(A) Interpretation of language. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall be used in the interpretation and construction of this chapter, and words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number shall include the plural, and the plural the singular; the word used shall include arranged, designed, constructed, altered, converted, rented or leased; the word building includes the word structure; and the word shall is mandatory and not directory.
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESSORY USE OR STRUCTURE. One which:
(a) Is subordinate to and serves a principal building or principal use;
(b) Is subordinate in area, extent, or purpose to the principal building or principal use served;
(c) Contributes to the comfort, convenience, or necessity of occupants of the principal building or principal use served; and
(d) Is located on the same lot as the principal building or principal use served with the single exception of such accessory off street parking facilities as are permitted hereinafter to be located elsewhere than on the same lot with the building or use served.
AGRICULTURE. The use of land for agricultural purposes, including farming, dairying, pasturage, apiculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry husbandry and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of normal agriculture activities, and further provided, that the above uses shall not include the commercial feeding of garbage or offal to swine or other animals or the kenneling of dogs, cats, or other animals customarily used or maintained as pets.
ALLEY. A minor right-of-way dedicated to public use which gives a secondary means of vehicular access to the back or side of properties otherwise abutting a street and which may be used for public utility purposes although not intended for general traffic circulation.
ALTERATIONS. As applied to a building or structure, a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the exit facilities, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing height, or the moving from one location or position to another and will include any alteration which, by statute, ordinance or regulation of any government authority having jurisdiction, requires the obtaining of a permit and/or approval by inspection.
APARTMENT or LIVING UNIT. A room or suite of rooms intended for use as a residence by a single family and including a kitchen and the minimum sanitary facilities as required by the applicable building code.
APARTMENT HOUSE. See Dwelling, Multifamily.
AS-BUILT SURVEY. A plan, drawn to scale, based on an actual post construction certified survey. The as-built plan shows the shape and dimensions of the lot or parcel, the exact size, shape, elevation and location of buildings and other structures, exact location of utilities including heights and depths, labels identifying the intended use of each structure, utility and access easements, and any other information regarding the lot or parcel and neighboring lots which may be necessary for the enforcement of this chapter. A certified as-built survey plan must be prepared and filed with the City Planning and Zoning Department before an occupancy permit may be issued.
AWNING. An AWNING shall include any structure made of cloth, metal, plastic or any other similar material with a frame attached to a building or other structure and projecting outward therefrom. An AWNING may be retractable so as to permit it to be raised to a position flat against the building when not in use, but its general purpose will be to provide shelter or shade.
BASEMENT. A story having part, but not more than one-half of its height below grade. A BASEMENT is counted as a half-story for purposes of height regulation.
BED AND BREAKFAST INN. A building in which one but not more than five guest rooms are used to provide or offer overnight accommodations for transient guests. Eating accommodations are provided on-site.
BOARD. The Board of Zoning Appeals of the city.
BOARDING HOUSE. A building, other than a hotel or motel, where, for compensation, meals and/or lodging are provided for three but not more than six nontransient persons.
BUILDABLE AREA. The area of that part of the lot not required to be allocated to yards or open spaces as required by the chapter.
BUILDING. Any structure having a roof supported by columns and/or walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure or persons, animals or property.
BUILDING, HEIGHT OF. The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front wall of the building to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of mansard roof or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip or gambrel roofs.
BUILDING, MAIN. A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which the building is situated.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE. A line representing the minimum distance required by this chapter to be maintained between a given lot line, easement or right-of-way line and any structure on the front, rear or side, as specified.
CANOPY. Includes any structure made of cloth, metal, plastic, concrete or any other similar material which is supported by poles, stanchions or a frame projecting from the ground and which has as its general purpose to provide shelter or shade.
CELLAR. A space between the floor and the ceiling next above it having more than one-half of its height below grade. A CELLAR is counted as a story for the purposes of height regulation only if used for dwelling purposes.
CHANNEL. The geographical area within either the natural or the artificial banks of a watercourse.
