For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply, unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE OR FACILITY. Any building or improvement located on the same lot as the principal use subordinate to a principal use which, because of the nature of its use, can reasonably be located at or greater than normal structure setbacks.
ACCESSORY USE. A use on the same lot with and incidental and subordinate to the principal use or structure or facility.
BUILDING. Any structure having a roof supported by columns, walls or other means of support for the shelter or enclosure of persons or property.
BUILDING LINE. A line parallel to a lot line or the ordinary high water level at the required setback beyond which a structure may not extend.
COMMERCIAL USE. The principal use of land or buildings for the sale, lease, rental or trade of products, goods and services and other activities carried out for financial gain.
CONDITIONAL USE. A land use or development as defined by ordinance that would not be appropriate generally but may be allowed with appropriate restrictions as provided by official controls upon a finding that certain conditions as detailed in the zoning ordinance exist, the use or development conforms to comprehensive land use plan of the community, and the use is compatible with the existing neighborhood. The city may impose additional conditions in specific instances to protect the health, safety and welfare.
DECK. A horizontal, unenclosed platform with or without attached railings, seats, trellises, or other features, attached or functionally related to principal use or site and at any point extending more than three feet above ground level.
DWELLING, DUPLEX, TRIPLEX and QUAD. A dwelling structure on a single lot, having two, three, and four units respectively, being attached by common walls and each unit equipped with separate sleeping cooking, eating, living and sanitation facilities.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE. A building or portion thereof used for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other.
DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY. A building used exclusively for occupancy by one family.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY. A building used exclusively for occupancy by two families living independently of each other.
DWELLING SITE. A designated location for residential use by one or more persons using temporary or movable shelter, including camping and recreational vehicle sites.
DWELLING UNIT. Any structure or portion of a structure or other shelter designed as short or long-term living quarters for one or more persons, including rental or time-share accommodations, such as motel, hotel and resort rooms and cabins.
HOME OCCUPATION. A lawful occupation customarily carried on by a resident of a dwelling as an accessory use within the same building. Such occupation must be clearly secondary to the principal use and not change the nature of the principal use.
INDUSTRIAL USE. The use of land or buildings for the production, manufacture, warehousing, storage or transfer of goods, products, commodities or other wholesale items.
JUNK YARD. Land and structures used for the storage or keeping of junk, including scrap metals, or for the dismantling or wrecking of automobiles or other machinery, other than the storage of materials which is incidental or accessory to any business or industrial use on the same lot.
LIGHT INDUSTRIAL. The assembly, fabrication or processing of goods and materials using processes that ordinarily do not create noise, smoke, fumes, odors, glare or health or safety hazards outside the building or lot where the assembly, fabrication or processing takes place, where the processes are housed entirely within a building, or where the outdoor storage of goods and materials used does not exceed 25% of the floor area of all buildings on the lot.
LOT. A parcel of land designated by plat, metes and bounds, registered land survey, auditors plot, or other accepted means, and separated from other parcels or portions by that description for the purpose of sale, lease or separation. A lot must be situated and have its principal frontage on a public street.
LOT, CORNER. A lot situated at the intersection of two or more streets, or bounded on two or more adjacent sides by street lines.
LOT, INTERIOR. A lot other than a corner lot.
LOT LINE. A line of record bounding a lot which divides a lot from another lot, a public street or any other public or private space.
LOT LINE, FRONT. A lot line abutting a dedicated public right-of-way.
LOT LINE, REAR. The lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line. In the case of corner lots, the rear lot line shall be determined by the zoning administrator based upon characteristics of the surrounding neighborhood.
LOT LINE, SIDE. Any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.
LOT WIDTH. The shortest distance between lot lines measured at the midpoint of the building line.
MANUFACTURED HOME. A structure, transportable in one or more sections which in the traveling mode is eight feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or when erected on-site is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating and air conditioning and electrical systems contained therein, and which meets all the requirements established under M.S. § 327.31, as it may be amended from time to time, the Manufactured Home Building Code.
NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE OR USE. A structure or use lawfully in existence on the effective date of this chapter or any amendment thereto, and not conforming to the regulations for the district in which it is situated.
NONCONFORMITY. Any legal use, structure or parcel of land already in existence, recorded, or authorized before the adoption of official controls or amendments thereto that would not have been permitted to become established under the terms of the official controls as now written, if the official controls had been in effect prior to the date it was established, recorded or authorized.
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, COMMERCIAL. Typically include uses that provide transient, short-term lodging spaces, rooms or parcels, and their operations are essentially service- oriented. For example: hotel/motel accommodations, resorts, recreational vehicle and camping parks, and other primarily service-oriented activities are Commercial Planned Unit Developments.
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT, RESIDENTIAL. A use where the nature of residency is non-transient, and major or primary focus is not service-oriented. For example: residential apartments, manufactured home parks, townhouses and full-fee ownership residences would be considered as Residential Planned Unit Developments. To qualify as a Residential Planned Unit Development, a development must contain at least five dwelling units or sites.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE. A vehicle that is built on a single chassis, is 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, is designed to be self-propelled or permanently towed by a light duty truck and is primarily designed not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.
RESTAURANT. An establishment in which food and/or drink is offered or prepared and served for public consumption and is served to customers at tables by employees. Restaurants may include incidental take-out service.
SETBACK. The minimum distance from any lot line that an improvement may be placed, measured perpendicularly from the lot line to the closest point of the improvement.
SETBACK LINE. The line which is the specified setback -distance from and parallel to any lot line, or other specified line, such as the ordinary high water level, edge of wetland, floodplain, or top of bluff.
STORAGE. Goods, materials or equipment placed or left in a location on a premises.
STRUCTURE. Anything constructed, placed or erected on or attached to, in some manner, the ground.
STRUCTURE, PRINCIPAL. The building in which is conducted the primary use of the lot on which the building is located.
USE. The purpose or activity for which a premises is designed, arranged or intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM OR WINDMILL. An apparatus capable of converting wind energy into electricity.
YARD. An open space unobstructed from the ground upward with the exception of landscape materials and minor fixtures of a non-structural nature commonly found in a yard.
YARD, FRONT. The area between the front lot line and the front setback line.
YARD, REAR. The area between the rear lot line and the rear setback line.
YARD, SIDE. A space extending from the front yard to the rear yard along a side lot line measured perpendicularly from the side lot line to the closest point of a structure.
ZONING ADMINISTRATOR. The City Clerk or other person designated by the City Council to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.