For purposes of this Zoning Code the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings ascribed to them respectively:
Abutting, Adjacent, or Adjoining: Having a common border with or being separated from such a common border by a right-of-way, alley or easement.
Accessory Buildings: A subordinate building, located on the same lot as the main building, the use of which is naturally or normally incidental to that of the dominant use of the main building or land.
Accessory Living Quarters: An accessory building used solely as the temporary dwelling of guests of the occupants of the premises; such dwelling having no kitchen facilities and not rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling unit.
Accessory Use: A use conducted on the same lot as the primary use of the structure to which it is related; a use that is clearly incidental to, and customarily found in connection with, such primary use.
Alley: A way that affords only secondary means of access to property abutting thereon or any public way or thoroughfare more than 10 feet, but less than 16 feet, in width, which has been dedicated to the public for public use.
Alteration: Any change, addition, alteration, or rearrangement in construction or type of occupancy, or change in the structural parts of a building such as walks, windows, partitions, columns, or girders, or the moving from one location or position to another.
Apartment: A room or suite of rooms intended, designed or used as a residence by a single family. (See Dwelling & Family)
Apartment House: A residential building designed or used for three or more dwelling units.
Apparel Stores: Stores selling or accepting for sale clothing at retail.
Automobile Laundry: A building, or portion thereof, containing facilities for washing automobiles and which may include the use of a chain conveyor, blower, steam cleaning device, or other mechanical means.
Automobile Accessory Stores: Stores engaged primarily in the business of selling tires, batteries, seat covers, and other automobile accessories.
Automotive Repair, Major: General repair, rebuilding or reconditioning of motor vehicles, trailers, engines or transmissions; collision services, including body, frame or fender straightening or repair; overall painting or paint shop; and steam cleaning.
Automotive Repair, Minor: Incidental minor repairs, including replacement of parts and motor service to passenger cars and trucks not exceeding one and one-half (1½) tons rated capacity, but not including any operation named under "automobile repair, major". Muffler repair shops are included in this definition.
Automotive Sales, Rental, and Lease: An open area, other than a street, used for the display, sale, rental or lease of new or used motor vehicles or trailers, in operable condition, and where no repair work is done.
Automotive Service Station: A structure and surrounding land used for the storage and sale of petroleum fuel primarily to passenger vehicles and for accessory uses such as the sale and installation of lubricants, accessories, or supplies, the incidental washing of motor vehicles and the performing of tune-ups, tire and brake changing and repair.
Bakeries, Retail: Stores engaged in the sale at retail of bread, cake, cookies, and other similar items including the baking of such items on the premises, but excluding the baking of such items for delivery to wholesale customers or for door-to-door sale or delivery to retail customers.
Banks and Financial Institutions: Commercial banks, savings and loan associations, brokerage offices, and other similar financial institutions, but not including pawnshops.
Basement: A story partly underground and having at least one-half of its height above the average level of the adjoining ground. A basement shall be counted as a story if subdivided and used for dwelling or business purposes other than for the quarters of a watchman or janitor.
Bed and Breakfast: A dwelling wherein lodging and food is provided by a resident family primarily for transients or those individuals remaining at the dwelling for less than seven consecutive nights as distinguished from a boarding house.
Block: The land adjoining one (1) side of a street between two (2) consecutive junctions of said street with street, railway rights-of-way or waterways crossing or meeting the side of the street.
Block Face: A single side of a dedicated street running from street to street including parcels and public right-of-way.
Boarding House: A dwelling containing a single dwelling unit and not more than 10 guestrooms or suites of rooms, where lodging is provided with or without meals, for compensation for more than one week.
Buffer Strip: A designated area of land between two abutting zoning districts which is landscaped in such a way as to minimize the visual and auditory impact of a higher intensity use from a neighboring, less intensive use.
Building: Any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
Building Height: The vertical distance above the average existing grade measured to the highest point of the building. The height of a stepped or terraced building or a building located on sloping terrain shall be the maximum height of any segment of the building.
Building Line: The perimeter of that portion of a building or structure nearest the property line, but excluding open steps and ornamental features projecting from the walls of the building or structure.