CLINIC. A building or portion thereof housing the offices of two or more members of the medical or dental profession in group practice.
CLUB. A nonprofit association of persons who are bona fide members organized for some common purposes and paying regular dues; not including a group organized solely or primarily to render a service customarily carried on as a commercial enterprise.
COMMISSION. The Plan Commission of the city.
CONDITIONALLY PERMITTED USE. A use, not permitted by right, that has a particular impact on the surrounding area or neighborhood that cannot be predetermined and controlled by general regulations. Uses that may be permitted after review and approval as hereinafter provided.
CONDOMINIUM. Real estate used as a condominium as defined in the Indiana Horizontal Property Law (I.C. 32-1-6-2a), as the same may be amended from time to time. A CONDOMINIUM UNIT means an enclosed space consisting of one or more rooms occupying all or part of a floor or floors in a structure or one or more floors or stories regardless of whether it is designed for residential, office, for the operation of any industry or business, or for any type of independent use.
CURB CUT. The opening along the curb line at which point vehicles may enter or leave the roadway.
DISTRICT. A section of the municipality for which the regulation governing the use of buildings and lots, the size of yards, and the area of lots are uniform.
DRIVEWAY. A privately owned and well defined improved access for ingress and egress of vehicles.
DWELLING. A building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for residential occupancy.
DWELLING, MOBILE HOME. A vehicle or moveable dwelling structure which is designed to be used as a dwelling unit for one family and which stands on wheels, on rigid supports, or on a foundation; but excluding prefabricated homes or section thereof and travel trailers.
DWELLING, MULTIPLE OR MULTIFAMILY. A residential building designed for or occupied by three or more families, with the number of families not exceeding the number of dwelling units.
DWELLING, SINGLE FAMILY. A detached residential building, other than a mobile home, designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.
DWELLING, TWO FAMILY. A detached residential building designed for or occupied by two families living independently of each other within individual dwelling units.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES. The erection, construction, alteration, or maintenance, by public utilities or governmental agencies, of underground or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water transmission or distribution systems, collection, communication, supply or disposal systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, and other similar equipment for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies or for the public health or safety or general welfare, but not including buildings.
FAMILY. An individual, two or more persons related by blood, marriage or law, or a group of not more than any four persons living together in a dwelling unit.
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 of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.
GAMING ESTABLISHMENT. Any establishment including, but not limited to, any boat, barge, cruise vessel, building or structure used in whole or in part for the conduct of gaming, gambling or gaming related activities.
GARAGE, PRIVATE. An accessory building or portion of the main building which is intended for and used for storing the private passenger vehicles of the family or families resident upon the premises.
GARAGE, PUBLIC. Any garage other than a private garage, available to the public, operated for gain, and which is used for storage, repair, rental, greasing, washing, servicing, adjusting or equipping of automobiles or other motor vehicles.
GRADE, FINISHED. The completed surfaces of lawns, walks, and roads brought to grades as shown on official plans or designs relating thereto.
GROSS FLOOR AREA. The-total floor area of all stories of a building or buildings, measured at the outside foundation.
HOME OCCUPATION. A gainful occupation or profession conducted entirely within a dwelling in which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use of the dwelling and which complies with the specific regulations contained in this chapter.
HOSPITAL. A building or portion thereof designed or used for the diagnosis and treatment of patients who are physically or mentally ill.
HOTEL. A building or a portion thereof containing individual sleeping rooms or suites, each having a private bathroom attached thereto, for the purpose of providing overnight lodging to the general public for compensation with or without meals, excluding accommodations for employees, 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 hours. Where use as a hotel is permitted as a principal use, all uses customarily and historically accessory thereto for the comfort, accommodation and entertainment of the patrons shall be permitted. As such it is open to the public, in contradistinction to a boardinghouse as separately defined herein.
IMPROVEMENT LOCATION PERMIT. A permit issued by the city stating that the proposed erection, construction, enlargement, moving, and/or use of a building, structure, or land referred to therein complies with the provisions of this chapter.
