For the purpose of this Zoning Code, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted or defined as follows:
(1) “Accessory building” means a subordinate building or structure on the same lot with a principal or main building, or the part of the main building occupied by or devoted exclusively to an accessory use.
(2) “Accessory use” means a use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use or building located on the same lot as the principal use or building.
(3) “Adult foster care congregate facility” means an adult foster care facility, licensed by the State of Michigan, with the approved capacity to receive more than 20 adults to be provided with foster care.
(4) “Adult foster care family home” means a private residence, licensed by the State of Michigan, with the approved capacity to receive six or fewer adults to be provided with foster care for five or more days a week and for two or more consecutive weeks. The “adult foster care family home” licensee shall be a member of the household, and an occupant of the residence.
(5) “Adult foster care large group home” means an adult foster care facility, licensed by the State of Michigan, with the approved capacity to receive at least 13 but not more than 20 adults to be provided foster care.
(6) “Adult foster care small group home” means an adult foster care facility, licensed by the State of Michigan, with the approved capacity to receive 12 or fewer adults to be provided with foster care.
(7) “Alley” means any dedicated public way other than a street, which provides only a secondary means of access to abutting property and is not intended for general traffic circulation.
(8) “Alteration” means any modification, addition or change in construction or type of occupancy; any change or rearrangement in the structural parts of a building; any enlargement of a building, whether by extending a side or by increasing in height; or the moving from one location to another.
(9) “Apartment” means a room or suite of rooms, including bath and kitchen facilities, in a two-family or multiple-family dwelling, intended or designed for use as a residence by a single family.
(10) “Apartment, garden” means a group of two or more multiple-family dwelling buildings not over two stories in height, located on the same lot, that offer each dwelling unit direct access to an open yard area.
(11) “Apartment house” (see “dwelling, multiple-family”).
(12) "Auto court" (See “motel”).
(13) “Basement” means a story having part but not more than one-half of its height below finished grade. A “basement” shall be counted as a story for the purposes of height measurement if the vertical distance between the ceiling and the average level of the adjoining ground is more than five feet or if used for business or dwelling purposes.
(14) “Board of Appeals” means the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of Dimondale.
(15) “Boarding house” means a building other than a hotel, where, for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods, meals, or lodging and meals, are provided for three or more persons.
(16) “Building” means any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or property.
(17) “Building area” means the total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings, exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces and steps.
(18) “Building, front line of” means the line formed by that face of the building nearest the front line of the lot. This face includes sun parlors and enclosed porches, but does not include steps.
(19) “Building, height of” means the vertical distance measured from the mean elevation of the finished grade line of the ground about the front of the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs, and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.
(20) “Building line” means a line defining the minimum front, side and rear yard requirements outside of which no building or structure may be located.
(21) “Building, principal” means a building in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which it is located.
(22) “Cellar” means a story having more than one-half of its height below the average finished level of the adjoining ground. A “cellar” shall not be counted as a story for purposes of height measurement.
(23) “Clinic” means an establishment where human patients who are not lodged overnight are admitted for examination and treatment by a group of physicians, dentists or similar professions.
(24) “Club” means an organization catering exclusively to members and their guests, or premises and buildings for recreational, artistic, political or social purposes, which are not conducted primarily for gain, and which do not provide merchandising, vending or commercial activities, except as required incidentally for the membership and purpose of such club.
(25) “Common land” means a parcel or parcels of land, together with the improvements thereon; the use, maintenance and enjoyment of which are intended to be shared by the owners and occupants of the individual building units in a planned unit development.
(26) “Compassion Club” means any entity which is not available to the public, which is comprised of primary caregivers and/or qualifying patients and the primary objective includes the use of marihuana in any form or the support, facilitation, or instruction of such use. (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(27) “Convalescent or nursing home” means a building wherein infirm, aged or incapacitated persons are furnished shelter, care, food, lodging and needed attention for a compensation.
(28) “Court” means an unoccupied open space, other than a yard, on the same lot with a building, which is bounded on two or more sides by the walls of such building.
(29) “Court, closed” means a court enclosed on all sides by exterior walls of a building, or enclosed on all sides by a combination of exterior building walls and free-standing walls.
(30) “Court, outer” means a court enclosed on not more than three sides by the exterior walls of a building or by a combination of exterior walls and free-standing walls, with one side or end open to a street, alley or yard.
(31) “Coverage” means that percent of the plot or lot covered by the building area.
(32) “Day care center” means a facility, other than a private residence, licensed by the State of Michigan, receiving one or more minor children for care for periods of less than 24 hours a day, for more than two weeks in a calendar year, unattended by a parent or legal guardian. Such facilities may also be referred to as “day nurseries,” “nursery schools,” “pre-schools” and “child care centers.
