with provisions for independent cooking, living, sleeping
and bathroom facilities. Accessory apartments may also be referred
to as “in-law apartments” or “granny flats.”
[Added 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
ACCESSORY USE OR BUILDING
A secondary land use or building customarily incidental to
and located on the same lot occupied by the primary use or building.
Such accessory building shall not be used for housekeeping purposes.
Accessory buildings include, but are not limited to, sheds, unenclosed
decks, detached garages, and gazebos.
[Amended 5-20-2008 by Ord. No. 136]
ADULT DAY-CARE FACILITIES
Establishments engaged in providing nonresidential social
assistance services to improve the quality of life for adults, the
elderly, or persons diagnosed with mental or physical disabilities.
These establishments provide for the welfare of individuals in such
areas as day care on some periodic basis, or provide a setting for
social activities, group support, or companionship. Such facilities
may or may not provide meals.
ALLEY
A narrow public thoroughfare which provides only a secondary
means of access to abutting properties and is not intended for general
traffic circulation, generally less than 30 feet wide.
APARTMENT HOTEL
A building arranged for or containing apartments and individual
guest rooms, with or without housekeeping facilities, and which furnishes
services ordinarily provided by hotels, such as maid, bellboy, desk
and laundry service, and may include a dining room with an internal
entrance and primarily for use by tenants of the building, but shall
not include public banquet halls, ballrooms or meeting rooms.
ART GALLERY
A public or private facility that is operated as a repository
or a collection of works of individual art pieces not mass-produced,
consisting of one or more of the following: paintings, drawings, etchings
or sculptures: may include the sale of the individual art pieces or
the sale of related objects and services.
[Added 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
ARTIST STUDIO
A place where any of the commercial activities or a combination
of commercial activities listed below occurs:
[Added 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
B.
Custom or craft manufacturing, fabrication, and assembly.
C.
Professional studio engaged in personal instruction for dance,
martial arts, photography, music and similar activities.
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.
BOARD
The Board of Zoning Appeals of the Town of Leonardtown.
BOARDINGHOUSE, ROOMING HOUSE or LODGING HOUSE
A building other than a hotel or apartment hotel where, for
compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods, meals or
lodging and meals are provided for three or more persons, but not
exceeding 20 persons.
BREEZEWAY
A structure entirely open, except for roof and supporting
columns, which connects a residence and accessory building on the
same lot.
BUILDABLE WIDTH
The width of that part of a lot to be used for a building
and 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 persons or property of any kind.
BUILD-TO-LINE
The line at which construction of a building facade is to
occur on a lot, running parallel to the front property line without
setback, and thus ensuring a uniform (or more or less even) building
facade line on the street.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
CHILD-CARE CENTERS
Any place, home or institution which receives nine or more
children under the age of 14 years, and not of common parentage, for
care apart from their natural parents, legal guardians or custodians,
when received for regular periods of time for compensation, provided
that this definition shall not include public or private schools organized,
operated or approved under Maryland laws, custody of children fixed
by a court of competent jurisdiction, children related by blood or
marriage within the third degree to the custodial person, or to churches
or other religious or public institutions caring for children within
the institutional building while their parents or legal guardians
are attending service, activities or meetings.
CLINIC
An office building or a group of offices for one or more
physicians, surgeons or dentists engaged in treating the sick or injured,
not including rooms for overnight patients.
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.
COMMERCIAL
When used in conjunction with a use shall mean the use is
open to the general public and a fee is charged by the owner, lessee,
or licensee for a service or a product.
COMMISSION
The Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Leonardtown.
COMMUNICATIONS TOWER
Any structure constructed for the primary purpose of supporting
installed antennas, dishes or other devices used for uplink, downlink,
relay, broadcast or receipt of radio, television or other communication
signals.
B.
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS TOWERAny tower, of any height, designated by the Leonardtown Commissioners, as a host site for county-owned and -operated emergency
communications equipment, which may also include collocated commercial
uses, and which may be a permitted use in any zoning district.
C.
NONCOMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS TOWERSuch tower does not serve any commercial or public safety uses and does not exceed 100 feet in height above ground level, and which may be a permitted use in any zoning district.
COMPATIBILITY
Provision of exemplary site design, architectural design
and high-quality materials that are compatible with, and do not negatively
alter the character of, the existing neighborhood.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
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 unoccupied open space, other than a yard, on the same
lot with a building, which is bounded on two or more sides by the
walls of such building.
COVERAGE
The percentage of the lot covered by buildings and structures.
DISTRICT
Any section of the Town of Leonardtown within which the zoning
regulations are uniform, as established by this chapter.
DOG KENNEL, COMMERCIAL
Any place where more than two adult dogs are kept for a boarding
or other fee or any place where more than five adult dogs are kept
for any purpose.