JUNKYARD. Any area where waste and discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including motor vehicle wrecking yards, house wrecking yards, used lumber yards and places or yards for storage of salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment; but not including establishments where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building, not including establishments for the sale, purchase or storage of used cars in operable condition, or storage of materials incidental to manufacturing operations.
KENNEL. Any premises, or portion thereof, on which two or more household domestic animals over four months of age are kept, maintained, boarded, bred, or cared for.
LOT. A parcel of land, including the open spaces required by this chapter, occupied or intended for occupancy by a use permitted for the zoning district in which the lot is located, such parcel having a minimum of 20 feet frontage on a single dedicated street.
LOT, CORNER. A lot abutting upon two or more public streets at their intersection or upon two or more parts of the same street, which in either case, form an interior angle of less than 135 degrees.
LOT COVERAGE. The maximum percentage of the lot area covered by buildings either primary and/or accessory, as required by this chapter.
LOT, DEPTH OF. The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE. A lot, other than a corner lot, which has frontage on more than one street.
LOT, FRONTAGE. The dimension of a lot or portion of a lot abutting on a street.
LOT, INTERIOR. A lot with frontage on only one street.
LOT LINES. The lines bounding a lot, except that where a lot line lies within a public right-of-way, the edge of the right-of-way shall be considered the LOT LINE for purposes of determining lot area, coverage and setback requirements.
LOT OF RECORD. A lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Dearborn County, or a parcel of land, the deed to which was recorded in the office of said Recorder prior to the effective date of this chapter.
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 (1974 USC 5401 et seq.).
MOBILE FOOD VENDOR (MFV). A portable push cart or a vehicle mounted food service establishment designed to be readily moveable and approved by law to travel highways, roadways, and/or waterways in the State of Indiana that is a self-contained mobile food establishment equipped with permanently mounted fresh water holding tanks and waste holding tanks as set forth by the Indiana Department of Health:
(a) Permit. The document issued by the regulatory authority which governs mobile food vending;
(b) Regulatory authority. The local, state, or federal enforcement body or authorized representative having jurisdiction over mobile food vendors.
(c) Employee. The permit holder, person in charge, person having supervisory or management duties, person on the payroll, family member, volunteer, person preforming work under contractual agreement or other person working with a mobile food vendor.
MOBILE HOME. A dwelling unit fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility for installation or assembly at the building site and which is designed to be used as a year-round residential dwelling.
MOBILE HOME PARK. Any tract of ground upon which two or more mobile homes, occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes on a nontransient basis, are located and comply with the regulations for such facilities as specified in this chapter.
MOTEL or MOTOR HOTEL. A series of attached, semi-attached or detached sleeping or living units for the accommodation of transient guests and not customarily including individual cooking or kitchen facilities, said units having convenient access to off-street parking spaces for the exclusive use of the guests or occupants.
NONCONFORMING BUILDING. A building which does not conform to the height, area, or yard regulations for the district in which it is located.
NONCONFORMING LOT. A lot which does not conform to the minimum regulations for the district in which it is located.
NONCONFORMING USE. A use that does not conform to the regulations for the district in which it is located.
PARKING LOT. A parcel of land devoted to unenclosed parking spaces.
PARKING SPACE. An area, either within a structure or in the open, exclusive of driveways or access drives, for the parking of a single motor vehicle.
PLACE. An open, unoccupied space other than a street or alley permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.
PUBLIC UTILITY. Any person, firm, corporation, municipal or board fully authorized to furnish and furnishing under state or municipal regulations to the public, electricity, gas, steam, telephone, telegraph, transportation or water.
SIGN. Any writing, pictorial representation, emblem, flag or any other figures of similar character which is a structure or part thereof or is attached or in any manner represented on a building or structure and is used to announce, direct attention to, or advertise and is visible from outside a building. The word SIGN includes the word "billboard" but does not include the flag, pennant or insignia of any nation, state, city or other political unit or of any political, educational, charitable, philanthropic, civic, professional, religious or like campaign, drive, movement or event. Further, this definition shall not be held to include any board, sign or surface used to display any official notices issued by any court or public office or posted by a public officer in the performance of a public duty.