(33) “Day care home, family” means a private home, licensed by the State of Michigan, in which six or fewer minor children are received for care and supervision for periods of less than 24 hours a day, unattended by a parent or legal guardian, except children related to an adult member of the family by blood, marriage or adoption. “Family day care home” includes a home in which care is given to an unrelated minor child for more than four weeks during a calendar year.
(34) “Day care home, group” means a private home, licensed by the State of Michigan, in which seven but not more than 12 minor children are received for care and supervision for periods of less than 24 hours a day unattended by a parent or legal guardian, except children related to an adult member of the family by blood, marriage or adoption. “Group day care home” includes a home in which care is given to an unrelated minor child for more than four weeks during the calendar year.
(35) “Debilitating medical condition” means the conditions and circumstances provided in Section 3(a) of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MCL 333.26423(a)). (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(36) “Density” means the number of dwelling units residing upon or to be developed upon a net acre of land.
(37) “District” means an area of land for which there are uniform regulations governing the use of buildings and premises, density of development, yard requirements and height limitations.
(38) “Dormitory” means a building, or portion thereof, used for housing purposes under the supervision of a college, university or other institution.
(39) “Dwelling” means any building, or portion thereof, which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes.
(Ord. 89. Passed 4-10-72.)
(40) “Dwelling, single-family” means a detached building, designed for or occupied exclusively by one family. (Adopting Ordinance)
(41) “Dwelling, two-family” means a detached or semidetached building, designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.
(42) “Dwelling, multiple-family” means a building, or portion thereof, used or designed to contain separate living units for three or more families, but which may have joint services or facilities or both.
(43) “Dwelling, row house or town house” means three or more one-family dwelling units, each having access on the first floor to the ground and with common walls separating the dwelling units.
(44) “Dwelling unit” means a building, or portion thereof, designed exclusively for residential occupancy by one family and having cooking facilities.
(45) “Erection” means the building, construction, alteration, reconstruction, moving upon or any physical activity upon a premises or lot.
(46) “Essential services” means the erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by public utilities or municipal departments or commissions, of underground or overhead gas, electrical, telephone transmission or distribution systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, towers, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants and other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith, but not including buildings, reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities, departments or commissions.
(47) “Family” means an individual, or two or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption, or a group not to exceed three persons not related by blood or marriage, occupying a premises and living as a single nonprofit housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities, as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding house, lodging house, hotel, club, fraternity or similar dwelling for group use. The usual domestic servants residing on the premises shall be considered as part of the “family.”
(48) “Farm” means any parcel of land containing more than five acres, which may be used for gain in the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry and dairy products. It includes necessary farm structures within prescribed property boundaries, and the storage of equipment used. “Farm” includes greenhouses, nurseries and boarding stables and excludes the raising of fur bearing animals and dog kennels. (Ord. 2010-5. Passed 1-10-11.)
(49) “Flood plain” means areas subject to inundation by the highest expected flood water level.
(50) “Floor area” means the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the floors of a building or dwelling unit, measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls, or from the centerline of the walls separating the dwelling units.
(51) “Garage, parking” means a structure or series of structures for the temporary storage or parking of motor vehicles, having no public shop or service connected therewith.
(52) “Garage, private” means an accessory building or an accessory portion of a principal building designed or used solely for the storage of noncommercial motor vehicles, boats, house trailers and similar vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.
(53) “Gasoline service station” means any area of land, including any structure or structures thereon, that is used or designed for the supply of gasoline or oil or other fuel for the propulsion of vehicles. For the purpose of this Zoning Code, this term shall also mean any area or structure used or designed for polishing, greasing, washing, dry cleaning, spraying (but not including painting), or otherwise cleaning or servicing such motor vehicles.
(54) “Grade, finished” means the completed surfaces of lawns, walks and roads brought to grades as shown on official plans or designs related thereto.
(55) “Group housing” means a residential development involving the ultimate construction of a group of dwelling units, including a combination of one-family, two-family or multiple-family dwellings on a lot, parcel or tract of land, or on a combination of lots under one ownership, and containing common services or facilities.
(56) “Guest unit” means a room or group of rooms occupied, arranged or designed for occupancy by one or more guests for compensation.
(57) “Home occupation” means an accessory use of a service or professional character conducted within a dwelling by the family residents thereof, which is clearly secondary and incidental to the use of the dwelling for living purposes and does not change the character thereof.
(58) “Hotel” means a building in which the rooms are occupied or designed or temporary abiding places for individuals who are lodged with or without meals and in which there are more than ten sleeping rooms served only by a general kitchen and dining facility located within the building.
