§ 153.001 STATEMENT OF POLICY.

The Council finds that the city is faced with mounting problems in providing means of guiding future development of land so as to ensure a safer, pleasant and more economical environment for residential, commercial, industrial and public activities, and to promote the public health, safety and general welfare. Through the enactment of this chapter, the Council intends to prepare for anticipated changes and by those preparations, to bring about a significant savings in both private and public expenditures. This chapter is intended to be one means of effectuating the Comprehensive Guide Plan undertaken by the city. Through this chapter, the city intends to encourage the wise development of lands within the city and to serve its citizens more effectively and to make the provision of public services less costly and to achieve a more secure tax base. Specifically, these provisions are designed to achieve the foregoing objectives through the regulation of the location, height, bulk, number of stories, size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot area which may be occupied, the size of yards and other open spaces, the density and distribution of population, the uses of buildings and structures for trade, industry, residence, recreation, public activities or other purposes, and the uses of land for trade, industry, residence, recreation, public activities or other purposes, through the establishment of standards and procedures regulating uses within the city.

(1989 Code, § 11.01)

§ 153.002 DEFINITIONS.

For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

ABUTTING LOTS OR PARCELS. Any lots or parcels which have a common boundary line.

ACCESSORY BUILDING. A building which is used in relation to an accessory use.

APARTMENT BUILDING. A building with three or more dwelling units attached both horizontally and vertically.

APARTMENT, WALK-UP. A multiple-family dwelling whose upper floors are accessible only by stairs.

BOARDING HOUSE. A building within which rooms are rented and meals are provided to two or more persons not members of the owner’s or lessee’s family.

BUILDING. Any structure erected for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind.

BUSINESS. Any establishment, occupation, employment or enterprise wherein merchandise is manufactured, exhibited or sold, or where services are offered for compensation.

CONDITIONAL USE. A use, that because of special control problems the use presents, requires effectuation of reasonable, but special, unusual and extraordinary limitations or conditions peculiar to the use for the protection of the public welfare and the integrity of the City Land Use Plan.

CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT. A permit specially and individually granted by the Council upon written application and after formal review thereon by the Planning Commission for any conditional use so permitted in any use district.

DRIVE-IN ESTABLISHMENT. A commercial enterprise that customarily offers goods, services or entertainment to clientele within automobiles (example: automobile service stations, drive-in restaurants, outdoor theaters and car washes, but not drive-in cleaners where the customer must leave his or her automobile to pick up or deliver goods).

DWELLING. A building, or portion thereof, designed or used predominantly for residential occupancy of a continued nature, including one-family dwellings, two-family dwellings and multiple- family dwellings, but not including hotels, motels, commercial boarding or rooming houses, tourist homes and trailers.

DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILY (APARTMENT AND FLAT). A residential building, or portion thereof, containing three or more dwelling units.

DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY. A residential building containing one dwelling unit.

DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY (DUPLEX). A residential building containing two dwelling units.

EFFICIENCY UNITS. A dwelling unit with one primary room which doubles as a living room (in its ordinary sense) and a bedroom and may, in addition, serve for other residential uses.

ESTABLISHMENT. Any of the following definitions shall apply:

(1) A distinct business entity situated in a single building;

(2) A distinct business entity located in a structure attached to other similar structures by common walls and ceilings or floors, or attached by means of an enclosed arcade; or

(3) A distinct business entity contained within a single structure and not separated by walls or other physical barriers, but made distinct due to its existence as a single lease space and operation by separate entrepreneurs, or by its singularity of purpose (such as clothing sales, furniture sales and so on) carried on by a single or separate proprietor.

FLOOR AREA, GROSS. The sum of the horizontal areas of the several floors of a building or buildings, measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls or from the centerline of party walls separating two buildings.

(1) In particular, GROSS FLOOR AREAS shall include:

(a) Basement space, if at least 50% of its story height is above the average level of the finished grade;

(b) Elevator shafts and stairwells at each floor;

(c) Floor space used for mechanical equipment where the structural headroom exceeds seven and one-half feet, except equipment, open or enclosed, located on the roof, i.e., bulkheads, water tanks and cooling towers;

(d) Attic floor space where the structural headroom exceeds seven and one-half feet;

(e) Interior balconies and mezzanines, where the structural headroom exceeds seven and one-half feet;

(f) Enclosed porches, but not terraces and breezeways; and

(g) Accessory uses other than floor space devoted exclusively to accessory off-street parking or loading.

(2) But shall not include the following: garages, open porches and open patios.

FLOOR/AREA RATIO. The numerical value obtained through dividing the gross floor area of a building or buildings by the total area of the lot or parcel of land on which the building is located.

GARAGE, PRIVATE. An accessory building or an accessory portion of the dwelling building intended for or used to store private passenger vehicles of the families resident upon the premises and in which no business, service or industry connected directly or indirectly with automotive vehicles may be carried on.

GREEN STRIP. An area containing only vegetation such as grass, trees, flowers, hedges and other related landscaping materials, and maintained expressly for that purpose.

HOTEL. A building which provides a common entrance, lobby and stairways, and in which lodging is commonly offered with or without meals for periods of less than a week.

LOADING SPACE. A space accessible from a street, alley or way in a building or a lot for the use of motor vehicles while loading or unloading merchandise or materials.

LOT. A parcel or portion of land in a subdivision or plat of land, separated from other parcels or portions by description, as on a subdivision of record or survey map, or by metes and bounds, for the purpose of sale or lease or separate use thereof.

