For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning. In addition, unless otherwise specified all distances shall be measured horizontally in any direction. Finally, the definitions in I.C. 36-1-2-1 et seq. and 36-7-1-1 et seq. apply throughout this chapter unless otherwise specifically defined.
ABANDONED VEHICLE.
(1) A vehicle located on public property illegally.
(2) A vehicle left on public property without being moved for 24 hours.
(3) A vehicle located on public property in such a manner as to constitute a hazard or obstruction to the movement of pedestrian or vehicular traffic on a public right-of-way.
(4) A vehicle that has remained on private property without the consent of the owner or person in control of that property for more than 48 hours.
(5) A vehicle from which the engine, transmission, or differential has been removed or that is otherwise partially dismantled or inoperable and left on public property.
(6) A vehicle that has been removed by a towing service or public agency upon request of an officer enforcing a statute or an ordinance other than this chapter if the impounded vehicle is not claimed or redeemed by the owner or the owner’s agent within 20 days after the vehicle’s removal.
(7) A vehicle that is at least three model years old, is mechanically inoperable, and is left on private property continuously in a location visible from public property for more than 20 days. For purposes of this division, a vehicle covered by a tarpaulin or other plastic, vinyl, rubber, cloth, or textile covering is considered to be visible.
(a) It is prima facie evidence that a vehicle is an ABANDONED VEHICLE if it remains on private property for more than 20 days and meets anyone of the following:
1. Does not have lawfully affixed thereto or displayed thereon a current, valid, and unexpired or unencumbered license plate permitting its operation upon public roads, streets, or highways. or is qualified to be but is not carried on the most recent tax records of the Lake County Assessor’s Office;
2. Has broken or missing windows or flat or missing tires and appears to be mechanically inoperable;
3. Has missing bumpers or fenders or is in any other way partially dismantled or wrecked; or
4. Is missing its engine, transmission, differential, or any other parts that would make it mechanically inoperable.
(b) The fact that the vehicle has a lawfully valid and unexpired license plate permitting its operation upon public roads, streets, or highways, or is being carried on the most recent tax records of the Lake County Assessor’s Office, shall not prevent the vehicle from being declared an ABANDONED VEHICLE.
ACCESSORY BUILDING and USE. A subordinate building located on the same lot with the main building, or a subordinate use of land, either of which is customarily incidental to the main building or to the principal use of the land. Where a substantial part of the wall of an accessory building is a part of the wall of the main building, or where an accessory building is attached to the main building in a substantial manner as by a roof, the accessory building shall be counted as part of the main building.
ACCESSORY LIVING QUARTERS. Living quarters within an accessory building for the sole use of persons employed on the premises, such quarters having no kitchen facilities and not rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling.
ADVERTISING DEVICE or DEVICES. Any billboard, signs, notice, poster, display, emblem, or any structure for supporting the device.
ALTA SURVEY or ALTA/ACSM SURVEY or PLAT OF SURVEY. A boundary survey prepared to a set of minimum standards that have been jointly prepared and adopted by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and the American Land Title Association with the goal of promoting uniformity in survey information. Additionally, an ALTA SURVEY includes improvements, easements, rights-of-way, and other elements impacting the ownership of land.
ANIMAL HOSPITAL. A lot, building, structure, enclosure, or premises whereon or wherein three or more dogs, cats, and other domestic animals are kept or maintained, and is operated by or the treatment therein is under the direct supervision of a veterinarian licensed to practice by the state.
APARTMENT. One or more rooms including sleeping, living, and principal kitchen facilities designed as a unit for occupancy by only one family.
APARTMENT HOTEL. An apartment house which provides services for the use of its tenants, which are usually furnished by hotels, but the privileges of these services are not available to the public.
BLOCK FRONTAGE. All the property fronting on one side of a street between intersection or intercepting streets or between a street and right-of-way, end of dead-end street, or city boundary measured along the street line.
BOARD. The Board of Zoning Appeals of the county.
BUILDING. Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the housing or enclosure of persons, animals, or chattel. When any portion thereof is completely separated from every other portion thereof by a division wall without openings, then each such portion shall be deemed to be a separate building.
(1) BUILDING, DETACHED. A building having no party wall in common with another building.
(2) BUILDING, NONCONFORMING. A legally existing building which fails to comply with the regulations set forth in this chapter applicable to the district in which the building is located.
(3) BUILDING, SEMI-DETACHED. A building having one party wall common with an adjacent building.
