The special uses hereinafter set forth shall be permitted by the Board, only after public hearing, in zones indicated in division (C) below, where such uses are essential or desirable to the public convenience or welfare or if the refusal of this permit would create an undue hardship on the applicant. No permit for a special use shall be granted if the Board shall find that such use is in conflict with any plan duly adopted by ordinance, or if the Board determines the proposed use will be detrimental to the surrounding area. In the exercise of its approval, the Board may impose such additional conditions regarding the location, character, and other features of the proposed building, structure, or use as may be reasonably required to further the purposes of this chapter.
(A) Considerations for any special use. In considering a petition for any permitted special use, the Board shall give due regard to the following factors as they will apply to the particular situation:
(1) The location and size of the use; the nature and intensity of the operations involved in or conducted in connection with it; its site layout, including parking space requirements; and its relation to streets giving access to it so that vehicular traffic to and from the use will not create undue hazards to the normal traffic of the vicinity, taking into account among other things, vehicular turning movement in relation to routes of traffic flow, relation to street intersections, sight distances, and relation to pedestrian traffic; and
(2) The nature, location, size, and site layout of the use so that it will be harmonious to the district in which it is situated.
(B) Authorization for continuance.
(1) All special uses, except sanitary landfills and incinerators, which existed upon the effective date of this chapter and which are located in a district which would permit such use in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall be regarded as conforming uses and may be continued, except that major changes in layout, expansion, or extension to such uses shall be subject to Board review and approval as required for special exception.
(2) All special uses hereafter authorized by the Board in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be regarded as conforming uses and may be continued, except that major changes in layout, expansion, or extension to such use shall be subject to Board review and approval as required for special uses.
(C) Permitted special uses. The Board may permit:
(1) Animal hospitals, veterinary clinics, animal boarding places, and kennels. In any A or F zone, a veterinary clinic, animal hospital, animal boarding place, or kennel, provided that no part of any building, pen, or run shall be within 300 feet of any adjoining residence;
(2) Antique shop. In any A zone, an antique shop, provided that any outdoor display of articles for sale shall be at least 50 feet from any street or property line;
(3) Child care home. In any A, R-1, and R-2 zone, a regulated child care home or nursery school, upon a finding by the Board that said use will not constitute a nuisance because of traffic, number of children being cared for, noise, or type of physical activity. A regulated child care home shall be any child care home or facility that because of its size, layout, or circumstance requires state regulation and a license to operate the home as required by any applicable state or federal regulation as from time to time amended. Any non-regulated child care home shall not require a special use as provided in this section;
(4) Sanitary landfills and incinerators. In any A or I-2 zone, a dump, sanitary landfill, and/or incinerator, upon a finding that said use will not constitute a nuisance because of traffic, noise, odors, smoke, or physical activity, provided that the area and setback requirements as specified by the Boards are complied with, provided that it meets the approval of the County Board of Health and the State Department of Environmental Management or the state agency exercising jurisdiction over the subject matter;
(5) Hospital, nursing home, sanitarium, asylum, or other institution. In any A and R-2 zone, a hospital, nursing home, sanitarium, asylum or other institution which cares for mental, drug, or alcoholic patients, or is a penal or correctional institution, subject to the conditions that:
(a) No part of any building in which inmates or patients are housed is, or is proposed to be, located less than 300 feet from any bounding lot or street line;
(b) Adequate off-street parking space is provided; and
(c) Protective, human-proof fencing is provided where necessary.
(6) Limited office uses in residential zones as a transitional use. In any R-2 zone, a dwelling on any lot or parcel of land immediately abutting along its side lot line or lying directly opposite across a street from any commercial or industrial district may be used for limited office purposes, provided that such use is in accordance with the following requirements.
(a) Such uses shall be confined to the offices of doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, realtors, engineers, and similar professional persons.
(b) Such uses shall not change or alter the exterior characteristics of the premises, and no nameplate or other sign exceeding two square feet in area shall be displayed on the premises.
