(a) Purpose; Declaration of Nuisance. For the purpose of protecting the public health, safety and general welfare, for the enhancement of the visual environment of the City and for the improvement of residential uses in the City, the parking, storage or leaving unattended of any motor vehicle, truck, recreational vehicles and/or trailers, tractor, or similar property on any vacant lot or in any front yard on any premises in the City is hereby declared to be a nuisance and is prohibited.
(b) Application of Chapter. This chapter shall be applicable to premises located in the City that are used for residential purposes or upon which the structure located thereon is used for dwelling purposes, as well as to all vacant parcels of land upon which no structure exists, unless the use thereof for such purposes is permitted by other provisions of this Zoning Code and except as herein provided. The lawful use of required front yards or vacant lots which do not conform to this chapter shall be discontinued forthwith.
(c) Exceptions to Chapter. This chapter shall not apply to:
(1) Residential premises in Agricultural Districts when the land is also used for farming or agricultural purposes;
(2) Automobile parking on an improved driveway or turnabout. An improved driveway or turnabout is constructed of concrete, asphalt, or brick, or uniformly surfaced with macadam, gravel, or cinder not less than six inches thick in compacted depth. If required parking spaces equal four or more vehicles, use and construction of parking spaces shall conform with use and construction requirements outlined in Section 1261.01(c).
(3) A motor vehicle with a valid State handicapper's sticker or plate when parked in the front yard of any corner lot.
(d) Driveways; Turnabouts. An improved driveway shall lead from an authorized curb cut to a garage, carport or other required parking space or turnabout. A turnabout abutting an improved driveway in the front yard may be used for automobile parking only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) The turnabout shall only be used by motor vehicles for intermittent parking, loading and unloading, turning around, washing, or waxing.
(2) The turnabout shall be improved and with access exclusively from the improved driveway.
(3) The turnabout, together with the abutting improved driveway, shall not:
A. Exceed a total width of twenty-four feet from paving edge to paving edge; and
B. Occupy in excess of 40% of the area defined as the front yard.
(4) The turnabout shall be wholly on the lot which benefits from it and shall be set back at least twenty-five feet from public rights of way.
(e) Occupancy of Recreational Vehicles, Tents, and Trailers in R Districts.
(1) The provisions of this section provide for the occupancy or use of recreational vehicles and/or trailers only as accessory uses to a primary residential use.
(2) Recreational vehicles and/or trailers shall not be occupied when parked or stored on a residentially zoned property except;
A. By approved permit under Chapter 1468.
B. One camping tent may be set up for no more than four consecutive days for the purposes of temporary sleeping shelter. The camping tent shall only be permitted in a rear yard or between a building and a waterway.
(f) Storage and Parking of Recreational Vehicles and/or Trailers.
(1) Recreational vehicles, trailers or equipment may be parked or stored in a fully enclosed garage or accessory building.
(2) If a recreational vehicle and/or trailer is not parked or stored in a fully enclosed garage or accessory building it can only be parked or stored as follows:
A. Recreational vehicles and/or trailers may be parked in a front yard only for the purposes of loading, unloading, and cleaning for a period not to exceed seventy- two hours and not more than four times in any one calendar year, providing the recreational vehicles and trailers are parked on an improved driveway or turnabout.
1. Such vehicles may have fixed connections to electricity and water for cleaning purposes only.
2. In no circumstance shall any parking occur within twenty-five feet of a corner property line at a street intersection or interfere with vehicle or pedestrian visibility or movements.
B. Recreational vehicles and/or trailers may be parked or stored in a side yard, on an improved surface approved by the Planning and Zoning Administrator or their designee, not less than three feet away from a side lot line and screened from adjacent property with a six-foot tall solid fence.
C. Recreational vehicles and/or trailers may be parked or stored in a rear yard, three feet away from a rear or side property line.
D. On corner lots, recreational vehicles and/or trailers may be parked or stored as follows:
1. In an interior side yard, on an improved surface approved by the Zoning Administrator, not less than three feet away from a side lot line, and screened from adjacent property with a six-foot tall solid fence, or;
2. In a rear yard, three feet away from property lines.
3. In no case shall a recreational vehicle and/or trailer be parked or stored closer to a street than the main building.
E. For lots having frontage along a waterway, recreational vehicles and/or trailers may be parked or stored in an interior side yard or in the yard along that water frontage, thirty feet away from waterway. In no case shall a recreational vehicle and/or trailers be parked or stored closer to a street than the main building.
F. Residential properties where it is impossible to park or store recreational vehicles and/or trailers in other than the front yard because of the configuration of the lot on which the property sits, terrain, natural boundaries, lot lines or other similar characteristics or problems may park or store such items on a driveway or an improved parking area approved by the Planning and Zoning Administrator or their designee.
(g) Presumptions.
(1) In any proceeding for a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, proof that any properly registered vehicle described in the complaint was parked in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, together with proof that the defendant named in the complaint was, at the time of such parking, the registered owner of such vehicle, shall constitute in evidence a presumption that the registered owner of such vehicle was the party who parked such vehicle in violation of this chapter.
(2) In any proceeding for any other violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, proof that the particularly described property in the complaint was parked or stored in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, together with proof that the defendant named in the complaint was, at the time of such parking or storing, the owner of the premises or the party having charge, custody, control or use of such premises, shall constitute in evidence a presumption that the defendant was the party who parked or stored, or permitted the parking or storage of, the property in violation of this chapter.
(h) Interpretation. This chapter shall not be deemed to be in conflict with other provisions of these Codified Ordinances relating to the parking or storage of motor vehicles or other named property, but shall be construed as supplementary to any such provisions as well as to any statutes of the state relating thereto.
(i) Violations.
(1) No person shall place, park or store a motor vehicle at any place designated as a vacant lot or in any front yard of a residential premises to which this chapter applies.
(2) No owner or person having charge, custody, control or use of any premises shall park or store, or permit the parking or storage of, any motor vehicle or other item of property described in Section 1261.02(a) on any vacant lot or in any front yard of a residential premises in the City to which this chapter applies.
(Ord. 10-2020. Passed 11-24-20; Ord. 12-2023. Passed 10-17-23.)