Building, Principal: The building housing the principal activity performed on a lot.
Candlepower: The amount of light that will illuminate a surface one (1) foot distant from a light source to an intensity of one (1) foot-candle. Maximum (peak) candlepower is the largest amount of candlepower emitted by any lamp, light source, or laminar.
Canopy: Any structure, movable or stationary, attached to and deriving its support from structural members or posts or other means independent of a connected structure for the purpose of shielding a platform, stoop or sidewalk from the elements, or a roof-like structure of a permanent nature which projects from the wall of a structure and overhangs the public way.
Carport: An accessory building or portion of a main building having a roofed space and at least one side open to the weather, and designed or used for the storage of motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building.
Cellar: That portion of a building between the floor and ceiling which is wholly or partly below grade and having more than one-half of its height below grade.
Child Day Care Center: A building, structure, place, location, or any combination thereof, and other physical property therewith included, used for the purpose of housing and caring for children and infants unaccompanied by parents that are not of school-age or school-aged children during after school hours, but not providing any overnight accommodations. For the purposes of this definition, home-operated child care centers shall include all children that are residents of the home, as well as any children that are non-residents when counting the number of children in regular attendance at a home- operated child care center. Residents that have children, but are not taking care of non- resident children in their home, shall be excluded from the definition of home-operated child care centers.
Clinic: An establishment where patients who are not lodged overnight are admitted for examination and treatment by a group of physicians or dentists practicing together.
Club: A building or portion thereof or premises owned, or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons for a social, educational or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit or to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.
Community Center: A place where public, cultural, educational and recreational services and activities are offered.
Community Oriented Residential Social Service Facility: A facility, which provides resident services to a group of individuals of whom three (3) or more are unrelated. These individuals are mentally retarded, handicapped, aged, or disabled, are undergoing rehabilitation, and are provided services to meet their needs. This category includes uses licensed, supervised, or under contract by any federal, state, county, or other political subdivision. "Community oriented residential social service facilities" (residential homes) includes, but is not limited to, the following listed categories:
1. Adult Care Facility: An adult family home or an adult group home. For purposes of this section, any residence, facility, institution, hotel, congregate housing project, or similar facility that provides accommodations and supervision to three (3) to sixteen (16) unrelated adults, at least three (3) are provided personal care services, is an adult care facility.
a. Adult Family Home: A residence or facility that provides accommodations to three (3) to five (5) unrelated adults and supervision and personal care services, to at least three (3) of those adults.
b. Adult Group Home: A residence or facility that provides accommodations to six (6) to sixteen (16) unrelated adults and supervision and personal care services, to at least three (3) of those adults.
2. Residential Facility: A home or facility in which a mentally retarded or developmentally disabled person resides, except the home of a relative or legal guardian in which a mentally retarded or developmentally disabled person resides, a respite care home, county home or district home, or a dwelling in which mentally retarded or developmentally disabled residents are in an independent living arrangement or are being provided supported living.
a. Family Home: A residential facility that provides room and board, personal care, habilitation services, and supervision in a family setting for at least six (6) but not more than eight (8) mentally retarded or developmentally disabled persons.
b. Group Home: A residential facility that provides room and board, personal care, habilitation services, and supervision in a family setting for at least nine (9) but not more than sixteen (16) mentally retarded or developmentally disabled persons.
c. Foster Family Home: A residential facility that provides room and board, personal care, habilitation services, and supervision in a family setting for not more than five (5) mentally retarded or developmentally disabled persons. Residential homes for aged would also be included under this category.
3. Social Care Home: A residential home for three (3) to sixteen (16) children or adolescents who lack social maturity or have emotional problems but who have not been judged delinquent. Residency may be permanent or transient.
4. Halfway House: A facility owned and/or operated by an agency or an individual authorized to provide housing, food, treatment or supportive services for not more than sixteen (16) individuals on supervised release from the criminal justice system and who have been assigned by a court to a residential home in lieu of placement in a correctional institution; or for individuals who have been institutionalized and released from the criminal justice system or who have had alcohol or drug problems which make operation in society difficult and who require the protection of a supervised group setting.