STORY. That portion of a building, other than a cellar as defined herein, included between the surface of a floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
STORY, HALF. 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.
STREET. A right-of-way dedicated to the public use which forms the principal means of access to abutting property. A street may be designated as a highway, thoroughfare, parkway, boulevard, road, avenue, lane, drive, place, cul-de-sac or other appropriate name. A STREET may also be identified according to type of use, as follows:
(a) PRIMARY ARTERIAL STREETS. Those designated in the thoroughfare plan for large volumes of traffic movement. They may be limited access, in which case entrance and exit is provided only at certain designated, controlled points.
(b) SECONDARY ARTERIAL STREETS. Designated in the thoroughfare plan as important streets to facilitate the collection of traffic from minor residential streets, to permit circulation within neighborhood areas and to provide convenient ways for traffic to reach arterial streets.
(c) MINOR STREETS. Streets not designated as primary or secondary arterial streets on the thoroughfare plan and whose main purpose is to serve as access to abutting property.
(d) CUL-DE-SAC. A minor street with only one outlet.
(e) HALF STREET. A street bordering one or more property lines of a tract of
land in which the developer has allocated at least one-half of the ultimate right-of-way width.
(f) MARGINAL ACCESS STREET. A minor street which is parallel and adjacent to a thoroughfare and which provides access to abutting properties and protection from traffic.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATION. Any change or rearrangement in the bearing walls, partitions, columns, beams, girders, exit facilities, exterior walls or roof of a building, excepting such repair as may be required for the safety of the building or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height or movement of the building from one location or position to another.
STRUCTURE. Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attached to something having a location on the ground, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, advertising signs, billboards, backstops for tennis courts, and pergolas. Includes "building."
THOROUGHFARE PLAN. The part of the master plan, now or hereafter adopted, which sets forth the location, alignment, dimensions, identification and classification of existing and proposed public streets, highways, and other thoroughfares.
TRAILER. Any vehicle or structure constructed in such manner as to permit occupancy thereof for use as sleeping and eating quarters or for the conduct of any business, trade or occupation; use as a selling or advertising device, or for storage or conveyance of tools, equipment or machinery; and so designed that it is, or may be, propelled by motor power other than its own. The term TRAILER shall include automobile trailer, trailer coach, and recreational vehicles.
TRAILER PARK. An area providing spaces where one or more auto trailers can be or are intended to be parked, with restroom and bathing facilities provided on site.
VARIANCE. A relaxation of the terms of this chapter where such variance will not be contrary to the public interest and where, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of the actions of the applicant, a literal enforcement of this chapter would result in unnecessary and undue hardship. A use variance may not be granted because of the existence of legally existing nonconforming uses in the same district nor because of uses in an adjoining district.
YARD. An open space at existing ground level between a building and the adjoining lot lines, unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from the ground upward except as otherwise provided in this chapter. For the purpose of determining yard measurements, the least horizontal distance between the lot line and the maximum permissible main building shall be used.
YARD, FRONT. A yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the street or place line and the maximum permissible main building. On corner lots, the front yard shall be provided on both streets.
YARD, REAR. A yard extending across the rear of a lot between the side lot lines and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the maximum permissible main building. On interior lots, the rear yard shall in all cases be at the opposite end of the lot from the front yard. On corner lots, the rear yard shall be opposite the front (street) yard with the least dimension.
YARD SIDE. A yard between the main building and the side lot lines and extending from the required front yard to the required rear yard and being the required minimum horizontal distance between a side lot line and the side of the maximum permissible main building.
(Ord. 99-14, passed 12-20-99; Am. Ord. 10-2001, passed 10-15-01; Am. Ord. 16-2003, passed 11-17-03; Am. Ord. 7-2019, passed 5-20-19)