§ 156.003 DEFINITIONS.
   For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
   ACCESSORY BUILDING. A subordinate building, the use of which is clearly incidental to that of the main building or to the use of the land.
   ADJACENT. Nearby, but not necessarily touching.
   ALLEY. A public thoroughfare not more than 20 feet wide.
   APARTMENT. A suite of rooms, with cooking facilities and private bath and toilet facilities, used for living purposes. Each APARTMENT is considered a dwelling unit.
   APARTMENT HOUSE. A building containing apartments.
   AREA OF A SIGN. That area in square feet of the smallest geometric figure or combination of regular geometric figures which figure or figures enclose both the copy and facing of the sign.
   AUTOMOBILE SERVICE STATION. A place of business having pumps and/or storage tanks from which liquid fuel and/or lubricants are dispensed at retail directly into the motor vehicle. Sales and installation of auto accessories, washing, polishing, inspections and cleaning, but not steam cleaning may be carried on incidental to the sale of such fuel and lubricants.
   BASEMENT. A story, partly underground, which has not more than one-half its height measured from finished floor to finished ceiling above the average grade of the adjoining ground.
   BILLBOARD. Any structure or portion thereof upon which a sign or advertisement used as an outdoor display for the purpose of making anything known is displayed. This definition does not include any bulletin boards used to display official court or public office notices.
   BLOCK. The property abutting on one side of a street between the two nearest intersecting streets or other natural barriers.
   BOARDINGHOUSE. A dwelling in which three, four or five rooms are occupied as guest rooms and in which food may be served to the occupants thereof. Any dwelling in which more than five rooms are occupied as guest rooms is deemed to be a hotel. A BOARDINGHOUSE does not include institutions for persons requiring physical or mental care by reason of age, infirmity or disease.
   BUILDING. A structure having a roof supported by columns or walls.
   BUILDING AREA. The total area, taken on a horizontal plane at the average grade level, of the principal buildings and all accessory buildings, exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces and steps.
   BUILDING HEIGHT. The vertical distance measured from the natural grade level to the highest level of the roof surface of flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs or to the average height between eaves and ridge for gable, gambrel or hip roofs. The BUILDING HEIGHT limitations of these zoning regulations shall not apply to church spires, belfries, cupolas, domes, monuments, water towers, chimneys, flues, vents, flag poles, radio towers, television towers, public observation towers or airway beacons; nor to any bulkhead, elevator, water tank or similar structure extending above the roof and occupying an aggregate area of not greater than 25% of the horizontal projected roof area.
   BUILDING LINE. A building line corresponds to the rear boundary of the front yard.
   BUILDING, MAIN. A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.
   CANNABIS BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT. A cannabis craft grower, cannabis cultivation center, cannabis dispensary, cannabis infuser, cannabis processor, or cannabis transporter, as herein defined.
   CANNABIS CRAFT GROWER. A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to cultivate, dry, cure and package cannabis and perform other necessary activities to make cannabis available for sale at a dispensing organization or use at a processing organization, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, 410 ILCS 705 et seq. as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.
   CANNABIS CULTIVATION CENTER. A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to cultivate, process, transport and perform necessary activities to provide cannabis and cannabis-infused products to licensed cannabis business establishments, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, 410 ILCS 705 et seq. or the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act, as they may be amended from time-to- time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.
   CANNABIS DISPENSARY. A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to acquire cannabis from licensed cannabis business establishments for the purpose of selling or dispensing cannabis, cannabis-infused products, cannabis seeds, paraphernalia or related supplies to purchasers or to qualified registered medical cannabis patients and caregivers, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, 410 ILCS 705 et seq., and the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act, as they may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.
   CANNABIS INFUSER. A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to directly incorporate cannabis or cannabis concentrate into a product formulation to produce a cannabis-infused product, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, 410 ILCS 705 et seq., as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.
   CANNABIS PROCESSOR. A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to either extract constituent chemicals or compounds to produce cannabis concentrate or incorporate cannabis or cannabis concentrate into a product formulation to produce a cannabis product, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, 410 ILCS 705 et seq., as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.
   CANNABIS TRANSPORTER. An organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to transport cannabis on behalf of a cannabis business establishment or a community college licensed under the Community College Cannabis Vocational Training Pilot Program, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act 410 ILCS 705 et seq., as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.
   COMMERCIAL VEHICLE. A passenger car, truck or bus designed and operated for the purpose of monetary gain.
   CONTIGUOUS. In contact with.
   COURT. Any space other than a yard on the same lot with a building or group of buildings, and which is unobstructed and open to the sky above the floor level of any room having a window or door opening on such court. The width of a COURT shall be its least horizontal dimension.
   DEPTH OF REAR YARD. The average horizontal distance between the rear line of the main building and the centerline of the alley or easement, otherwise the rear lot line.
   DISTRICT. A portion of the city within which certain regulations and requirements or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of these zoning regulations.
   DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT. Any establishment where food or beverages are dispensed and where such food or beverages are consumed on the premises, but not within a building.
   DWELLING, THEATER. An open-air theater designed for viewing by the audience from motor vehicles.
   DWELLING, ONE-FAMILY. Containing one dwelling unit.
   DWELLING UNIT. A group of rooms or a room occupied or intended for human occupancy.
   ELECTRIC SIGN. A sign served or energized with electric current for purpose of illumination or for any other purpose.
   FAMILY. A group of one or more persons occupying a building and living and cooking in a single dwelling unit. No unrelated group living and cooking in a single dwelling unit shall consist of more than six persons, as distinguished from a group occupying a lodginghouse or hotel.
   FRONTAGE. All property on one side of a street between two intersecting streets or other natural barriers.
   GARAGE, PRIVATE. An accessory building designed for occupancy by the passenger motor vehicles of the family residing on the same lot. This may include one commercial vehicle under one ton capacity. Non- commercial vehicles of persons not resident on the lot may occupy up to one-half the capacity of such garage.
   GARAGE, PUBLIC. Any building, other than that as a private garage, as defined above, used for the storage or care of motor vehicles, or where any such vehicles are equipped for operation, repaired or kept for remuneration, hire or sale.
   GRADE, STREET. The elevation of the center of a street in front of the center of a building as established by the City Engineer.
   GUEST ROOM. A room occupied for hire by one or more persons in which no cooking facilities are provided.
   HOME OCCUPATION. Business activity conducted within any residential dwelling and carried on by the inhabitants thereof, which business activity is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the residential dwelling for dwelling purposes and does not change the character thereof. For purposes of this section, a home occupation does not include individuals who work from their home on a full or part time basis for an employer who maintains a separate place of business.
   HOSPITAL. A place for the treatment or care of human ailments and unless otherwise specified, the term includes sanitarium, clinic, maternity home, rest home, homes for the aged and convalescent homes.
   HOTEL. A building other than a boardinghouse or a motel as defined in this chapter which building contains more than five guest rooms.
   JUNKYARD. The use of a lot, or portion thereof, for the storage, keeping or abandonment of junk, dismantled automobiles or other vehicles or machinery or parts thereof including scrap metals, rags or other scrap materials.
   LAUNDRY, SELF-SERVICE. A building in which washing machines and/or dryers are provided on a rental basis for use by individuals doing their own laundry.
   LIVING FLOOR AREA. The horizontal projected area of a residential dwelling as measured by the exterior dimensions of the building, exclusive of garages, carports, breezeways and porches.
   LOADING SPACE. An off-street space on the same lot with a building, or group of buildings, for temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading and unloading passengers, merchandise or materials.
   LOT. A parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by a main building together with its accessory building; the open spaces and parking spaces required by these zoning regulations, and having adequate access to a public street.
   LOT AREA. The total horizontal projected area within the lot lines of a lot.
   LOT, CORNER. A lot located at the junction of, and abutting on two or more streets where the interior angle of intersection does not exceed 135 degrees. A CORNER LOT shall be considered to be in that block in which the lot fronts.
   LOT DEPTH. The horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines, measured along a line joining the midpoints of the front and rear lot lines.
   LOT, INTERIOR. A lot having but one side abutting on a street.
   LOT LINES. The lines bounding a lot, as defined in this section.
      (1)   FRONT LOT LINES. The front property line of a lot shall be determined as follows.
         (a)   CORNER LOT. The front property line of a corner lot shall be the shorter of the two lines adjacent to the streets as originally platted or laid out. Where the lines are equal, the front line shall be that line which is obviously the front by reason of the prevailing custom of the other buildings in the block. If such front is not evident, then either may be considered the front of the lot, but not both.
         (b)   INTERIOR LOTS. The front property line of an interior lot shall be the line bounding the street frontage.
         (c)   THROUGH LOTS. The front property line of a through line of a through lot shall be that line which is obviously the front by reason of the prevailing custom of the other buildings in the block. Where such front property line is not obviously evident, the Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals shall determine the front property line. Such a lot over 200 feet deep may be considered, for the purposes of this definition, two lots each with its own frontage.
      (2)   REAR LOT LINES. The rear property line of a lot is that lot line opposite to the front property line. Where the side property lines of a lot meet in a point, the rear property line shall be assumed to be a line not less than ten feet in length, lying within the lot and parallel to the front property line. In the event that the front property line is a curved line, then the REAR PROPERTY LINE shall be a line not less than ten feet long, lying within the lot and parallel to a line tangent to the front property line at its midpoint.
      (3)   SIDE LOT LINES. The side property lines of a lot are those lot lines connecting the front and rear property lines of a lot.
      (4)   LOT WIDTH. The width of a lot shall be as follows:
         (a)   If the side property lot lines are parallel, the distance between these side lines, measured at the building line; and
         (b)   If the side property lot lines are not parallel, the width of the lot shall be the length of a line at right angles to the axis of the lot as measured at the building line for the district in which the lot is located. The axis of a lot shall be a line joining the midpoints of the front and rear property lot lines.