5. Intermediate Care Home: A facility owned and/or operated by an agency or an individual for not more than sixteen (16) children or adolescents who have been so judged delinquent and have been assigned by a court to a residential home in lieu of placement in a correctional institution.
6. Assisted Living Facility: a residence for the elderly that provide rooms, meals, personal care and supervision of self-administered medication. The facility may provide other services such as recreational activities and transportation.
Contiguous: Attached or touching.
Construction Vehicle: Any off-road vehicle designed by the manufacturer to be used in the conduct of construction activity, rather than as a vehicle to be used to casually carry passengers, and is not licensed for use on the public right of way.
Density: The number of dwelling units that may be constructed per acre or per square foot of zoning lot area.
Development: The construction of a new building or other structure on a lot, the relocation of an existing building on another lot, or the use of open land for a new use.
District: Any section of the City of Ashtabula for which the zoning regulations governing the use of buildings and premises, the height of buildings, the size of yards, the off-street parking and loading requirements, and the intensity of use are uniform.
Driveway: A private road containing a permanently surfaced area, the use of which is limited to persons residing, employed or otherwise using or visiting the parcel on which it is located.
Drug Paraphernalia Facility: Any business establishment that sells or trades for any value whatsoever; instruments commonly associated with the sale or use of illegal drugs, such as a bong or smoking device.
Dwelling: A building designed, or used as, the living quarters for one or more families. “Dwelling”, “single-family dwelling”, “two-family dwelling” or “multiple-family dwelling” shall not be deemed to include motel, hotel, or rooming house. A dwelling may include a manufactured home provided it meets all of the following requirements:
1. The manufactured home is affixed to a permanent foundation and connected to appropriate utilities.
2. The manufactured home, excluding any addition, has a width of at least twenty-two feet at one point, a length of at least twenty-two feet at one point. The total living area of the manufactured home, excluding garages, porches, or attachments, must be at least equal to or greater than any minimum dwelling size applicable within the applicable zoning district.
3. The manufactured home has a minimum 3:12 residential roof pitch, conventional residential siding, and a six-inch minimum eave overhang, including appropriate guttering.
4. The manufactured home that meets the requirements of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Dwelling, Single-Family: A building designed exclusively for and occupied by one family; minimum of 1,000 square feet.
Dwelling, Two-Family: A building designed exclusively for or converted for occupancy by two families living independently of each other.
Dwelling, Multiple-Family: A building or portion thereof designed exclusively for or converted for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other. The dwelling units in a "multiple-family" dwelling are defined as follows:
1. Efficiency Unit: A dwelling unit containing at least 350 square feet of floor area, and consisting of not more than one room in addition to a kitchen, dining room, and necessary sanitary facilities.
2. One Bedroom Unit: A dwelling unit containing a minimum floor area of at least 500 square feet, consisting of not more than two rooms in addition to a kitchen, dining room, and necessary sanitary facilities.
3. Two Bedroom Unit: A dwelling unit containing a minimum floor area of 700 square feet, consisting of not more than three rooms in addition to a kitchen, dining room, and necessary sanitary facilities.
4. Three Bedroom Unit: A dwelling unit wherein, for each room in addition to the three rooms permitted for a two-bedroom unit, there shall be provided an additional area of 200 square feet to the minimum floor area of 700 square feet.
Emergency Facilities: See Hospital.
Erected: Built, constructed, altered, reconstructed, moved on, or any physical operation on the premises which is required for construction. Excavation, fill, drainage, and the like shall be considered a part of erection.
Essential Services: The location, erection, construction, reconstruction, change, alteration, maintenance, removal, use or enlargement by City or other Governmental agencies, underground or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water generation, transmission or distribution systems; including buildings, structures, towers, poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants and other similar equipment or accessories and the use of land in connection therewith, for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or City or other governmental agencies or for the public health, safety and morals.
Excavation: Includes any breaking of ground, except common household gardening and ground care.
Family: One or more persons occupying a dwelling and living as a single housekeeping unit and doing their own cooking on the premises, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse, rooming house or hotel as herein defined.
