For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESSORY BUILDING OR USE. A subordinate building or portion of the main building, or subordinate use which is located on the same lot as the main building and the use of which is clearly incidental to the use of the main building.
AGRICULTURE. The growing of soil crops in the customary manner on open tracts of land, the raising of animals or poultry, except kennels and farms for disposal of garbage or offal, and incidental retail selling by the producer of products raised on the premises; provided that, space necessary for parking of vehicles of customers shall be furnished off the public right-of-way.
ALLEY. A public thoroughfare less than 25 feet in width which provides secondary access to abutting property.
APARTMENT. A part of a building consisting of a room or suite of rooms which is designed for, intended for or used as a residence for one family or an individual and is equipped with cooking facilities.
APARTMENT BUILDING. Three or more apartments grouped in one building.
AUTOMOBILE WRECKING. See JUNK YARDS.
BASEMENT. A portion of a building located partly underground.
BILLBOARD. A sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service, activity or entertainment not conducted, sold or offered upon the premises where the sign is located.
BLOCK. A tract of land bounded by streets or a combination of streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, shorelines, waterways or boundary lines of the corporate limits of the city.
BOARDING HOUSE. Any dwelling other than a hotel or motel where meals or lodging and meals for compensation are provided for five or more persons, pursuant to previous arrangements and not to anyone who may apply.
BUILDING. Any structure for the shelter, support or enclosure of persons, animals, chattel or property of any kind. When separated by party walls without openings, each portion of the BUILDINGS so separated shall be deemed a separate BUILDING.
BUILDING HEIGHT. The vertical distance from the average of the highest and lowest point of that portion of the lot covered by the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.
CONDOMINIUM. Two or more dwelling units, each of which may be under separate ownership, but with common area and facilities.
COURT. An open, unoccupied space bounded on two or more sides by the exterior walls of a building or buildings on the same lot.
DEPTH OF LOT. The mean horizontal distance between the mean front street and the mean rear lot line. The greater frontage of a corner lot is its depth, and its lesser frontage is its width.
DEPTH OF REAR YARD. The mean horizontal distance between the rear line of the building, other than accessory buildings, and the rear lot line.
DISTRICT. A section of the city for which the regulations governing the height, area, use of buildings and premises are the same.
DWELLING. Any building or part thereof which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes by one or more human beings, either permanently or transiently.
(1) MULTIPLE DWELLING. A building designed or occupied by more than two families.
(2) SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLING. A building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.
(3) TWO-FAMILY DWELLING. A building designed for or occupied by two families.
DWELLING UNIT. One or more rooms arranged for the use of one or more individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit, with cooking, living, sanitary and sleeping facilities.
ELDERLY TENANT. An individual who is at least 62 years of age or handicapped, including the family member of an individual who is an ELDERLY TENANT, and the surviving female member of an individual who was an ELDERLY TENANT.
ELDERLY TENANT MULTIPLE HOUSING PROJECT. An apartment building designed or occupied entirely 100% of elderly tenants.
FAMILY. An individual or two or more persons related by blood or marriage, or a group of not more than five persons (excluding servants) who need not be related by blood or marriage, living together in a dwelling unit.
FARMING. See AGRICULTURE.
FLEA MARKET. An open market selling antiques, used household goods and curios and the like.
FLOOR AREA. The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building measured from the exterior walls, including basements and attached accessory buildings.
GARAGE.
(1) COMMUNITY GARAGE. A garage with a capacity of two or more power-driven vehicles, for storage only of vehicles owned separately by owners or tenants of the dwelling units served by the garage, which is erected as an accessory use.
(2) PRIVATE GARAGE. A garage with a capacity of not more than four power-driven vehicles for storage only and which is erected as an accessory building.
(3) PUBLIC GARAGE. Any premises, except those described as a private garage used for the storage or care of power-driven vehicles which are equipped for operation, repair or are kept for remuneration, hire or sale.
GROUP DAY CARE. Any facility that, for compensation or otherwise, regularly provides care for six or more persons for all or part of the day.
HEMP-DERIVED TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL (THC) EDIBLES AND BEVERAGES. Any product that is intended to be eaten or consumed as a beverage by humans and contains THC in combination with food ingredients.
HEMP or INDUSTRIAL HEMP. The plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of the plant, whether growing or not, including the plant’s seeds, and all the plant’s derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis. Industrial hemp is not marijuana as defined in M.S. § 152.01, subd. 9.
HEMP PROCESSING or MANUFACTURING. Rendering by refinement hemp plants or hemp plant parts from their natural or original state after harvest. PROCESSING includes but is not limited to decortication, devitalization, chopping, crushing, extraction, combining cannabinoid(s) with food ingredients, and packaging. PROCESSING does not include typical farm operations such as sorting, grading, baling, and harvesting.