   LOT, THROUGH. A lot abutting two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
   MAINTENANCE. The replacing of a part or parts of a building, which have been made unusable by ordinary wear or tear, or by the weather.
   MOTEL. A building or group of buildings containing guest rooms or apartments, each of which maintains a separate outside entrance, used primarily for the accommodation of automobile travelers and providing automobile parking space on the premises.
   MULTIPLE DWELLING. A building containing two or more dwelling units.
   NON-CONFORMING BUILDING. A building or structure lawfully existing on 8-26-1956, or at the time any amendments to this chapter became effective and that does not conform with the use regulations of this chapter or such amendments as they apply to the district in which it is located.
   NON-CONFORMING USE. A use on a lot, building or structure, lawfully existing on 8-26-1956, or at the time of the adoption of any amendments to this chapter which does not conform with the use regulations of this chapter as set out in §§ 156.260 through 156.266 of this chapter or such amendments as they apply to the district in which the lot, building or structure is located.
   PARKING AREA, PRIVATE. An open area for the same use as a private garage.
   PARKING LOT. A parcel of land devoted to unenclosed parking space for five or more vehicles for compensation or otherwise.
   PARKING SPACE, OFF-STREET. An area in the form of a rectangle, measuring not less than nine feet in width and 20 feet in depth; and an additional 120 square feet shall be provided for each parking space for maneuvering and access space giving access thereto for the parking of, or temporary storage of, a passenger automobile.
   PORCH, OPEN. A roof partially supported by columns, which shall be no larger than 144 square inches nor closer together than four feet on centers, any portion of which extending into a front or side yard shall have no enclosure by walls, screens, lattice or other materials; which porch is used solely for ingress and egress, and not for occupancy as a sleeping porch or washroom.
   PRIVATE USE. One which is restricted to the occupants of a lot or building together with their guests, where compensation for such use is not received, and where no business or commercial activity is associated with such use or building.
   PROFESSIONAL USE. The rendering of service of a professional nature by:
      (1)   Architects, engineers and surveyors, who are licensed by the state’s Department of Registration and Education;
      (2)   Doctors, osteopaths and dentists who are licensed by the state’s Department of Registration and Education;
      (3)   Lawyers who are admitted to practice before the courts of the states, and who are licensed by the state’s Department of Registration and Education;
      (4)   Certified public accountants who are licensed by the state’s Department of Registration and Education;
      (5)   Consultants and practitioners who are recognized by the appropriate licensed professions described in this section: chiropractors; chiropodists; Christian Science practitioners; optometrists and naturopaths, upon review of references submitted to the Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals.
   PROHIBITED USE. A use which is not specifically permitted or analogous to those specifically permitted.
   RESTAURANT. An establishment other than a boardinghouse where meals which are prepared therein may be secured by the public.
   ROOMING HOUSE. See BOARDINGHOUSE, as defined above.
   SCHOOL. A place of general instruction including college, but not including business colleges, nursery schools, dancing schools, riding academies or specialized trade or vocational schools.
   SERVICE STATION. See AUTOMOBILE SERVICE STATION, as defined above.
   SIGN. Any words, numerals, figures, devices, designs or trademarks by which anything is made known, other than billboards or house numbers, such as are used to identify an individual, firm, profession, business and are visible to the general public.
   SLEEPING ROOM. A room other than a guest room, in which cooking facilities are not provided.
   STORY.
      (1)   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, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
      (2)   A basement, the ceiling of which is less than four feet six inches above the average grade level, shall not be considered a STORY.
      (3)   A mezzanine floor shall be considered a STORY if it exceeds 40% of the area of the floor next below it.
   STREET. A public thoroughfare or land dedicated for such purpose which affords the principal means of pedestrian and vehicular access to abutting property.
   STRUCTURAL ALTERATION. Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any substantial change in the exterior walls or the roof, except such alterations as may be required for the safety of the building.
   USE. The purpose for which land or premises or a building or structure thereon is designed, arranged or intended, or for which it is occupied or maintained, let or leased.
   YARD. A required space other than a court on any lot, unoccupied by a structure and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, and measured as the minimum horizontal distance from a building or structure, to the property line opposite such building line.
   YARD, FRONT. A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the horizontal distance measured along a line perpendicular to the front lot line between the front lot line and the nearest part of a building constructed or to be constructed on the lot.
   YARD, REAR. An open space (unoccupied, except for accessory buildings) on the same lot with the main building, between the rear line of the main building and the rear line of the lot, for the full width of the lot.
   YARD, SIDE. An open unoccupied space on the same lot with the main building between the building and the side lot line and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.
(Prior Code, § 156.003) (Ord. 20-O-2258, passed 3-18-2020; Ord. 21-O-2316, passed 11-17-2021)