(c) Wherever possible, in the opinion of the Board, all entrances, driveways, walks, parking areas, and signs incidental to such use shall be located on the side of the building nearest to the commercial or industrial zone.
(7) Recreational establishments and uses in any F, A, C, or I zone.
(a) Buildings and structures for clubs, fraternal organizations, lodges, youth organizations, adult organizations, fishing ponds, picnic areas, and private recreational developments all conducted for profit. The use of firearms is permitted if adequate precautions are taken to safeguard the public; and
(b) Transient amusement enterprise, medicine show or circuit, the chief activity of which is carried on for gain or profit.
(8) Special uses allied with agriculture.
(a) In any A zone, a trucking operation primarily engaged in commercial transportation of agricultural products other than those raised on the premises, feed mills where grain is processed on a commercial basis, poultry dressing establishments, and animal slaughter houses where animals other than those raised on the premises are processed on a wholesale basis, commercial welding shops, livestock sales, auction barns, commercial dairy for the processing, packaging and distribution of dairy products, and fertilizer blending and sales operations and farm equipment sales;
(b) In any A, F, and R-2 zone, a greenhouse and/or plant nursery, provided retail sales are limited to the sale of plants and the commodities used in the direct care of plants; and
(c) In any A zone, an agricultural labor camp (migrant worker camp) may be established or enlarged on a temporary permit basis. Said temporary permit shall be valid for a period of one calendar year, renewable only if the agricultural labor camp is maintained in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
(9) Sand, gravel, or clay pits; rock or stone quarries; mining; removal of earth or topsoil. In any zone, the use of vacant land for the removal of natural material or deposits including, but not limited to, sand, gravel, clay, rock or stone, earth, or topsoil. All such uses shall be subject to the following.
(a) All applications for said uses shall be accompanied by a map or plat showing the area proposed to be included in the extraction or removal of material; and a final grading plan which shows the existing ground elevations of the site and the land immediately adjacent thereto, the location and elevation of all bounding streets or roads, and the final elevations of the site at the termination of the operation with respect to the elevations of the immediately adjacent land and bounding streets or roads.
(b) Unless the Board specifies otherwise, the areas exposed by said operation shall not have a final cut slope of steeper than three feet horizontal to one foot vertical distance and shall be left suitable for development purposes in accordance with the final grading plan approved by the Board.
(c) Unless otherwise permitted by the Board of Zoning Appeals, temporary operating cut slopes steeper than one foot horizontal to one foot vertical shall in no case be brought closer to an exterior property line, right-of-way line of any street, road, way, or alley, as existing or as proposed in the Master Plan than 50 feet where a sight screen is provided, or 75 feet in the case where no provision is made for sight screening.
(d) Explosives shall be used only between sunrise and sunset except in the case of an emergency.
(e) All buildings, structures, or equipment shall be entirely removed from the property within one year after the expiration of the permit.
(f) Dikes or other barriers and drainage structures shall be provided to prevent silting of natural drainage channels or storm drains in the area surrounding said uses.
(g) Where required by the Board, final cut slopes shall be treated to prevent erosion; topsoil shall be replaced on such slopes to support vegetation; ground cover shall be planted within 12 months after a cut slope is excavated to its final position; and such ground cover shall be maintained for a period of time sufficient to provide vegetation of a density that will prevent erosion.
(h) Where required, suitable plant material shall be placed and maintained to screen slopes from public view. There shall be no open storage of discarded machinery, trash, or junk which would present an unsightly appearance.
(i) Quarries and sand and gravel pits shall be operated so as to keep dust and noise to a minimum, and access roads shall be maintained as dust-free surfaces from the public street to within 100 feet of the loading point within the quarry or sand and gravel pit when adjacent properties are used or zoned for residential purposes.
(j) Vehicles carrying materials from quarries or sand and gravel pits shall be loaded in such manner as to prevent spilling rock, gravel, sand, or other materials of a mineral nature while in transit upon roads and highways.