Fence: A free standing structure of metal, masonry, composition, or wood or any combination thereof resting on or partially buried in the ground and rising above ground level, and used for confinement, screening, or partition purposes. Fences shall be maintained in a neat and orderly manner and shall not consist of discarded materials or other materials such as corrugated metal, crushed rock, garage doors, and drywall
Financial Institutions: means an establishment which the principal use or purpose of which is the provision of financial services including, but not limited to: banks, accessory facilities for automated teller machines (ATM’s) credit unions, savings and loan institutions and mortgage companies.
Fireworks: Any combustible or explosive compositions or any substance or combination of substances or article prepared for the purpose of producing a visible or an audible effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration, or detonation.
Floor Area Ratio: The floor area ratio of the building or other structure on any lot is determined by dividing the gross floor area of such building or structure by the area of the lot on which the building or structure is located. When more than one (1) building or structure is located on a lot, then the floor area ratio is determined by dividing the total floor area of all buildings or structures by the area of the lot, or, in the case of planned developments, by the net site area. The floor area ratio requirements, as set forth under each zoning district, shall determine the maximum floor area allowable for a building or other structure (including both principal and accessory buildings) in direct ratio to the gross area of the lot.
Floor Area, Gross: The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building or buildings measured from the exterior of walls or the centerline of walls separating two buildings. In particular, "gross floor area" includes basement space; elevator shafts or stairwells; floor space for mechanical equipment; penthouses, balconies, mezzanines, enclosed porches, attic floor space providing structural head room of seven feet six inches, and open porches, terraces, and breezeways where more than 50 percent of the perimeter of such terrace, breezeway, or open porch is enclosed.
Floor Area, Useable: For the purposes of computing parking requirements, that area used for or intended to be used for the sale of merchandise or services, or for use to serve patrons, clients, patients, or customers. Such floor area which is used or intended to be used principally for the storage or processing of merchandise, hallways, or for utilities or sanitary facilities shall be excluded from the computation of usable floor area.
Frontage: All 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 the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead end of the street.
Garage, Private: An accessory building designed or used for the storage of not more than four motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the buildings to which it is accessory, and not storing more than one commercial vehicle or any vehicle which exceeds a two-ton capacity.
Garage, Public: A building or portion thereof, other than a private or storage garage, designed or used for equipping, servicing, repairing, hiring, selling or storing motor- driven vehicles.
Garage, Storage or Parking: A building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for prearranged term storage, of motor-driven vehicles, as distinguished from daily storage furnished transients, and within which motor fuels and oils may be sold, but no motor- driven vehicles are equipped, repaired, hired or sold.
Historical Registration
1. National Register Eligible: A property that meets all criteria for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and is listed as eligible on the Ohio Historic Inventory.
2. National Register Structure or District: A property or area that has been added to the official list of properties significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, or culture for use in local preservation planning efforts.
Home Occupation: Occupation or activity entirely incidental to residential use when carried on by a member of the immediate family residing on the premises and in conformity with the conditions set forth herein.
Home Appearance Standards: These standards are created to ensure the health, safety, and general welfare of the City. They will further the equitable treatment of all housing construction types and provide affordable housing for a larger segment of the City population. Additionally, these regulations will improve the overall appearance of the housing stock and ensure more durable and safer homes for all residents.
1. Appearance and Design Standards for Single Family Housing: Sections H-2 through H-5 inclusive of these definitions shall apply to the location, construction, and maintenance of all single family housing in all districts.
2. Standards: These regulations apply to all single family housing units in all districts including Manufactured Homes, Modular Homes and Site Built Homes.
a. The minimum floor area of the single family dwelling unit shall be at least 1,000 square feet of living area. The garage portion of the structure is not included in the living area total calculation.
b. The minimum width of all single family dwelling units shall be at least 20 feet.
c. All dwelling units shall have a minimum roof overhang of at least twelve (12) inches.
d. All dwelling units shall be double pitched and have a pitch of at least 3 in 12.
e. All dwelling units shall have roof material that is generally used in residential construction including approved wood, clay, slate, asphalt composition shingles, and fiberglass composition shingles. Materials excluded are corrugated aluminum, corrugated fiberglass and metal roof materials. The materials are applicable to all primary buildings, accessory buildings, garages and carports.