BUILDING, HEIGHT OF. The vertical distance measured from the adjoining street centering grade at a point opposite the center of the principal frontage of the building to the highest point of ceiling of the top story in the case of a flat roof; to the deck line of a mansard roof; and to the mean height level between the eaves and ridge.
BUILDING LINE. A line running across the length or width of a lot, parallel with any road right-of-way abutting the lot, which establishes the minimum open space between the road right-of-way and the nearest point that a building or structure may be placed.
CAMP GROUND. Any lot, parcel, or tract of land used for occupancy by two or more camp sites in which only tents are utilized. Recreation vehicles shall not be permitted.
CAMPING TRAILER. See RECREATIONAL VEHICLE.
CEMETERY. Land used for the burial of the dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes, including columbariums, crematories, mausoleums, and mortuaries, when operated in conjunction with and within the boundary of such cemetery.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE. A vehicle used for transportation and profit as a chief aim, or in association with the buying and selling of goods, trade, or business; those devices may or may not contain advertising.
COMMISSION. The County Plan Commission.
COMMISSIONERS. The Board of County Commissioners.
CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER SYSTEMS. Concentrated solar power systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a receiver.
COUNTY. The County of Lake, Indiana.
COURT. An open unoccupied space on the same lot with a building or group of buildings and bounded on three or more sides by the building or buildings. The width of any court is its least horizontal dimension measured between opposite walls. The length of any court is its greatest horizontal dimension measured at right angles to its width.
(1) COURT, INNER. Any court other than an outer court.
(2) COURT, OUTER. A court which opens on any yard on the lot or which extends to any street line of the lot.
DWELLING UNIT. One or more rooms with culinary facilities designed as a unit for occupancy by only one family for cooking, living, and sleeping purposes.
(1) DWELLING, MULTIPLE. A building containing three or more dwelling units arranged either side by side or one above the other.
(2) DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY. A detached building containing only one dwelling unit.
(3) DWELLING, TERRACE, ROW, TOWNHOUSE. A building containing three or more dwelling units arranged side by side, separated from each other by a fire wall, and having separate means of egress and ingress from the outside.
(4) DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY. A detached building containing only two dwelling units.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION. Pre-primary or grade, public, parochial, or private school, high school, preparatory school or academy, public or founded or owned or conducted by or under the sponsorship of a religious or charitable organization; private preparatory school or academy furnishing courses of instruction substantially equivalent to the courses offered by public high schools for preparation of admission to colleges or universities which award B.A. or B.S. degrees; junior college, college, or university, public or founded or conducted by or under the sponsorship of a religious or charitable organization; or private when not conducted as a commercial enterprise for the profit of individual owners or stockholders. This definition shall not be deemed to include TRADE or BUSINESS SCHOOLS as defined in this section.
FAMILY. An individual or a group of two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption, but limited to husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, and legally adopted children (or foster children) or not more than two persons not related by blood, marriage, or adoption, with all persons occupying the premises of a single dwelling unit with single culinary facilities as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding house or lodging house, hotel, club, fraternity, or similar dwelling for group use.
FARM.
(1) A parcel of land at least 20 acres in size used for agricultural purposes, including buildings and equipment essential to agricultural production.
(2) HOBBY FARM. A parcel of land at least two and one-half acres used primarily as a residential lot whereon some crops may be raised and whereon some animals may be kept for pleasure.
FLOOR AREA. For the purpose of determining the floor area ratio, the FLOOR AREA of a building is the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of the building measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls or from the center line of walls separating two buildings. The FLOOR AREA of a building shall include basement floor area when more than one-half of the basement height is above the established curb level, or above the finished lot grade level, where curb level has not been established; elevator shafts and stairwells at each floor; floor space used for mechanical equipment (open or enclosed) located on the roof; penthouse; attic space having headroom of seven feet, ten inches or more; interior balconies and mezzanines; enclosed porches; and floor area devoted to accessory uses. However, any space devoted to off-street parking or loading shall not be included in FLOOR AREA.
FLOOR AREA RATIO (F.A.R.). The FLOOR AREA RATIO of the building or buildings on any zoning lot is the floor area of the building or buildings on that zoning lot divided by the area of the zoning lot.
GARAGE. A detached accessory building or portion of main building used or intended to be used for the storage of vehicles or trailers.
GARAGE, PARKING. Any building, except a private garage, used exclusively for parking or self-propelled vehicles, and with not more than two pumps for the incidental sale of gasoline.
GROUND-MOUNTED SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM. A solar energy system that is structurally mounted to the ground and is not roof-mounted.