LOT AREA. The area of a horizontal plane bounded by the front, side and rear lot lines.

LOT, CORNER. A lot at the junction of and abutting on two or more intersecting streets.

LOT, DEPTH. The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line of a lot measured within the lot boundaries.

LOT, INTERIOR. A lot other than a corner lot.

LOT LINE. A property boundary line of any lot held in a single or separate ownership.

LOT LINE, FRONT. The boundary of a lot which is along an existing or dedicated street. In the case of corner lots, the Zoning Official shall determine, but only for the purpose of this chapter, which lot line or lines shall be considered front lot lines; this determination shall not be construed as stating in which direction buildings shall face. In general, the narrower of the lines abutting streets shall be the front line for the above stated purpose.

LOT LINE, REAR. The boundary of a lot line which is most distant from and is approximately parallel to the front line.

LOT LINE, SIDE. Any boundary of a lot which is not a front or rear lot line.

LOT WIDTH. The horizontal distance between the side lot lines of a lot measured at the front yard setback line.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TERMINAL. A point of assembly or disassembly of people arriving or departing by means of public transportation.

REST HOME (NURSING HOME). A private home for the care of children, of the aged or infirm or a place of rest for those suffering bodily disorders. The terms NURSING HOME and REST HOME shall include NURSING HOMES, BOARDING CARE HOMES and CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS, licensed and regulated by the State Commissioner of Public Welfare, but shall not include maternity care homes or hospitals which are so regulated.

RETAIL SALE. A transfer of title or possession of personal property to a purchaser for a price.

RIGHT-OF-WAY. The property within the boundary of a street or highway easement, or the property owned by a governmental body for roadway purposes; generally the RIGHT-OF-WAY line is coincident with the property line of abutting property, and is the line generally used in calculating setbacks.

SERVICE STATION (GAS OR FILLING STATION). Any building or premises used for dispensing, sale or offering for sale at retail any automotive fuels or oils, and where battery, tire and other similar services may be rendered. When the dispensing, sale or offering for sale of any fuels or oils is incidental to the conduct of a public repair garage, the premises shall be classified as a public repair garage.

SETBACK. The minimum horizontal distance from a building, hedge, fence, wall or structure to the street or lot line.

SIGN. Any message-bearing device for visual communication that is used primarily for the purpose of bringing the subject thereof to the attention of the public, including any banner, pennant, valance or similar display.

STORY. Each of the stages, separated by floors, one above another, of which a building consists.

STREET. A public right-of-way for roadway purposes.

STREET LINE. The common boundary of the street right-of-way and abutting property.

STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS. Any change, other than incidental repairs, in the supporting members of a building or structure, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders or any substantial changes in the roof or exterior walls.

TOWNHOUSE/GARDEN APARTMENT. Three or more dwelling units horizontally attached in a linear or cluster arrangement, with the separate dwelling units within the building separated from each other by a wall or walls extending from foundation to roof. Characteristic features of TOWNHOUSES or GARDEN APARTMENTS are their private entrances and small private yards for outdoor living. A TOWNHOUSE or GARDEN APARTMENT development includes at least one large common area of open space for aesthetic or recreational purposes.

USED CAR LOT. Any land used or occupied for the purpose of buying and selling second-hand passenger cars and/or trucks.

VENDING MACHINE. Any self-service device which, upon insertion of a coin, coins or tokens, or by other similar means, dispenses unit servings of food or other goods, either in bulk or in packages without the necessity of replenishing the device between each vending operation.

YARD. An open space which is unoccupied and unobstructed, except as otherwise permitted by this chapter. A YARD extends along a lot line and at right angles to the lot line to a depth or width specified in the YARD regulations for the district in which the lot is located.

YARD, FRONT. A yard extending along the full width of the front lot line between the side lot lines.

YARD, REAR. A yard extending along the full width of the rear lot line between the two side lot lines.

YARD, SIDE. A yard extending along the side lot line between the front and rear lot lines.

(1989 Code, § 11.02) (Ord. 129, eff. 4-24-1976; Ord. 14, 2nd Ser., eff. 12-9-1994)

§ 153.003 PERMITTED USES.

Except as provided for in § 153.004, no building or premises may hereafter be used or occupied within a given land use district unless it is a permitted use in that district.

(1989 Code, § 11.03)

§ 153.004 NONCONFORMING USES.

Unless specifically provided otherwise herein, the lawful use of any land or building existing on the effective date of this chapter may be continued even if the use does not conform to the regulations of this chapter, provided:

(A) No nonconforming use of land shall be enlarged or increased or occupy a greater area of land than that occupied by the use on the effective date of this chapter;

(B) The nonconforming use shall not be moved to any other part of the parcel of land upon which the same was conducted on the effective date of this chapter;

(C) A nonconforming use of a building existing on the effective date of this chapter may be extended throughout the building, provided no structural alterations except those required by this chapter, law or other regulation are made therein;

(D) If a nonconforming use occupies a building and ceases for a continuous period of two years, any subsequent use of the building shall be in conformity to the use regulation specified by this chapter for the district in which the building is located;

(E) Any nonconforming use shall not be continued following 60% destruction of the building in which it was conducted by fire, wind, earthquake or explosion, according to the estimate of a qualified Building Inspector and as approved by the Council; and

(F) Upon the effective date of this chapter, where there is a nonconforming use of land on a parcel with no structure or where there is a nonconforming use of land (such as storage of equipment and supplies), on which there is a conforming structure, the use shall be terminated within two years following the effective date of this chapter.

(1989 Code, § 11.04)

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