(59) “Junk yard” means any land or building over 200 square feet in area used for abandonment, storage, keeping, collecting or baling of paper, rags, scrap metals, other scrap or discarded materials, or for abandonment, demolition, dismantling, storage or salvaging of automobiles or other vehicles or machinery, or parts thereof.
(60) “Kennel” means any lot or premises used for the sale, boarding or breeding of dogs, cats or other household pets. “Kennel” shall also mean the keeping of five dogs, cats and/or other household pets over the age of six months.
(61) “Lodging house” means a building in which three or more rooms are rented and in which no table board is furnished, but not exceeding five persons.
(62) “Line, street” means the dividing line between a street right of way and a lot.
(63) “Lot” means land occupied or to be occupied by a building, structure, land use or group of buildings, together with such open spaces or yards as are required under this Zoning Code and having its principal frontage upon a street.
(64) “Lot, corner” means a lot which has at least two contiguous sides abutting upon a street for their full length.
(65) “Lot, depth of” means the mean distance from the street line of the lot to its opposite rear line, measured in the general direction of the side lines of the lot.
(66) “Lot, interior” means a lot other than a corner lot.
(67) “Lot line” means the lines bounding a lot as herein described.
(68) “Lot of record” means a lot which is part of a subdivision, the map of which has been recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds in Eaton County, or a lot described by metes and bounds, the deed to which has been recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds in Eaton County.
(69) “Lot, width of” means the width measured along the front lot line or street line.
(70) “Major thoroughfare” means a public street, the principal use or function of which is to provide an arterial route for through traffic, with its secondary use or function the provision of access to abutting property, and which has been classified as such upon the Master Plan of the Village. (Ord. 89. Passed 4-10-72.)
(71) “Manufactured housing” means a structure built on a permanent chassis that is designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. It is transportable in one or more sections and may be placed on private property. Manufactured housing is built to the federal Manufactured Home Construction Safety Standards which are enforced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD standards set criteria for performance standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. All new homes sold within the State of Michigan shall comply with the construction standards promulgated by 24 CFR part 1700 to 1799, and parts 3280 and 3282, under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1972 as amended. (Adopting Ordinance.)
(72) “Marihuana (also known as marijuana and cannabis)” means the substance defined in Section 7106 of the Public Health Code, PA 1978, No. 368 (MCL 333.7106). (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(73) “Medical marihuana dispensary” means any location at which medical marihuana is transferred from one person to another, other than transfers of marihuana from a registered primary caregiver to a qualifying patient who is directly linked to that qualifying patient through the State of Michigan registration process. (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(74) “Medical use” means the acquisition, possession, cultivation, manufacture, use, internal possession, delivery, transfer, or transportation of marihuana or paraphernalia relating to the administration of marihuana to treat or alleviate a registered qualifying patient's debilitating medical condition or symptoms associated with the debilitating medical condition. (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(75) “Minor street” means a public way, the principal use or function of which is to give access to abutting properties. (Ord. 89. Passed 4-10-72.)
(76) “Mobile home” means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained in the structure.
(77) “Mobile home park” means a parcel or tract of land under the control of a person upon which three or more mobile homes are located on a continual, non-recreational basis and which is offered to the public for that purpose regardless of whether a charge is made therefor, together with any building, structure, enclosure, street, equipment or facility used or intended for use incident to the occupancy of a mobile home. (Adopting Ordinance)
(78) “Motel” means a building or group of buildings, whether detached or in connecting units, used as individual sleeping or dwelling units designed primarily for transient automobile travelers and providing for accessory off-street parking facilities. The term “motel” shall include buildings designated as “auto courts,” “tourist courts,” “motor courts,” “motor hotels” and similar appellations, which are designed as integrated units of individual rooms under common ownership.
(79) “Nonconforming use” means a building, structure or use of land existing at the time of enactment of this Zoning Code, and which does not conform to the regulations of the district or zone in which it is situated.
(80) “Open space” means any unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with a building.
(81) “Plan, Master,” sometimes referred to as “Comprehensive Development Plan,” means an adopted statement of policy by the Planning Commission relative to the agreed-upon desirable physical pattern of future community development, consisting of a series of maps, charts and written material that represents a sound conception of how the community should grow in order to bring about the very best community living conditions.
(82) “Planned unit development” means a land area which has both individual building sites and common property, such as a park, and which is designed and developed under one owner or organized group as a separate neighborhood or community unit.
(83) “Planning Act” means the Michigan Planning Enabling Act, Public Act 33 of 2008 and its amendments.