f. Exterior siding of all dwelling units cannot have a high-gloss finish (such as polished metal but not semi-gloss paint) and must be residential in appearance. This including but not limited to clapboards, simulated clapboards such as conventional vinyl or metal siding, wood shingles, shakes, or similar material, but excluding smooth, ribbon or corrugated metal or plastic panels.
g. The home must be placed on a permanent foundation that complies with the CABO Basic Building Code and be inspected by the Ashtabula City Department of Building Regulations.
h. The hitch, axles and wheels of any manufactured home must be removed.
i. The dwelling unit must be oriented on the lot so that its long axis is parallel with the road right-of-way. A perpendicular or diagonal placement may be permitted if there is a building addition or substantial landscaping so that the narrow dimension of the unit, as so modified and facing the street, is no less than 50 percent of the unit’s long dimension.
j. The lot must be landscaped to ensure compatibility with the surrounding properties.
k. All fuel oil supply systems shall be constructed and installed meeting all applicable building and safety codes. Any fuel supply tanks or bottled gas tanks must be fenced or screened so as not to be clearly visible from the street or abutting properties. All fuel supplies must be located in the side or rear of the lot.
l. Uniformity with Respect to Granting of Variances: The granting of variances from the requirements of these standards with respect to the siting of single-family housing, their design or appearance, shall be uniformly and equitably done, irrespective of the fact that the structure proposed for such siting is a site-build structure, modular or manufactured home.
Home, Manufactured: Any non-self propelled vehicle transportable in one or more sections. When in the traveling mode, is eight feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet. The home is built on a permanent chassis and originally designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. Any such structure as defined in the preceding sentences shall be a Manufactured Home for purposes of this definition, whether or not such structure is subject to taxation under Section 4503.06 of the Ohio Revised Code or its successor provisions as a manufactured home, and whether or not such structure is permanently attached to a site and no longer has the potential for mobility, by reason of, but not limited to, lack or surrender of any manufactured home title, physical alteration, such as removal of towing tongue, and/or situation on property owned by the owner of such structure. Calculations used to determine the number of square feet in a structure are based on the structure’s exterior dimensions measured at the largest horizontal projections when erected on site. These dimensions include all expandable rooms, cabinets and other projections containing interior space, but do not include bay windows. This dwelling unit shall bear a label certifying that it is built in compliance with the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards (see 24 CFR 3280 for legal definition).
Home, Modular: Factory-built housing certified as meeting the Ohio Building Code as applicable to modular housing. Once certified by the Ashtabula City Department of Building Regulations, modular homes shall be subject to the same standards as site-built homes.
Home, Site Built: Dwelling unit constructed on the lot in accordance to the Ohio Building Code and inspected/ approved by the Ashtabula City Department of Building Regulations.
Hospital: A facility that provides accommodations and continuous services for the sick and injured which may include pediatrics, obstetrical, medical, surgical, psychiatric or extended care.
Hotel: A building in which lodging or boarding and lodging are provided and offered to the public for compensation, and in which ingress and egress to and from all rooms are 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 rooming house or an apartment, which are herein separately defined.
Institution: A building occupied by a nonprofit corporation or a nonprofit establishment for public use.
Junk Yard: The use of more than 200 square feet of the area of any lot, whether inside or outside a building, where waste or used or secondhand materials are bought and sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled, or handled. Including, but not limited to, scrap iron and other metals, paper, rags, rubber tires, and bottles.
Kennel, Commercial: Any lot or premises on which three or more dogs, cats, or other household pets are either permanently or temporarily boarded. The term shall also include any lot or premises where household pets are bred and sold.
Landscaping: The improvement of a lot, parcel or tract of land with grass and shrubs and/or trees. Landscaping may include pedestrian walks, flowerbeds, ornamental objects such as fountains, statuary, and other similar natural and artificial objects designed and arranged to produce an aesthetically pleasing effect.
Laundromat: An establishment providing washing, drying or ironing machines for hire to be used by customers on the premises.
Loading Space: A space within the main building, or on the same lot therewith; providing for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks and having a minimum dimension of twelve feet by thirty-five feet and a vertical clearance of at least fourteen feet.