HOME OCCUPATION. Any occupation of a service character which is clearly secondary to the main use of the premises as a dwelling and does not change the character thereof or have any exterior evidence of secondary use. This occupation shall be carried on or conducted only by members of a family residing in the dwelling and immediate family of the resident(s).
HOTEL. Any building or portion thereof where sleeping accommodations are offered to the public for compensation on a transient basis in six or more rooms licensed under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 157. "Transient" shall mean the hotel is not the sole residence of the guest(s) and occupancy shall be limited to less than three hundred sixty-five (365) consecutive days. Hotels must have a reception desk staffed at all hours and conduct regular housekeeping services of guest rooms. A hotel may also include "extended stay" guest rooms which must contain a complete kitchen equipped with a full-sized refrigerator, built-in cooking facilities, microwave, sink, cooking utensils, dishes and cutlery. Hotels are therefore distinct from apartment buildings, boarding houses, or lodging houses as defined in this Chapter.
JUNK YARD. Land or buildings where waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, cleaned, packed, disassembled or handled, including, but not limited to, scrap metal, rags, paper, hides, rubber products, glass products, lumber products and products resulting from the wrecking of automobiles or other vehicles.
LIGHT INDUSTRIAL. Light Industrial means a category of uses that is capable of operation in such a manner as to control the external efforts of manufacturing processes such as smoke, noise, vibration, soot and odor. It includes limited intensity levels of manufacturing and assembly activities primarily from previously prepared or refined material, or from raw materials that do not need refining, warehousing of produced products on site with limited direct public access, research and development, packaging, and associated offices and similar uses as determined by the City Planner within an enclosed building. This use category includes, but is not limited to, food processing, contractors, textiles, wood products, tool and die, printing, pharmaceuticals, machinery manufacturing or assembly, research and development, laboratories, but excludes basic industrial processing from raw materials or other heavy industrial uses.
LOADING SPACE. The portion of a lot or plot designed to serve the purpose of loading or unloading all types of vehicles.
LODGING HOUSE. A building or premises where lodging is provided for compensation for five or more persons, but not exceeding 25 persons.
LOT. One unit of a recorded plat or subdivision occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings and including as a minimum, open spaces as are required under this chapter and having frontages on a public street.
(1) CORNER LOT. A lot situated at the junction of and fronting on two or more streets.
(2) DOUBLE FRONTAGE LOT. An interior lot having frontage on two streets.
(3) INTERIOR LOT. A lot other than a corner lot.
LOT AREA. The land area within the lot lines.
LOT AREA PER FAMILY. The lot area required by this chapter to be provided for each family in a dwelling.
LOT LINES. The lines bounding a lot, as defined herein. When a LOT LINE abuts a street, avenue, park or other public property, except an alley, the line shall be known as a street line and, when a LOT LINE abuts an alley, it shall be known as an alley line.
LOT OF RECORD. Any lot or plot existing at the effective date of this chapter which lot or plot may not be further subdivided unless it complies with all provisions of this chapter. In the case of LOTS OF RECORD which contain smaller dimensions or areas than set forth in this chapter, they shall be used only as provided in this chapter.
LOT WIDTH. The width of a lot is its own mean width measured at right angles.
MUNICIPAL WATER AND SEWER SYSTEMS. Utility systems serving a group of buildings, lots or an area of the city, with the design and construction of the utility systems as approved by the city’s Engineering Department.
NON-CONFORMING USES. A use lawfully in existence on the effective date of this chapter and not conforming to the regulations for the district in which it is situated; except that, a use is conforming if it would be authorized under a conditional use permit where located.
ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK. A mark delineating the highest water level which has been maintained for a sufficient period of time to leave evidence upon the landscape. The ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK is commonly that point where the natural vegetation changes from predominantly aquatic to predominantly terrestrial.
PERSON. Includes all firms, partnerships, associations, corporations and natural persons.
PLOT. A tract other than one unit of a recorded plat or subdivision and occupied and used or intended to be occupied and used as a home site and improved or intended to be improved by the erection thereon of a dwelling and accessory buildings and having a frontage upon a public street or upon a thoroughfare or upon a highway or upon a traveled or used road and including as a minimum, open spaces as required under this chapter.
PREMISES. A lot or plot with the required front, side and rear yards for a dwelling or other uses as allowed under this chapter.
PUBLIC UTILITY or PUBLIC SERVICE USE. Includes, but is not limited to, the following: water supply buildings, reservoirs, wells, elevated tanks, sewage lift stations, natural gas peak shaving plants and other distribution facilities, electric substations, telephone structures and facilities, railroad rights-of-way (but not industrial) and railroad depots and related facilities.