DWELLING
Any building or portion thereof designed or used for residential
purposes, but not trailers or mobile homes.
A.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILYA building designed for use or occupied exclusively by one family only, but not to include a mobile home or habitable travel trailer.
B.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILYA building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.
C.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILYA building designed for or occupied exclusively by three or more families living independently of each other, including apartment buildings.
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.
ELDERLY
Persons that are age 55 years and over.
[Added 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
ELEEMOSYNARY OR PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTION
A private nonprofit organization which is not organized or
operated for the purpose of carrying on a trade or business, no part
of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any member of
said organization or individual.
FAMILY
One or more persons occupying a dwelling unit and using common
cooking facilities, provided that, unless all members are related
by blood or marriage, or legal adoption, no such family shall contain
more than four nonrelated persons. Family members related by blood
or marriage shall be a father, mother, son, daughter, grandfather,
grandmother, grandson and granddaughter.
[Amended 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
FAMILY DAY-CARE HOME
A private residence where eight or fewer children receive
care and supervision, provided primarily by the permanent resident
of said home, for periods of less than 24 hours per day. Such homes
are permitted in any zoning district where residential uses are allowed.
FLOOR AREA
A.
For commercial business and industrial buildings
or buildings containing mixed uses, the sum of the gross horizontal
areas of the several floors of a building measured from the exterior
faces of the exterior walls or from the center lines 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.
(6)
Accessory off-street loading berths.
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.
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.
GARDEN APARTMENT
A multifamily dwelling with a maximum of three stories in
height and with sufficient open space and parking surrounding.
GRADE
A.
For buildings having:
(1)
A wall or walls adjoining one street only, the
elevation of the sidewalk at the center of the wall adjoining the
street.
(2)
A wall or walls adjoining more than one street,
the average elevation of the sidewalk at the centers of all walls
adjoining the streets.
(3)
No walls adjoining the street, the average level
of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls
of the building.
B.
Any wall parallel to or within 10º of being
parallel to and not more than 15 feet from a street line is to be
considered as adjoining the street. Sidewalk grades shall be established
by the Town Engineer.
GUESTHOUSE or TOURIST HOME
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.
HEIGHT OF BUILDING
The maximum height of a building permitted. Building height
is determined from the vertical distance as measured from the lowest
ground elevation on the building to the highest point on the building,
excluding chimneys and antenna.
[Amended 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
HOME OCCUPATION
An accessory use as a personal service or profession or use
customarily conducted within a dwelling carried on by a member of
the immediate family residing in the dwelling, which does not change
the residential character of the neighborhood, provided that the use
of the dwelling for the home occupation shall be clearly incidental
and subordinate to its use for residential purpose by the occupants,
and provided that the use occupies not more than 200 square feet of
the floor area of such dwelling unit. Generation of substantial volumes
of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or parking demand or other exterior
indication of the home occupation is prohibited.
HOSPITAL
A building or group of buildings having room facilities for
one or more abiding patients, used for providing services for the
inpatient medical or surgical care of sick or injured humans, and
which may include related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient
department, training 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 operation.
HOTEL
A building in which lodging or boarding and lodging are provided
for more than 20 persons, primarily transient, and offered to the
public for compensation and in which ingress and egress to and 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 boardinghouse, a lodging house or an apartment
house, which are herein separately defined. A hotel may include restaurants,
taverns or club rooms, public banquet hall, ballrooms and meeting
rooms.
HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY
A building or group of buildings containing dwellings where
the occupancy of the dwellings is restricted to persons 55 years of
age or older or where the primary occupant is 55 years of age or older.
Covenants may be instituted by the builder, project manager, or resident
associations, as applicable, to limit minimum age or marital status.
This does not include a development that contains convalescent or
nursing facilities.
[Amended 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
INFILL
The development of vacant, abandoned, passed over or underutilized
land within built-up areas of existing communities, where infrastructure
is already in place.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
JUNKYARD
A lot, land or structure or part thereof used primarily for
the collecting, storage and sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal
or discarded material or for the collecting, dismantling, storage
and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition and
for the sale of parts thereof.
LIVE-WORK UNITS
Building type with office or retail space configured on the
first floor, and residential space above.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
LOADING SPACE or LOADING BERTH
A space within the main building or on the same lot providing
for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks having a minimum
dimension of 12 by 45 feet and a vertical clearance of at least 14
feet. For a funeral home, such space may be reduced to 10 feet by
25 feet and vertical clearance to eight feet.
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,
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 located at the intersection of two or more streets.
A lot abutting on a curved street or streets shall be considered a
corner lot if straight lines drawn from the foremost points of the
side lot lines to the foremost point of the lot meet at an interior
angle of less than 135º.