Lot: A parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by a use or permitted in this chapter; including one main building together with its accessory buildings and the open spaces and parking spaces required by this chapter, and having its principal frontage upon a street or upon an officially approved place.
Lot, Corner: A lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.
Lot, Double Frontage: A lot having a frontage on two nonintersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.
Lot of Record: A lot which is part of a subdivision, the map of which has been recorded in the office of the County Recorder, or a parcel of land, the deed of which was recorded in the office of the County Recorder.
Lot Width: The width of the lot at the front building setback line.
Minimum Building Setback Line: A line between the front and rear lot line and parallel to the street right-of-way line, and at such distance from the street right-of-way line, as required by the minimum front yard depth in the district in which it is situated.
Minimum Living Area: For the purpose of computing the minimum allowable floor area in a residential dwelling unit, the sum of the horizontal areas of each story of the building measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls or from the centerline of walls separating two buildings. The floor area measurement is exclusive of areas devoted to basements, unfinished attics, attached garages, breezeways, and enclosed and unenclosed porches.
Mini-Warehouse: A facility which provides self-storage units of varying sizes only within one or more completely enclosed buildings leased or rented for varying periods of time.
Manufacturing: The assembling, altering, converting, fabricating, finishing, and processing or treatment of a product.
Manufacturing, Light: The assembling, altering, converting, fabricating, finishing, processing or treatment of a product which is conducted wholly within an enclosed building and one which does not emit odors, glare, heat, vibrations, noises or hazardous processes outside of said enclosed building.
Mixed Uses: Two or more permitted uses within the same building or structure.
Motel: A facility with exterior room entrances, offering transient lodging accommodations for a daily rate to the general public and possibly providing additional services such as: restaurants, taverns, meeting rooms and recreational facilities.
Motor Freight Terminal: A building or area in which freight brought by truck is assembled and/or stored for routing in intra-state and interstate shipment by truck or in which semi-trailers, including tractor and /or trailer units, and other trucks are parked or stored.
Mural, Wall: Any pictorial or graphic representation painted on an outside wall, facade, or other surface of a building or structure other than a sign structure, containing thirty-two (32) or more square feet of surface area and not constituting a sign as herein defined.
Nonconforming Building or Structure: A lawfully existing building or other structure containing a lawful residential, business, commercial, institutional or industrial use which does not comply with the applicable lot size requirements, building bulk limitations or off-street parking requirements.
Nonconforming Use: Either a lawfully existing use of part or all of a building or other structure or a lawfully existing use of land not involving a building or structure, which is not allowed by the applicable district regulations of this Zoning Code.
Nursery: A space, building, structure, or combination thereof, for the storage of live trees, shrubs, or plants offered for retail sale on the premises, including products used for gardening or landscaping. The term does not include any space, building, or structure used for the sale of fruits, vegetables, or Christmas trees.
Nursery, Day Care: See Child Day Care Center.
Nursing Home: See Community Oriented Residential Social Service Facility.
Office: A building or part of a building where books and records are prepared and kept or which serves as a headquarters of a business or organization, but shall not be used for the sale of any tangible item or service.
Open Space: Any part of a site, including courts and yards, which is open and unobstructed from its lowest level to the sky, and is accessible to all residents on the site. The term does not include parts of a roof or that portion of a building containing dwelling units.
Open Space Development: A subdivision of land which has both individual building sites and common open space areas, such as parks and recreational areas; and is planned, designed, and organized as a unified development capable of providing a variety of residential dwellings.
Open Storefront: A business establishment so developed that service to the patron may be extended beyond the walls of the structure not requiring the patron to enter the structure. The term does not include automobile repair stations or Gasoline service stations.
Parking:
1. Off-Street Parking Lot: A facility providing vehicular parking spaces, along with adequate drives and aisles, off the street and outside the right-of-way line, for maneuvering and providing entrances and exits so as to provide parking for more than two vehicles.
2. Parking Area: An open, unoccupied space used or required for use for the parking of automobiles, exclusively and in which no gasoline or automobile accessories are sold, no other business is conducted and no fees are charged.
3. Parking Lot: An open area used exclusively for the temporary storage of motor vehicles and within which motor fuels and oils may be sold and fees charged, but no vehicles are to be equipped, repaired, rented or sold.