PUBLIC WATER. Any waters of the state which serve a beneficial public purpose, as defined in M.S. Ch. 105, as it may be amended from time to time. However, no lake, pond or flowage of less than ten acres in size and no river or stream having a total drainage area less than two square miles shall be regulated for the purposes of these regulations. A body of water created by a private user where there was no previous shoreland, as defined herein, for a designated private use authorized by the Commissioner of Natural Resources shall be exempt from the provisions of these regulations. The official determination of the size and physical limits of drainage areas of rivers and streams shall be made by the Commissioner of Natural Resources. The official size of lakes, ponds or flowages shall be the areas listed in the Division of Waters’ Bulletin 25, An Inventory of Minnesota Lakes, or in the event that lakes, ponds or flowages are not listed therein, official determination of size and physical limits shall be made by the Commissioner of Natural Resources in cooperation with the city.
SETBACK LINE. The horizontal distance between the front street right-of-way line and the front line of the building or the allowable building line as defined by the front yard regulations of this chapter.
SHOPPING CENTER.
(1) NEIGHBORHOOD SHOPPING CENTER. A retail center designed for the purpose of retailing “convenience” goods, such as food and drugs and providing personal services, such as barber shops and laundry stations for the accommodation of the basic day-to-day shopping or service needs of persons living or working within the nearby area.
(2) SUB-REGIONAL SHOPPING CENTER. A retail center designed for the purpose of retailing and providing a wide range of goods and services of both the “convenience” and “shoppers” or “durable” nature such as apparel, furniture, banking and financial services, automobiles, implements, restaurants, gasoline stations for a trade area comprised of an area larger than the community, but smaller than the region.
SHORELAND.
(1) Land located within the following distances from public waters:
(a) One thousand feet from the ordinary high water mark of a lake, pond or flowage; and
(b) Three hundred feet from a river or stream, or the landward extent of a floodplain designated by the code on a river or stream, whichever is greater.
(2) The practical limits of SHORELANDS may be less than the statutory limits where limits are designated by natural drainage divides at lesser distances, as shown on the official zoning map of the city.
SIGN. A name, identification, description, display, illustration or device which is affixed to or represented directly or indirectly upon a building, structure or land in view of the general public and which directs attention.
(1) FLASHING SIGN. Any illuminated sign on which the illumination is not kept stationary or constant in intensity and color at all times when the sign is in use.
(2) ILLUMINATED SIGN. Any sign which has characters, letters, figures, designs or outlines illuminated by electric lights or luminous tubes as a part of the sign.
(3) NAME PLATE SIGN. Any sign which states the name or address or both of the business or occupant of the lot where the sign is placed.
(4) PYLON SIGN. A free standing sign erected upon one or more pylons or posts which is in excess of ten feet in height with a sign mounted on top thereof.
(5) ROTATING SIGN. A sign which revolves or rotates on its axis by mechanical means.
SURFACE OF A SIGN. The entire area within a single, continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of the actual sign surface. It does not include any structural elements outside the limits of the sign and not forming an integral part of the display. Only one side of a double-face or V-type sign structure shall be used in computing total surface area. The interior angle formed by the faces of a V-type sign shall not exceed 45 degrees.
STORY. The 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, the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it. For the purpose of the height requirements of this chapter, basements shall not be considered a STORY.
STREET. The entire area dedicated to public use, or contained in an easement or other conveyance or grant to the city, and shall include, but not be limited to, roadways, boulevards, alleys and other public property between the lateral property lines in which a roadway lies.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS. Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
STRUCTURE. Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something having a location on the ground.
TOWNHOUSE. A single structure consisting of three or more dwelling units having the first story on the ground level with no other single-family dwelling units or portions thereof directly above or below with no openings between dwelling units.
USE. The purpose for which land or premises or a building thereon is designated, arranged or intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
USE, ACCESSORY. A use incidental or accessory to the principal use of a lot or a building located on the same lot as the accessory use.
VARIANCE. A modification or variation of the provisions of this chapter, as applied to a specific piece of property; except that, modification in the allowable uses within a district shall not be considered a VARIANCE. VARIANCES to zoning provisions shall be granted only in accordance with § 154.015 of this chapter.
YARD. An open space on the same zoning lot with a building or structure, which YARD is unoccupied and unobstructed from its lowest level to the sky, except as otherwise permitted in this chapter.
(1) FRONT YARD. A yard extending across the front of the lot between the side lot lines and lying between the front street line of the lot and the nearest line of the building.
(2) REAR YARD. An open space unoccupied, except for accessory buildings on the same lot with a building between the rear lines of the building and the rear line of the lot, for the full width of the lot.
(3) SIDE YARD. An open space unoccupied (except for accessory buildings) on the same lot with a building between the building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.
(2002 Code, § 7.02) (Ord. 324, effective 11-20-1965; Ord. 156, Second Series, effective 1-1-1979; Ord. 6, Third Series, effective 7-1-1979; Ord. 181, Third Series, effective 1-15-1989; Ord. 76, Seventh Series, effective 1-6-2019; Ord. 10, Eighth Series, effective 3-7-2021; Ord. 15, Eighth Series, effective 11-21-2021; Ord. 24, Eighth Series, effective 4-10-2022; Ord. 32, Eighth Series, effective 11-11-2022)