(k) Quarry or sand and gravel pit excavations which may penetrate near or into a usable water-bearing stratum shall be conducted in such a manner that any such stratum so approached or encountered will not be subject to pollution or contamination either during quarrying operations or the excavation of a sand and gravel pit or subsequent to the abandonment of said quarry or sand and gravel pit.
(10) Sawmill. In any F or A zone, a sawmill, for a period of not more than three years subject to renewal, for the cutting of timber grown in the immediate area, provided that no saw or other machinery shall be less than 100 feet from any lot or street line and that all power saws and machinery will be secured against tampering or locked when not in use;
(11) Tourist home. In any A and R-2 zone, a tourist home, provided that such use will meet all other applicable government regulations;
(12) Campgrounds. Campgrounds may be permitted in any C-2, C-3, and I-1 zones. They may also be permitted in the A and R-2 zones, only when the site is at least 300 feet from an existing adjacent residence. They may be permitted in the F zone, providing they receive approval from the State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water prior to the Board’s approval. After a public hearing, the decision of the County Board of Zoning Appeals shall determine whether or not the proposed site may be use for the purposes intended;
(13) Sexually-oriented businesses.
(a) In any zone, in addition to all other limitations of provisions permitted in the zoning ordinance, any property which will be used by an adult arcade, adult book store, adult novelty store, or adult video store, adult cabaret, adult motion picture theater, adult theater, nude model studio, sexual encounter center, or peep show facility shall:
1. Not be located within 1,000 feet of any property zoned for any residential use;
2. Not be located within 500 feet of any property permitted for use as a religious institution, public or private school containing any grade of kindergarten through grade 12; and
3. Not be located within 500 feet of any city park.
(b) The applicant shall have certified all distance measurements by a land surveyor registered by the state who shall certify that there are no residential properties, public or private schools with a grade kindergarten through twelfth grade, or any city park within the distances stated above.
(c) In addition to all other procedures listed above, the petitioner, for a special use under this section, shall send notices as called for in this subchapter to not only the abutting property owners, but the petitioners shall send notices by certified mail, return receipt requested to all property owners with property within 1,000 feet of the property requested for a special use under this section. A list of all such property owners shall be given to the County Plan Commission at the time of filing the application. Should the petitioner fail to comply with the notice requirements herein, before the second regular meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals following the date the petition is filed, the petition shall be withdrawn by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
(d) The distances provided under this section of this subchapter shall be measured by following a straight line, without regard to intervening buildings, structures, or other obstacles, from the nearest point of the property upon which the proposed use is to be located, to the nearest point of the property or land use district boundary line from which the proposed land use is to be separated.
(14) Mobile homes in commercial zones. A mobile home may be moved onto a lot, plot, or tract of land and be used as a dwelling in any C-1, C-2, or C-3 Zone. Prior to moving any mobile home onto any lot, the owner, or his or her agent, shall first obtain an improvement location permit. The Zoning Administrator may issue the permit subject to the following conditions.
(a) Each mobile home shall be located on a lot and shall be the only principal structure on the lot.
(b) The mobile home shall be at least 300 feet from an adjoining R-1 or R-2 permitted use.
(c) The minimum lot and yard requirement shall be the same as required in § 153.088.
(d) Each mobile home shall contain a flush toilet, sleeping accommodations, a tub or shower bath, kitchen facilities, and plumbing and electrical connections designed for and attached to appropriate external systems.
(e) Personal goods and articles, other than cars, fuel tanks, boats, and similar items too large to reasonably enclose shall be stored on the lot only in a completely enclosed structure.
(f) All health and sanitary regulations of the county and the State Boards of Health are met; and
(15) Mobile homes in agricultural and industrial zones. Mobile homes, mobile home offices and semi-trailers as permanent storage sheds in any A, I-1, and I-2 zone, provided they are erected per the following conditions:
(a) Be placed onto and securely attached to a permanent underfloor foundation;
(b) Have wheels and axles removed; and
(c) In an A zone, items of an agricultural nature may only be stored.
(Ord. 2005-01, passed 2-17-2005) Penalty, see § 153.999