LOT, DEPTH OF
The main horizontal distance between the front and rear lot
lines.
LOT, INTERIOR
A lot, other than a corner lot, with only one street frontage.
LOT, REVERSED FRONTAGE
A lot in which the frontage is at right angles to the general
pattern in the area involved. A reversed frontage lot may also be
a corner lot or an interior lot.
LOT, THROUGH
A lot, other than a corner lot, with frontage on two streets.
LOT WIDTH
The distance between the side lot lines, measured at the
required front yard line.
MIXED-USE
A contributing use, when combined with other uses, that satisfies
the day-to-day needs and functions of a walkable neighborhood or community.
A mixed-use building may be a live-work unit or separate-use structure
situated in a predominantly residential area.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
MOBILE HOME PARK
An area where one or more mobile homes or trailers can be
and are intended to be parked, designed or intended to be used as
temporary or permanent living facilities for one or more families.
MOBILE HOME or TRAILER
A vehicle used or so constructed as to permit being used
as a conveyance upon the public street and highways and constructed
in such a manner as will permit occupancy thereof for human habitation,
dwelling or sleeping places for one or more persons, provided further
that this definition shall refer to and include all portable contrivances
used or intended to be used generally for living and sleeping quarters
and which are capable of being moved by their own power, towed or
transported by another vehicle.
MOTEL
Same as "hotel," except designed to accommodate any number
of guests and that the building or buildings are designed primarily
to serve tourists traveling by automobile and that ingress and egress
to rooms need not be through a lobby or office. Included in this category
are motor courts, tourist courts, auto courts, motor hotels and inns.
NONCONFORMING USE
Any building or land lawfully occupied by a use at the time
of passage of this chapter or amendment thereto which does not conform
with the use regulations of the district in which it is located.
NURSING HOME, REST HOME or CONVALESCENT HOME
A private home for the care of children or the aged or infirm,
or a place of rest for those suffering bodily disorders. Such home
does not contain equipment for surgical care for the treatment of
disease or injury.
OFFICE
A building or structure or portion thereof wherein services
are performed involving predominantly administrative, professional,
or clerical operations. An office may be used for professional people
such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc., or general business offices
such as insurance companies, trade associations, investment concerns,
real estate companies, but not including any kind of retail or wholesale
store or warehouse, except as otherwise provided herein.
PARKING SPACE, OFF-STREET
An all-weather surfaced area not in a street or alley and
having an area of not less than 180 square feet, exclusive of driveways,
permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one automobile and
connected with a street or alley by an all-weather surface driveway
which affords satisfactory ingress and egress for automobiles.
PLACE
An open, unoccupied space other than a street or alley permanently
established or dedicated as the principal means of access to property
abutting thereof.
PREMISES
A lot, together with all buildings and structures thereon.
PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
Every private school or educational or training institution,
however designated, which offers a program of college, professional,
preparatory, high school, junior high school, elementary, kindergarten
or nursery school instruction or any combination thereof or any other
program of trade, technical or artistic instruction and every day
camp, day nursery, child-care home and child boarding home which provides
supervision of children or infants, but such term does not include:
A.
Any private educational institution which is
under the jurisdiction of the County Board of Education; or
B.
Any establishment having a single teacher, tutor
or instructor or supervisor and having a maximum attendance of not
more than four persons at any one time.
PROFESSIONAL STUDIO
A specific type of arts, recreation and entertainment service
use; a place where works of art are created, displayed and/or sold,
and/or where instruction of the arts, to students, occurs in the fields
of painting, drawing, sculpture, etching, craft work, fine arts, photography,
music, or similar fields, but not including health treatment.
[Added 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
REDEVELOPMENT
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
A.
Construction in previously developed areas which
may include the demolition of existing structures and building new
structures, or the substantial renovation of existing structures,
often changing form and function. Projects tend to be somewhat larger
and more complex than infill projects.
B.
The reuse of previously used, nonagricultural
land.
RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS
A building, together with its accessory buildings and uses,
where persons regularly assemble for religious worship, and which
building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, is maintained
and controlled by a recognized religious body organized to sustain
public worship. Religious institutions include but are not limited
to churches, parish halls, temples, convents, mosques and monasteries.
RETAINING WALL
A structure designed and constructed to resist the lateral
pressure of soil when there is a desired change in ground elevation
that exceeds the angle of repose of the soil.
[Added 5-9-2011 by Ord. No. 149]
SIGNS
For definitions of signs, see Article
XVI of this chapter.
SMALL-SCALE COMMERCIAL SERVICES
Uses or shops that service the needs of the community, including
personal service facilities and office uses, but not including retail
sales. Such uses may include, but are not limited to the following
consumer, professional or commercial service establishments: Barber
or beauty shop, professional offices, dancing or music school, medical
or dental office, photographic studio, and dressmaker/tailor shop.