HOME OCCUPATION. Any occupation conducted by the residents of a dwelling unit for financial gain.
HOSPITAL. Sanitarium, sanitorium, preventiorium, clinic, provided the institution is operated by, or treatment given under direct supervision of, a physician licensed to practice by the state.
HOTEL. A building or portion thereof used for the more or less temporary occupancy of individuals who are lodged with or without meals, and in which provisions for cooking is made preponderantly in a central kitchen and not in the individual rooms or suites.
JUNK YARD. Includes automobile wrecking and storage. Any lot, building, structure, enclosure, premises, or parts thereof used for the storage, keeping, or abandonment of any worn out, cast off, or discarded or abandoned article, material, vehicle, automobile, and machinery or parts collected or stored for salvage or conversion to some use including scrap metal, paper, wood, cordage, or other waste or discarded materials, vehicles, automobiles, and machinery or part thereof, or vehicles or automobiles that are inoperable or incapable of movement by their own locomotion or power, or vehicles or automobiles without a valid current state registration and license plate issued to the vehicle or automobile and to the occupant, owner, purchaser, lessor, lessee, or tenant of any lot, building, or structure therein or thereon situated.
KENNEL. A lot, building, structure, enclosure, or premise wherein or whereon dogs or cats are maintained, boarded, bred, kept, or cared for, in return for remuneration, or are kept for the purpose of sale, or are groomed, trained, or handled by others.
LEGISLATIVE BODY. The County Council.
LIMITED ACCESS STREET. A street designated as such by the Indiana State Highway Commission or the federal government.
LODGING HOUSE. A building with more than two, but not more than ten, guest rooms, where lodging with or without meals is provided for compensation.
LOT. A parcel of land defined by metes and bounds or boundary lines in a recorded deed or on a recorded plat, fronting on a street. In determining lot area and boundary lines, no part thereof within the limits of the street shall be included. The word LOT includes PLOT.
(1) LOT, CORNER. A lot at the junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting streets, both of which are 20 feet or more in width.
(2) LOT, THROUGH. A lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
LOT WIDTH. The distance parallel to the front of a building erected or to be erected, measured between side lot lines at the building line.
MANUFACTURED HOME. A dwelling unit, designed and built in a factory, which bears a seal certifying that it was built in compliance with the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Law of 1974, and certified by the state. Such manufactured home shall be constructed after 1-1-1981, classified as residential design, and exceed 950 square feet of occupied space, exceed 23 feet in width along the entire length of the unit. Porches, terraces, decks, garages, pull-out and expansion rooms shall not be included for width requirements.
MOBILE HOME. Any housing unit defined or titled by the state as a MOBILE HOME or any portable structure eight feet or more wide, 30 feet or more long, designed primarily for year-round residency, and generally transported on its own frame and running gear. Multiple units and expandables shall be included in this definition.
MOBILE HOME PARK. Any lot, parcel, or tract of land approved and licensed for the parking of two or more mobile homes.
MODULAR HOME. Any factory assembled home defined by the state as a MODULAR HOME or any factory assembled home not on its own frame or running gear designed to be transported by truck or trailer to a building site.
MOTEL. A permanent building or group of buildings containing rooms without cooking facilities, used, rented, or hired out for the more or less temporary occupancy of overnight guests.
MOTOR HOME. See RECREATIONAL VEHICLE.
NET SITE AREA. The entire land area within the boundaries of a site, less one-half the area of any vacated streets or alleys.
NONCONFORMING USE. A legally existing use of land or building which fails to comply with the regulations set forth in this chapter applicable to the district in which such use is located.
PARKING AREA, PUBLIC. An open area, other than a street, used for the temporary parking of more than four automobiles and available for public use whether free, for compensation, or as an accommodation for clients or customers.
PARKING SPACE (ONE), OFF-STREET. A space on private land, accessible from a street or alley, not less than ten feet wide and 20 feet long exclusive of passageways.
PICK-UP COACH. See RECREATIONAL VEHICLE.
PLANNING STAFF. The duly appointed planning staff of the county.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE. A temporary dwelling for travel, recreation, and vacation use including, but not limited to the following.
(1) CAMPING TRAILER. A canvas, folding structure built on a chassis with wheels and designed to move on the highway.
(2) MOTOR HOME. A self-propelled vehicle with a dwelling constructed as an integral part of the vehicle, or so altered.
(3) PICK-UP COACH. A structure designed to be mounted on a truck chassis or cut-down car.