(84) “Primary caregiver or registered primary caregiver” shall mean a person who has agreed to assist with a registered qualifying patient's medical use of marihuana and who has a valid registry identification card identifying said person as a primary caregiver for that qualifying patient. (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(85) “Principal use” means the main use to which the premises are devoted and the principal purpose for which the premises exist.
(86) “Public utility” means any person, firm, corporation, municipal department or board fully authorized to furnish to the public electricity, gas, steam, telephone, telegraph, transportation or water.
(87) “Qualifying patient or registered qualifying patient” means a person who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition and who has a valid registry identification card issued by the Michigan Department of Community Health which identifies the person as a registered qualifying patient. (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(88) “Recreation, private” means a recreational space or structure, or combination thereof, belonging to and/or operated by private interests for use by private individuals and/or organizations and/or the public, consisting primarily of man-made structures and/or other artificial apparatus which are necessary to or form the basis for said use.
(89) “Recreation, public” means any recreational space or structure owned by the public or any space and structure, or combination thereof, privately owned, and publicly used, consisting primarily of the utilization of natural physical features as the basis for said use. (Structures and artificial apparatus being secondary to the primary outdoor use.)
(90) “Right of way” means a street, alley or other thoroughfare or easement permanently established for the passage of persons, vehicles or the location of utilities.
(91) “Rooming house” means a building where lodging only is provided for compensation.
(92) “Site, net area” means the total area within the property lines of a project or development, excluding streets.
(93) “Solar energy equipment” means any device used to collect direct sunlight for use in the heating or cooling of a structure, domestic hot water, or swimming pool, or the generation of electricity.
(94) “Stable, private” means an accessory building in which horses are kept for private use and not for hire, remuneration or sale.
(95) “Story” means that portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the next floor above it, or if there is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
(96) “Story, half” means a space under a sloping roof which has the line of intersection of roof decking and wall face not more than three feet above the top floor level and in which space not more than two-thirds of the floor area is finished off for use. A “half-story” containing independent apartments or living quarters shall be counted as a full story.
(97) “Story, height of” means the vertical distance from the top surface of one floor to the top surface of the next above. The height of the topmost story is the distance from the top surface of the floor to the top surface of the ceiling joints.
(98) “Street line” means the legal line of demarcation between a street and abutting land.
(99) “Street, road–private” means a street or road under private ownership that provides vehicular access to properties within a planned unit development or a site condominium development and has not been dedicated to public use other than access by emergency and public safety vehicles and is maintained by its private owners.
(100) “Street, road–public” means a public thoroughfare accepted by and under the jurisdiction of the Village of Dimondale that provides the principal means of access to abutting property and is open to the general public to travel thereon.
(101) “Structure” means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground, or attachment to something having location on the ground.
(102) “Structural alteration” means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders, or any substantial change in the roof and exterior walls.
(103) “Usable marihuana” means the dried leaves and flowers of the marihuana plant and any mixture or preparation thereof, but does not include the seeds, stalks and roots of the plant. (Ord. 2010-8. Passed 2-14-11.)
(104) “Use” means the purpose for which land or a building is arranged, designed or intended, or for which land or a building may be occupied.
(105) “Wind energy conversion system” means a device or combination of devices, such as free standing towers with wind turbines, structure mounted wind turbines, and all associated facilities and components that convert wind energy to electrical energy. The total height shall be measured from the ground level at the base of the tower for free standing towers or from the highest point of the adjacent roof for structure mounted turbines to the maximum vertical extension of the blade.
(106) “Yard” means an open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided herein. The measurement of a yard shall be construed as the minimum horizontal distance between the lot line and the building line.
(107) “Yard, front” means a yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines and measured between the front line of the lot and the nearest point of the main building or land use.
(108) “Yard, rear” means an open space on the same lot with a main building unoccupied except as herein permitted, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot. The depth of the rear yard shall be measured between the rear line of the lot, or the centerline of the alley, if there is an alley, and the rear line of the building.
(109) “Yard, side” means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with the building, situated between the building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line not a front line or a rear line shall be deemed a side line.
(110) “Zoning” means the dividing of the Village into districts of a number and shape considered best suited to carry out the purposes of the Zoning Enabling Act and the creation of uniform regulations throughout each individual district. Such districts are referred to as “Zoning Districts” in this chapter.
(111) “Zoning Act” means the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, Public Act 110 of 2006 and its amendments.
(112) “Zoning Code” means the Village of Dimondale Zoning Ordinance.
(113) “Zoning Ordinance” means the Village of Dimondale Zoning Ordinance.
(Ord. 89. Passed 4-10-72; Ord. 2009-7. Passed 12-14-09; Ord. 2013-6. Passed 11- 11-13; Ord. 2016-4. Passed 11-14-16; Ord. 2016-5. Passed 11-14-16.)