4. Parking Space: A surfaced area, enclosed in the main building or in an accessory building, or unenclosed, exclusive of driveways. It is permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one automobile and connected with a street or alley by a surfaced driveway, which affords satisfactory ingress and egress for automobiles.
Parks: An area opened to the general public and reserved for recreational or scenic purposes.
Patio: A covered or uncovered paved area or deck that adjoins a residential structure, the height of which is less than 8 inches above the average level of the adjoining ground.
Place: An open unoccupied space or public or private thoroughfare other than a street or alley permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.
Place of religious worship: A use or building owned or maintained by religious organizations for social, civic or philanthropic purposes, or the purpose for which persons regularly assemble for worship.
Professional Services: Activities conducted in an office, store or other place of business providing services of a recognized profession such as a real estate agent, attorney at law, accountant, architect, engineer, etc.
Public Utility: Any person, firm, corporation or governmental agency or board, excluding the City, fully authorized to furnish, and furnishing under governmental regulations to the public, electricity, gas, steam, telephone, telegraphy, transportation, sewer, water, television cable or utility companies.
Recreation, Active: The improvement of the land, open to the general public, which provides facilities serving the recreational needs of the community. Active recreation areas may include, but are not limited to public swimming pools, athletic fields, tennis courts, community centers and playgrounds.
Recreation, Commercial: Land or facilities operated as a business and which are open to the general public for a fee that may include, but which are not limited to roller-blade rental, billiard parlors, go-cart tracks, amusement parks, pay to play athletic fields, golf courses or sports stadiums.
Recreation, Non-Commercial: Any land or facility operated by a governmental agency or a non-profit organization which is open to the public or members of the non-profit organization, without a fee, that may include, but is not limited to: picnic areas, bike/hike trails or athletic fields.
Recreation, Passive: The use of unimproved land, in its natural state and open to the general public, which provides for a variety of activities for the outdoor exercise and activity needs of the community. Passive recreation may include, but is not limited to unimproved backpacking trails and hiking trails and primitive camping areas.
Recreational Vehicles: Travel trailers, pickup trucks with slide-in campers, motorized homes, fold-tent trailers, and boats and boat trailers.
Religious Organizations: Any group that is organized to assemble for worship.
Restaurant: An establishment with table service whose principal business is the selling of unpacked food and beverages to the customer in a ready to consume state, individual servings, or in non-disposable containers.
1. Carry Out: A restaurant or food dispensing facility, where the customer obtains food or beverage at a carry-out window or counter and consumes such food either within a building provided, an authorized accessory parking lot or elsewhere. Stated facilities must dispense over 15% of its food in carryout containers. Or a facility which packages food or beverages for off-premises consumption and prohibits such consumption on the premises, including in an accessory parking lot, shall not be considered a carryout restaurant.
2. Fast Food: An establishment whose principal business is the sale of prepared or rapidly prepared food, in disposable containers, where service is not provided at the table, directly to the customer in a ready to consume state.
3. Restaurant With Alcoholic Beverages: An establishment offering food and beverages including liquor, beer, and wine for consumption inside a building or portion thereof and:
a. Which is not operated as a dining room in connection with a hotel, motel or private club;
b. Where hot meals are habitually prepared on premises, sold and served as the principal business of the establishment and in which the floor area devoted to the sale of alcoholic beverages does not exceed twenty percent (20%) of gross floor area;
c. Where alcoholic beverages are normally sold or served to complement meals or while awaiting meal service;
d. Such meaning excludes drugstores, confectionery stores, lunch stands and nightclubs.
Rehabilitation: To bring to current standard code.
Religious, Cultural and Fraternal Activities: A use or building owned or maintained by organized religious organizations or nonprofit associations for social, civic or philanthropic purposes or the purpose for which persons regularly assemble for worship.
Restoration: The act of bringing back the property to a former condition or a constructive activity in keeping with the style of architecture of the structure.
Retail Sales: The sale of goods, merchandise, and commodities for consumption or use by the purchaser.