(4) TRAVEL TRAILER. A vehicle, identified by the manufacturer as a travel trailer, built on a chassis eight feet or less wide and 30 feet or less long, and designed to move on the highway.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARK. Any lot, parcel, or tract of land approved for the use and occupancy of two or more recreational vehicles.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE SITE. An area of land within a recreational vehicle park designed and approved for the placement of one recreational vehicle.
RESTAURANT. Any establishment whose principal business is the sale of foods, desserts, or beverages to the customer in a building designed for and intended for being served in a seating area.
RESTAURANT (FAST FOOD). Any establishment whose principal business is the sale of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages to the customer in a ready-to-consume state for consumption either within the building or for carry-out or drive-thru facilities and the building design is for the purposes of carry-out and drive-thru pick-up.
ROOF-MOUNTED SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM. A solar energy system that is structurally mounted to the roof of a building or structure.
ROOMER. Any person, not the principal tenant or a family member of the principal tenant, who resides in a living unit who pays remuneration to the principal tenant, as distinguished from a guest who does not receive remuneration.
SANITARY FILL. The disposal of garbage by the trench and cover method or fill and borrow method. In the first case, an excavation will be made and the garbage placed in the excavation and covered with the dirt which was removed. In the second case, the fill may be made in a low area and dirt borrowed from higher ground will be spread over the top of the garbage.
SATELLITE EARTH STATION. An installation designed to receive geosynchronous satellite transmission and convert them into audio and video signals which are applied to a television receiver or monitor by means of a standard coaxial cable.
SATELLITE EARTH STATION ANTENNA SYSTEM. The part of a satellite earth station consisting of a parabolic or spherical dish antenna used to receive signals from geosynchronous satellites.
SIGN. An advertisement, announcement, direction, or communication produced in whole or in part by the construction, erection, affixing, or placing of a structure on any land or on any other structure, or produced by painting on or posting or placing any printed, lettered, pictured, figured, or colored material on any building, structure, or surface. Signs placed or erected by public agencies for the purpose of showing street names or traffic direction or regulations or for other governmental purposes shall not be included herein, nor shall this include signs which are part of the architectural design of the building.
SITE DEVELOPMENT PLAN. The specific plan for the development of real property that requires administrative review and approval by the planning staff or upon automatic appeal (as described in § 154.005(F)) to the Commission under the 1400 series of I.C. 36-7-4 prior to the issuance of a building and zoning permit, includes a site development plan, satisfies the development requirements specified in this chapter regulating the development, and contains any plan documentation and supporting information required by this chapter.
SMALL WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM (SWECS). A system containing a wind turbine, tower, associated control or conversion electronics, and any related facilities employed to convert wind energy to electrical energy used primarily for onsite consumption. The maximum rated capacity for a SWECS shall be 100 kilowatts or less.
SOLAR ACCESS EASEMENT. A right, expressed as an easement, covenant, condition or other property interest in any deed or other instrument executed by or on behalf of any landowner, which protects the solar skyspace of an actual, proposed or designated solar energy collector at a described location by forbidding or limiting activities, land uses, structures and/or trees that interfere with access to solar energy. The solar skyspace must be described as the three-dimensional spaces in which obstruction is limited or prohibited. Any property owner may give or sell his right to access to sunlight. Such SOLAR ACCESS EASEMENTS shall be recorded and copies shall be kept on file with the Lake County Recorder’s office.
SOLAR ARRAY. A collection of multiple solar panels that generate electricity as a system.
SOLAR ENERGY. Radiant energy (direct, diffuse, and reflected) received from the sun.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM. A system intended to convert solar energy into thermal, mechanical, or electrical energy.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, BUILDING-INTEGRATED. A solar energy system that is an integral part of a principal or accessory building, rather than a separate mechanical device, replacing or substituting for an architectural or structural part of the building. Building-integrated systems include, but are not limited to, photovoltaic or hot water systems that are contained within roofing materials, windows, skylights, shading devices and similar architectural components.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, GROUND- MOUNTED. A solar energy system mounted on the ground and not attached to any other structure other than structural supports.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, STRUCTURE-MOUNTED. A solar energy system that is mounted flush with a finished building surface, at no more than six inches in height above that surface.
SOLAR FARM. A solar energy system consisting of a group of interconnected solar panels/arrays that convert sunlight into electricity for the primary purpose of wholesale or retail sales of generated electricity (also known as grid-intertie photovoltaic system).These systems include solar monitoring systems and all equipment and facilities necessary for the proper operation of the facility, such as electrical collection and transmission lines, transformers, substations and operations and maintenance facilities.
