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No building lot (development site), even though it may consist of one or more adjacent lots of record, shall be reduced in size such that the requirements of this Zoning Ordinance cannot be met, or the performance standards for building design cannot be respected. This prohibition shall not be construed to prevent the purchase, dedication, or condemnation of narrow strips of land for public utilities or street or sidewalk right-of-way purposes.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15)
(A) Manufactured housing shall not be used as permanent structures except where permitted in § 157.029(D)-Table of Permitted Uses.
(B) Modular buildings shall not be used as permanent structures unless such are placed on a permanent masonry foundation, have secured a certificate of occupancy, and meet all of the other design standards for buildings in the district in which they are located.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15)
Where standards and responsibility for infrastructure construction, including but not limited to streets, sidewalks, and landscaping, are specified in this Zoning Ordinance the city standards, as set out in the Land Development Regulations for the city, shall control.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15)
(A) No driveway or other point of access to the street shall be constructed, relocated, or altered unless the driveway has been approved by the city.
(B) For development projects composed of multiple buildings and lots, access to the preexisting public street system shall be determined by the location of proposed intersecting streets, topography, and other general site characteristics. No parcel of land which is a functional part of the overall development, even though it may be removed by the developer from the rest of the project area by subdivision or by metes and bounds description, shall be permitted to have driveway access to the public streets bounding the project area unless so approved by the city as part of the development project.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15)
Private negative access easements in which no driveway or other vehicle or pedestrian access is permitted to a lot from an adjacent public street, shall be prohibited, except those easements required by the city to limit driveways on existing public streets.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15)
No planting shall be placed or maintained and no fence, building, wall or other structure shall be constructed in such a manner as to obstruct visibility between a height of two and a half feet and ten feet measured from the upper face of the nearest curb or pavement within any required sight triangle.
(A) Street and railroad intersections. Sight triangles shall be maintained at all street intersections and where streets intersect rail lines. These sight triangles shall be defined as a 10 x 40 foot triangle bounded on two sides by the edge of pavement or curb of the streets or railway and on the third side by a straight line connecting the endpoints of the other two sides.
(B) Driveways. Sight triangles shall be maintained where driveways intersect streets. These sight triangles shall be defined as a 10 x 10 foot triangle bounded on one side by the edge of pavement or curb of the street, one side by the edge of driveway, and on the third side by a straight line connecting the endpoints of the other two sides. In the event that a driveway crosses a sidewalk, then the edge of sidewalk furthest from the street shall be used as a side in place of edge of pavement or curb.
(C) Exceptions. Properties located in the CBD shall not be required to meet the sight distance requirements.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15)
(A) Distances. When determining distances for setbacks and structure dimensions, all distances are measured along a horizontal plane from the appropriate property line, edge of building, structure, storage area, parking area, or other object, these distances are not measured by following the topography of the land. Measuremen ts are also taken along the shortest distance between two points.
(B) Measuring sign and structure height.
(1) Measuring building height. Procedures for the measurement of building height are provided in § 157.084
(B).
(2) Measuring height of signs and other structures. The height of other structures such as signs, flag poles and fences is the vertical distance from the ground level immediately under the structure to the top of a structure, excluding exempted portions. When chimneys and other objects are allowed to exceed the base height of the zone by a set amount, that set amount is measured to the top of these objects.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15)
Any parcel of land, use of land, easement, building or structure lawfully existing on the date of any text change in this Zoning Ordinance, the time of annexation into the city's jurisdiction, or on the date of a zoning map change that does not conform to the use or dimensional requirements of the district in which it is located may be continued and maintained in accordance with the provisions of this section and other applicable provisions of this Zoning Ordinance. Nonconformities may continue, but the provisions of this section are designed to curtail substantial investment in nonconformities and to bring about their eventual conformity or elimination.
(A) Nonconforming lots.
(1) Vacant lots. Vacant lots for which plats or deeds have been recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds for Kershaw County, which fail to comply with the minimum area or other dimensional requirements of the districts in which they are located, may be used for any of the uses permitted in the district in which it is located, provided that:
(a) Where the lot area is not more than 20% below the minimum specified in this Zoning Ordinance, and other dimensional requirements are otherwise complied with, the Zoning Administrator is authorized to issue a certificate of zoning compliance.
(b) Where the lot area is more than 20% below the minimum specified in this Zoning Ordinance, or other dimensional requirements cannot be met, the Board of Zoning Appeals may, in its discretion, approve as a variance such dimensions as shall conform as closely as possible to the required dimensions.
(2) Recombination of nonconforming vacant lots. When the owner of a nonconforming vacant lot also owns land adjacent to the nonconforming lot, and the adjacent land or portion thereof can be combined with the nonconforming vacant lot to create a conforming lot or a more conforming lot (without creating other nonconformities), such owner shall, before selling or beginning any construction thereon, so combine the nonconforming lot and the adjacent land to create such lot.
(3) Nonconforming occupied lots. Nonconforming lots occupied by buildings or structures that fail to comply with the dimensional requirements for the district in which they are located may continue to be used, provided the specific nonconformity is not increased.
(B) Nonconforming uses.
(1) Nonconforming uses of land or structures may continue only in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) A nonconforming use shall not be expanded. Expansion shall include an intensification of use, a physical expansion that results in increased capacity or activity associated with the use, an extension of the hours of operation or number of days of activity, and any similar change in activity or location.
(3) A nonconforming use shall not be moved from one location on a site to another location on the same site unless the property owner can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the City Planner that the relocation of the use will not increase the impacts of such use on the public, will not adversely affect adjacent properties, and will not have the effect of making the nonconformity more permanent.