Right of Way: Land which is reserved, used or designated by the City of Ashtabula for future use which may include but shall not be limited to: utility easements, quasi-public easements, easements, streets, walkways or bikeways, drainage, utilities, etc.
Screening: Solid walls, solid fences, and/or dense living hedges for the purpose of concealing from view the area behind such structures or evergreen vegetation. When fencing is used for screening, it shall be not less than six (6) feet or more than eight (8) feet in height.
Setback Line: Where a front or side yard is required along a street, the setback line shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the right-of-way line of the street and a line parallel to the right-of-way line of the street from which any required yard shall be measured.
Stadium: Any land use deemed to meet the unique requirements of a public facility requiring nighttime visibility.
Stadium Light: Any luminaries, or group of luminaries, which is designed to illuminate the playing surface of a stadium facility.
Story: That portion of a building, other than a cellar or basement (see basement) included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
Story, Half: A partial story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than four feet above the floor of such story, except that any partial story used for residence purposes, other than for a janitor or caretaker or his family, or by a family occupying the floor immediately below it, shall be deemed a full story.
Street: An improved public right-of-way which provides a public means of access to abutting property. The term "street" shall include avenue, drive, circle, court, road, parkway, boulevard, highway, thoroughfare or other similar term, except alley.
Street Line: A dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street.
Structure: Anything constructed or erected, the use of which something having a permanent location on the ground, including, but without limiting, the generality of the foregoing to advertising signs, billboards and backstops for tennis courts.
Structural Alterations: Any changes in the supporting members of a structure, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders, other than a change in doors or windows or a minor alteration which affects primarily the appearance and not the life of the structure.
Swimming Pool: A water filled enclosure, permanently constructed or portable, having a depth of more than eighteen (18) inches below the level of the surrounding land, or an above surface pool of more than thirty (30) inches in depth, designed, used and maintained for swimming and bathing.
Tavern: An establishment serving alcoholic beverages in which the principal business is the sale of such beverages at retail for consumption on the premises and where food may be available for consumption on the premises.
Thoroughfare Plan: The Official Thoroughfare Plan of, and as adopted by, the City of Ashtabula Planning Commission, establishing the location and official right-of-way widths of principal highways and streets in the City, together with all amendments thereto subsequently adopted.
Use: Any purpose for which a building, structure or a tract of land may be designed, arranged, intended, maintained, or occupied; also, any activity, occupation, business or operation carried on, or intended to be carried on, in a building, structure or on a tract of land.
Variance: A grant of relief from the requirements of this Zoning Code which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this Zoning Code.
Wall: A masonry structure intended to act as an enclosure, barrier or divider along a property line.
Wholesale: An establishment or place of business primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, or professional business users; to other wholesalers; or acting as agents or brokers and buying merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such individuals or companies.
Yard: An open space between a building, or between the portion of the lot which is used for storage or servicing purposes and the adjoining lot lines which is unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided herein, and measured as the minimum horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building.
Yard, Required Front: A yard extending across the front of a lot between the side yard lines and measured between the street or place line and the main building, or any projections thereof other than the uncovered porches. The front yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimensions. No solid fence, structure or planting higher than three feet in height or which will obstruct any view shall be permitted in the first fifteen feet adjacent to the street lot line of the required front yard.
Yard, Required Rear: A yard extending across the rear of a lot between the side lot lines and measured from the rear lot line the required distance toward the main building. Accessory buildings constructed in the required rear yard shall maintain a distance of five feet from the rear lot lines and the side lot lines.
Yard, Required Side: A yard between the main building and the sideline of the lot and extending from the front lot line to the required rear yard.
Zero, Lot Line: The location of a building on a lot in such a manner that one or more of the building's sides rests directly on a lot line. Also, for the purposes of this Zoning Code, a zero lot line shall include buildings that are built with a shared wall resting on a lot line, and the shared wall shall be considered the zero lot-line. If the building is intended to be owned by two separate owners on both sides of the shared wall as in the case of a two-family dwelling with each dwelling having separate ownership.
Zoning Code: Ordinances 5122 and 5123, passed December 4, 1961 and as amended, which are codified as Titles One to Seven of this Part Eleven – Planning and Zoning Code.
(2004 Code)