SOLAR PANEL. A group of photovoltaic cells assembled on a panel. Panels are assembled on site into solar arrays.
SOLAR SKYSPACE. The space between a solar energy collector and the sun which must be free of obstructions that shade to the collector to an extent which precludes its cost-effective operation.
STABLE, COMMERCIAL. A building, structure, or portion thereof, in which horses or ponies are boarded, trained, or kept for others, or are available to the public for riding with or without remuneration.
STABLE, PRIVATE. A building, structure, or portion thereof, in which horses or ponies are kept for the private use of the property owner or tenant, but not for hire, remuneration, or sale.
STORY. The portion of a building included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above; also any portion of a building used for human occupancy between the top-most floor and the roof. A basement shall not be counted as a STORY unless the height of the surface of the first floor above the average elevation of the finished lot grade at the front of the building exceeds four feet.
STREET. A public way established by or maintained under public authority, a private way open for public uses, and a private way, plotted or laid out for ultimate public use, whether or not constructed.
STREET, IMPROVED. Any public street with a minimum right-of-way of 40 feet with a minimum 18-foot roadway properly graded and drained with a minimum base of seven inches or more of aggregate.
STRUCTURE. Anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or attachment to something having a location on the ground.
TELEVISION AERIAL. An instrument used to receive electromagnetic waves in the VHF (Very High Frequency) and UHF (Ultra-High Frequency) bands.
TOURIST HOME. A building in which more than one but not more than five guest rooms are used to provide or offer overnight accommodations for transient guests for compensation.
TRADE or BUSINESS SCHOOL. Secretarial school or college; business school or college when not public and not owned or conducted by or under the sponsorship of a religious or charitable organization; school conducted as commercial enterprise for teaching instrumental music, dancing, barbering, or hair dressing, or for teaching industrial skills in which machinery is employed as a means of instruction. This definition shall not be deemed to include EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION as defined in this section.
TRAVEL TRAILER. See RECREATIONAL VEHICLE.
USED. Includes DESIGNED or INTENDED TO BE USED.
VEHICLE. A device in, upon, or by which person or property is, or may be, transported or drawn upon a road, street, or highway. VEHICLE does not include the following:
(1) A device moved by human power;
(2) A vehicle that runs only on rails or tracks;
(3) A vehicle propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails or tracks;
(4) A fire truck and apparatus owned by a person or municipal division of the state and used for fire protection;
(5) A municipally owned ambulance;
(6) A police patrol wagon; or
(7) A vehicle not designed for or employed in general highway transportation of persons or property and occasionally operated or moved over the highway, including the following:
(a) Road construction or maintenance machinery;
(b) A movable device designed, used, or maintained to alert motorists of hazardous conditions on highways;
(c) Construction dust control machinery;
(d) Well boring apparatus;
(e) Ditch digging apparatus;
(f) An implement of agriculture designed to be operated primarily in a farm field or on farm premises;
(g) An invalid chair;
(h) A yard tractor; and
(i) An electric personal assisting mobility device.
YARD. A space on the same lot with a main building, open, unoccupied, and unobstructed by buildings or structures from the ground to the sky, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(1) YARD, REAR. A yard extending the full width of the lot between the rearmost main building and the rear lot line, the depth of which shall be the least distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building.
(2) YARD, SIDE. A yard between the main building and the side lot line, extending from the front yard or front lot line where no front yard is required, to the rear yard. The width of the required side yard shall be measured horizontally from the nearest point of the side lot line toward the nearest part of the main building.
ZONING LOT. A single tract of land located within a single block, which at the time of the filing for a zoning permit, is designated by its owner or developer as a tract to be used, developed, or built upon as a unit, under single ownership or control. Therefore, a ZONING LOT may or may not coincide with a lot of record. The ZONING LOT shall have adequate frontage on an improved, dedicated roadway of adequate width.
(Prior Code, § 154.003) (Ord. passed 4-15-1957; Ord. 972B, passed 7-14-1982; Ord. 1234, passed 5-14-1985; Ord. 1244, passed 10-8-1985; Ord. 1296, passed 6-14-1988; Ord. 1449, passed 12-10-1991; Ord. 2313, passed 9-14-2010; Ord. 2345, passed 7-12-2011; Ord. 2376, passed 9-11- 2012; Ord. 2472, passed 4-12-2016; Ord. 2518, passed 11-12-2019; Ord. 2527, passed 9-8-2020)