Such uses shall not adversely impact any adjacent residential uses
within the PIRD District.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
SMALL WIRELESS FACILITY
“Small cells,” which are low-powered wireless
base stations that function like traditional cell sites in a mobile
wireless network but typically cover targeted indoor or localized
outdoor areas; “DAS” or “distributed antenna systems,”
which use numerous antennae, commonly known as “nodes,”
similar in size to small cells and are connected to and controlled
by a central hub; and other similar facilities, systems or devices
designed to facilitate a mobile wireless network within a localized
area and to be attached to a support structure within sidewalks or
streets or on private property.
[Added 8-10-2020 by Ord. No. 199]
SPECIAL EXCEPTION
A grant of a specific use that would not be appropriate generally
or without restriction. It shall be based on Board of Zoning Appeals
findings that certain conditions exist in this chapter to grant special
exceptions and that the proposed use conforms to the Master Plan and
is compatible with the existing neighborhood.
STORY
That 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 above it, then the space between
such floor and the ceiling next above it.
STORY, HALF
A space under a sloping roof at the top of the building,
the floor of which is not more than two feet below the plate, shall
be counted as a half story when not more than 60% of said floor area
is used for rooms, baths or toilets. A half story containing an independent
apartment or living quarters shall be counted as a full story.
STREET
A public thoroughfare which affords the principal means of
access to property abutting thereon.
STREET LINE
A dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and
a contiguous street.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS
Any change in the supporting members of a building, including
but not limited to bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or
girders or any substantial change in the roof or in the exterior walls.
STRUCTURE
Anything other than a fence or retaining wall constructed
or erected which requires location on the ground or is attached to
something having a location on the ground, including but not limited
to advertising signs, billboards, posterboards and mobile homes.
SUPPORT STRUCTURE
Any light pole, utility pole, building wall, rooftop or other
structure upon which a small wireless facility is attached.
[Added 8-10-2020 by Ord. No. 199]
TEARDOWN
Demolition and subsequent replacement of a structure.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
TOWNHOUSE
A single-family dwelling forming one of a 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 such dwelling unit to another.
TRAVEL TRAILER
A vehicular portable structure designed to be used as a temporary
dwelling for travel, camping and recreational purposes. Such units
shall not include mobile homes nor exceed 31 feet in length or 7 1/2
feet in width.
UNDERUTILIZED
To utilize less than fully, or below the potential level
of use. Underutilized sites or structures may include vacant land,
sites occupied by deteriorated or dilapidated structures, or sites
which are occupied by structures or uses that, if improved, would
enhance the Town tax base, or better serve the needs and improve the
character or quality of the neighborhood in which they are located.
[Added 2-12-2006 by Ord. No. 123]
VARIANCE
A modification only of density, bulk, height or area requirements
in the Zoning Ordinance where such modification will not be against
the public interest and where, owing to conditions peculiar to the
property itself, a literal enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance would
result in undue hardship. The Board of Zoning Appeals shall decide
upon a variance.
YARD
An open space, other than a court, on a lot unoccupied and
obstructed 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 between the street
line and the main building or any projection thereof other than the
projections of uncovered steps, uncovered balconies, terraces or uncovered
porches.
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
main building or any projection 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 side lot line and side of
the main buildings or any projections thereof.
In order to regulate and restrict the location
of trades, industries and the location of buildings erected or altered
for specific uses, to regulate and limit the height or bulk of buildings
hereafter erected or structurally altered, to regulate and limit population
density and the intensity of the use of lot areas and to regulate
and determine the areas of yards, courts and other open spaces within
and surrounding such buildings, the Town shall hereby be divided into
nine districts:
R-SF
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Single-Family Residential District
|
R-MF
|
Multiple-Family Residential District
|
PUD-M
|
Mixed Use Planned Unit Development District
|
C-B
|
Commercial Business District
|
C-O
|
Commercial Office District
|
C-H
|
Highway Commercial District
|
C-M
|
Marine Commercial District
|
C-SC
|
Commercial Shopping Center District
|
I/O
|
Institutional/Office District
|
R/P
|
Recreation and Parks District
|
Such land and the district classification thereof
shall be as shown on the map designated as the "Zoning District Map
of the Town of Leonardtown, Maryland," dated and signed by the Mayor
and attested by the Town Clerk, upon adoption. This Zoning District
Map and all notations, dimensions, references and symbols shown thereon
pertaining to such districts shall be as much a part of this chapter
as if fully described herein. The Zoning Map shall be filed as part
of this chapter by the Town Clerk. Said map shall be available for
public inspection in the office of the Town Clerk, and any later alterations
of this map adopted by amendment as provided in this chapter shall
be similarly dated, filed, promptly noted on the map and made available
for public reference.