(4) A nonconforming use shall not be changed to any other use unless the new use conforms to the standards of the zoning district in which it is located. Once a nonconforming use is changed to a conforming use, a nonconforming use shall not be re-established.
(5) Where a nonconforming use is discontinued or abandoned for a period of 180 days, then the use shall not be re-established or resumed and any subsequent use of the land or structure shall conform to the requirements of these regulations.
(6) No structural changes shall be made in any structure occupied by a nonconforming use except as follows:
(a) Those structural changes ordered by an authorized official in order to insure the safety of the structure shall be permitted.
(b) Maintenance and repairs to keep a structure in sound condition shall be permitted.
(c) Structural changes necessary to convert the nonconforming use to a conforming use shall be permitted.
(d) An existing nonconforming residential structure may be enlarged or altered provided that no additional dwelling units result therefrom. Any such enlargement or alterations shall be in compliance with all yard requirements of the district and/or use.
(e) The structure and its accompanying use may be moved to another location on the lot so long as the structure meets all applicable requirements of the district.
(f) Expansion of a nonconforming use of a building or structure into portions of the structure that, at the time the use became nonconforming, were already erected and arranged or designed for such nonconforming use is permissible.
(C) Nonconforming structures.
(1) A nonconforming structure, devoted to a use permitted in the zoning district in which it is located, may continue only in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) Normal repair and maintenance may be performed to allow the continuation of a nonconforming structure.
(3) Any nonconforming structure may be enlarged if the expansion does not increase the nonconformity.
(4) Structural changes necessary to convert the nonconforming use to a conforming use shall be permitted.
(5) A nonconforming structure shall not be moved unless it thereafter conforms to the standards of the zoning district in which it is located.
(6) A nonconforming structure, destroyed or damaged so that more than 40% of the value of such structure remains, may be repaired or restored if:
(a) A building permit for the repair or restoration is issued within six months of the date of the damage and remains valid until the repairs or restoration are complete.
(b) The structure conforms to the standards of the regulations for the zoning district in which it is located; however, if the structure is used for the same purpose as before the destruction, the new structure may be rebuilt using the same materials.
(c) The total amount of space devoted to a nonconforming use is not increased and the degree of nonconformity in the structure is not increased.
(7) If the Zoning Administrator determines the building or structure has been damaged to such an extent that the repair costs will exceed 60% of the fair market value of the damaged building or structure immediately before the damage was incurred, future use of the building and site shall conform to the regulations of the district in which it is located. However, any building or structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or any building certified as a state historic building may be rebuilt or restored to its original dimensions or the dimensions of the building or structure before such damage occurred, provided such restoration conforms to the Secretary of Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. For the purposes of this section, the extent of damage or destruction shall be determined by comparing the estimated cost of repair or restoration with the current assessed tax value.
(8) A nonconforming structure shall not be replaced with another nonconforming structure regardless of the degree of nonconformity.
(9) Nonconforming signs.
(a) Nonconforming signs, if present anywhere on the site, shall be removed prior to issuance of a change of use permit, issuance of a grading permit, or commencement of new construction on the site.
(b) Nonconforming signs shall be brought into compliance with the requirements of this section whenever one or more of the following occurs:
1. The name of the business is changed;
2. The occupancy classification of the business is changed; or
3. The cost of renovation or repair of the building or sign exceeds 50% of its replacement cost.
(D) Nonconforming feature. A nonconforming feature is a physical characteristic that was lawfully established (or for which a vested right had been established) before the effective date of this subchapter or a subsequent amendment thereto, but does not conform to the applicable standards set forth in divisions (C) or (E) of this section. Nonconforming features include, but are not limited to physical characteristics of development that exceed allowable maximum standards (e.g. impervious surface and height), and those that lack or fall short of required minimum standards (e.g. sight triangle, off-street parking and loading spaces buffer width and lighting standards). Nonconforming features may be continued subject to the following limitations:
(1) No action shall be taken which increases the degree or extent of the nonconforming feature. Any enlargement, extension, structural alteration, parking changes, and other changes to lot design and access shall conform to all current requirements of this subchapter.
(2) For development existing (or for which a vested right had been established) before the effective date of this Zoning Ordinance, as amended, nonconforming features created by a change in regulations may continue to exist, and structures with such nonconforming features may be reconstructed if demolished or destroyed.
(E) Additional requirement for nonconforming accessory uses and structures. No nonconforming accessory use or accessory structure shall continue after the principal use or structure is terminated by abandonment, discontinuance, damage, or destruction unless such accessory use or accessory structure thereafter is made to conform to the standards for the zoning district in which it is located.
(F) Additional requirements for manufactured home parks.
(1) Nonconforming manufactured home parks may not be expanded or increased in size which shall include adding spaces to the park; and
(2) When a site at a nonconforming manufactured home park is vacated, another manufactured home may not be placed on that site.
(G) Changes of tenancy and/or ownership. There may be a change in tenancy or ownership of an existing nonconforming use or structure provided there is no change in the nature or character of such nonconforming use or structure except as provided herein and all other applicable requirements of this Zoning Ordinance are met (e.g., parking, screening, landscaping, etc.).
(H) Additional requirements for hotels and motels. Notwithstanding any provision of this Zoning Ordinance to the contrary, a nonconforming hotel or motel use, lawfully existing and lawfully operating in all respects under law prior to the effective date of this division, may continue to operate until July 31,2024, in order to make a reasonable recoupment of its investment in its current location. On or before August 1, 2024, the use will no longer be recognized as a lawful nonconforming use and must conform to the requirements of this Zoning Ordinance.
(Ord. 15-002, passed 2-24-15; Am. Ord. 2022-006, passed 4-12-22)
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