§ 159.01  DEFINITIONS.
   The word “building” shall include the word “structure”; the word “lot” includes the word “plot”, and the word “shall” is mandatory and not merely permissive or directory. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
   ACCESSORY BUILDINGS AND USE. A subordinate building or a portion of the main building, the use of which is incidental to that of the main building or to the main use of the premises. An ACCESSORY USE is one which is incidental to the main use of the premises.
   ALLEY. A public, or private thoroughfare, which affords only a secondary means of access to property abutting thereon.
   APARTMENT. A room or suite of rooms in a multiple dwelling, or in a building in which more than one living unit is established above the same floor, or on the same, floor as, non-residential uses, which room or suite is intended, or designed for use as a residence by one family; and which includes culinary accommodations.
   APARTMENT HOUSE. A building or portion whereof used or designed as a residence for three or more families living independently of each other, and doing their own cooking in said building, including apartments and apartment hotels.
   BOARDINGHOUSE. A building, other than a hotel, where or compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods, meals or lodging and meals are provided for three or more persons, but not exceeding 20 persons.
   BUILDING. Any structure designed or intended for support, enclosure, shelter and protection of persons, animals, chattels or property.
   CLINIC. An office or group of offices for one or more physicians, surgeons or dentists engaged in treating the sick or injured, but not including rooms for the abiding of patients.
   DISTRICT. A section or sections of the city, for which regulations governing the use of buildings and premises, the heights of buildings, the size of yards and the intensity of use are uniform.
   DWELLING. Any building or portion thereof which is designed and used exclusively for residential purposes.
   DWELLING, FAMILY-DUPLEX. A building having accommodations for and occupied exclusively by two families.
   DWELLING, MULTIPLE. A building having accommodations for and occupied exclusively by more than two families.
   DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY. A building having accommodations for and occupied exclusively by one family.
   FAMILY. One or more persons occupying a premises and living as a single housekeeping unit as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse, lodging house or hotel, as herein defined.
   FILLING STATION, SERVICE STATION. Any building or premises used for the dispensing, sale or offering for sale at retail of any automobile fuels or oils. When the dispensing, sale or offering for sale is incidental to the conduct of a public garage, or retail store, the premises are classified as a public garage or retail store.
   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 abut on one side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.
   GARAGE, PRIVATE. An accessory building or portion of the main use building designed for or used for the housing of motor-driven vehicles which are the property of and for the private use of the occupants of the lot on which the private garage is located. Not more than one of the vehicles may be a commercial vehicle and of not more than one and one-half tons’ capacity.
   GARAGE PUBLIC. A building or portion thereof, other than a private garage, designed or used for equipping, repairing, hiring, servicing, selling or storing motor-driven vehicles.
   GRADE.
      (1)   (a)   For buildings having walls adjoining one street only, the elevation of the sidewalk at the center of the wall adjoining the street.
         (b)   For buildings having walls adjoining more than one street, the average of the elevation of the sidewalk at the center of all walls adjoining the streets.
         (c)   For buildings having no wall adjoining the street, the average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior of the buildings.
      (2)   Any wall approximately parallel to and not more than five feet from the street line shall be considered as adjoining the street. Where no sidewalk exists, the grade shall be established by the city’s Building Inspector.
   HEIGHT OF BUILDING. The vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, to the deck line of a mansard roof, to the mean height level between the eaves and ridge of gable, hip and gambrel roofs.
   HOME OCCUPATION. Any occupation or profession engaged in by the occupants of a dwelling not involving the conduct of a retail business, and not including any occupation conducted in any building on the premises excepting the building which is used by the occupant as his or her private residence. HOME OCCUPATION shall include, in general, personal services such as furnished by an architect, lawyer, physician, dentist, musician, artist and seamstress, when performed by the person occupying the building as his or her private dwelling and not including a partnership or the employment of more than one assistant in performance of such services.
   HOTEL. A building in which lodging or board and lodging are provided and offered to the public for compensation and in which ingress and egress to and from all rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge at all times. As such, it is open to the public in contradistinction to a boardinghouse, a lodging house or an apartment house, which are herein defined.
   LODGING HOUSE. A building or place where lodging is provided (or which is equipped to provide lodging regularly) by prearrangement for definite periods, for compensation, for three or more persons in contradistinction to hotels open to transients.
   LOT. A parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by and use permitted in this chapter, including one main building with its accessory buildings, the open spaces and parking spaces required by the 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, DEPTH OF. The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
   NON-CONFORMING. Any building or land lawfully occupied by a use at the time of passage of this chapter or amendment thereto, which does not conform after the passage of this chapter or amendment thereto with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated.
   PARKING SPACE. An area enclosed or unenclosed containing not less than 160 square feet exclusive of the driveways connection said space with a street or alley. Said PARKING SPACE and connection driveway shall be durably surfaced and so arranged to permit satisfactory ingress and egress of an automobile.
   STORY. The portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it; or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
   STREET. A public thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.
   STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS. Any change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any complete rebuilding of the roof or the exterior walls.
   STRUCTURE. Any thing constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground or attachment to something having a permanent location on the ground, including, but without limiting, the general inclusiveness of the foregoing, advertising signs, poster boards and pergolas.
   TRAILER. Any structure used for living, sleeping, business or storage purposes having no foundation other than wheels, blocks, skids, jacks, horses or skirting and which is, has been or reasonably may be equipped with wheels or other devices for transporting the structure from place to place, whether by motive power or other means. The term TRAILER shall include camp car and house car. For the purpose of this chapter, a TRAILER is a single-family dwelling and shall conform to all regulations therefor when not located in a trailer camp, as herein defined.
   TRAILER CAMP, TRAILER COACH PARK. A lot or tract of land where facilities and accommodation are provided by the day, week, month or for a longer period of time, for or without compensation, for two or more trailers when such trailers are being used for human habitation.
   TOURIST COURT (AUTO COURTS). A group of attached, semi-detached or detached buildings containing individual sleeping units or living units, designed for or used temporarily by automobile tourists or transients with garage attached or parking space conveniently located to each unit and offering to the public daily as well as other longer-term rental rates and maintaining a register of guests and lot for their vehicles.
   YARD. An open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided. In measuring a YARD for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the depth of a front yard, or the depth of a rear yard, the horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used.
   YARD, FRONT. A yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line and the front of the main building or any projection thereof other than the projection of the usual steps, unenclosed balconies or open porch.
   YARD, REAR. A yard extending across the rear of a lot, measured between the side lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building or any projection other than steps, unenclosed balconies or unenclosed porches. On corner lots, the REAR YARD shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension. On both corner lots and interior lots, the yard shall, in all cases, be at the opposite end of a lot from the front yard.
   YARD, SIDE. A yard between the main building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front line to the rear yard line.
(2012 Code, § 93-1)