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§ 701 YARD REGULATIONS; EXCEPTIONS.
   The front, side and rear yards as required by district dimensional regulations, shall be unoccupied and unobstructed by buildings or structures, except as provided as follows:
   (A)   Ordinary projections of window sills, cornices, eaves and other structural features may extend not more than 12 inches into the space above required yards;
   (B)   Required and ordinary projections for stairs, landings, bulkhead entrances and chimneys;
   (C)   Signs, as permitted in Article 12;
   (D)   Driveways and walkways;
   (E)   Fences, as permitted in § 705;
   (F)   Accessory uses and structure as permitted in § 703.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06; Am. Ord. 08-05, passed 5-19-08)
§ 702 NUMBER OF DWELLING UNITS OR PRINCIPAL BUILDING PER LOT.
   (A)   Residential zoning districts. In any residential zoning district other than Residential Multifamily (RM) and Mobile Home/Transient Trailer (MT), not more than one dwelling unit or principal building shall be permitted on a lot, except in the case of motels or hotels, and multifamily dwelling projects in conservation developments, as further provided in this chapter.
   (B)   Commercial and industrial districts (GB, OB, LB, LI). In these districts, more than one principal building per lot shall be permitted if used for commercial, office or industrial purposes.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06; Am. Ord. 08-05, passed 5-19-08)
§ 703 ACCESSORY USES AND STRUCTURES.
   (A)   Except as otherwise provided in divisions (F) and (G), an accessory use which is clearly incidental and secondary to the principal permitted use of the premises or structure shall be allowed; provided that such accessory use shall be located on the same lot to which it applies.
   (B)   No accessory buildings or structures shall be located nearer than ten feet to a principal building unless such accessory buildings or structure are structurally attached to the principal building except for solar carports or canopies as described in § 725.
   (C)   Regardless of the provisions of Table of Zoning District Dimensional Regulations concerning Accessory Buildings - Minimum Distance in Feet to Side Lot Lines and Rear Lot Line, § 603, any accessory structure, having 150 square feet or less floor area with a maximum height of 15 feet shall be permitted to be placed no closer than five feet to any lot line in the required rear yard. Provided, however, that no accessory structure, pen or enclosure used for keeping animals shall be permitted closer to a property line than the distance permitted for accessory buildings in the Table.
   (D)   No accessory building or structure, except signs as allowed by Article 12, satellite dish antennas and communication towers as allowed by Article 25, and solar carports or canopies as allowed in § 725 shall be located in any required front yard.
   (E)   Vending machines, newsstands, soft drink machines, etc., shall be considered to be accessory structures and shall not be placed within the right-of-way of streets, attached to a utility pole, or located within any required off-street parking and loading facility. Such structures are permitted only if attached to or abutting a building, upon a sidewalk or exterior mall adjacent to a building, or within pedestrian areas associated with a building.
   (F)   Farm-promotion accessory uses are allowed by obtaining a special use permit from the Board of Review; provided however, that the operation of a mobile food establishment on a large farm, as set forth in § 722 hereof, shall be permitted by right. Such uses are subject to applicable requirements and conditions of farm-promotion accessory uses, as well as to any conditions imposed by the Board under conditions on variances and special use permits.
   (G)   A tent erected and maintained for not more than 30 days, or for up to nine months under successive licenses issued by the Building Official under the tent chapter (Town Code, Chapter 101), shall be considered an accessory structure and shall be allowed as a matter of right in all districts. All other tents exceeding 120 square feet in area shall require a special-use permit from the Zoning Board of Review, which is expressly authorized, after considering the requirements for special-use permits under § 902, to allow the tent to be located on the lot containing the principal use or on an undeveloped lot.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06; Am. Ord. 09-18, passed 11-2-09; Am. Ord. 2021-15, passed 10-18-21; Am. Ord. 2021-16, passed 10-18-21)
§ 704 HEIGHT AND YARD MODIFICATIONS.
   (A)   The following structures, or parts of structures, when accessory to a permitted or special principal use may be permitted above the maximum height limitations set forth in § 603, provided they meet all other rear, side, and front lot requirements of this chapter: flagpoles, chimneys, radio masts, television antennas and water tanks.
   (B)   Structures other than those listed in height and yard modifications above, may exceed the height limitation provided in § 603, only upon the granting of a variance by the Zoning Board of Review.
   (C)   Structures permitted above the maximum height requirements by the Zoning Board of Review shall be set back from any lot line one additional foot by which the height of each structure exceeds the maximum height limit for the district.
   (D)   For the purpose of side yard regulations, duplex dwellings and townhouse dwellings with common party walls shall be considered as one building occupying one lot: duplex dwellings and townhouse dwellings.
   (E)   For any property or structure located in a special flood hazard area, as shown on the official FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps, or depicted on the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) Suggested Design Elevation Three Foot Sea Level Rise (CRMC SDE 3 SLR) Map as being inundated during an 100 year storm, the maximum building height for a principal building set forth in Sections 603 and 604 of this chapter, as applicable, shall be reduced by eight (8.0) feet.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06; Am. Ord. 2019-3, passed 2-19-19; Am. Ord. 2021-4, passed 5-17-21)
§ 705 FENCES, WALLS AND HEDGES.
   (A)   Purpose. The purpose of this section is to regulate the materials, location, height, and maintenance of fencing, hedges, and walls in order to prevent the creation of nuisances and to promote the general welfare of the public. In all zoning districts, fences, hedges, and walls are permitted only in accordance with the provisions of this section.
   (B)   Fences and walls of any composition, including hedges, on all or part of the perimeter of any parcel of land in Middletown are subject to the requirements of this section.
   (C)   Hedge defined. A hedge is a line of closely spaced shrubs and bushes or trees, planted and trained in such a way as to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area.
   (D)   Permit requirement. With the exception of work associated with restoration or repair of an existing fence or wall, before a fence or wall is constructed or replaced, a permit application must be obtained from the Zoning Officer, completed and signed by the property owner, and submitted to the Zoning Officer with a fee in an amount established by the Town Council. An accurate site plan, satisfactory to the Building Inspector, showing the location of the fence or wall in relation to all property lines must be submitted with the application.
   (E)   Location. No fence, wall or hedge shall be located so as to encroach on any public right of-way or interfere with existing utilities or drainage patterns.
   (F)   Height limitation. 
      (1)   Fences and walls may be permitted in any required yard or along the edge of any yard as follows, not to exceed the maximum height as listed:
 
Location
Maximum Height
Front and side yards
6 feet
Rear yard in Residential Districts
6 feet
Rear yard in Light Industry and Business Districts
10 feet
 
      (2)   Hedges are permitted at any height.
   (G)   Materials. Chain link fences shall be erected so that the knuckle edges are on top and the twists (barbed ends) are on the bottom. Barbed wire fences are prohibited in residential districts, and prohibited in other districts unless they are in full compliance with R.I. Gen. Laws Title 34, Chapter 10, §§ 2 - 5.
   (H)   Maintenance. All fences and walls shall be maintained in good repair. Hedges shall be maintained so as to not encroach on the public way, to provide adequate visual clearance for motorists and to not impede pedestrians.
   (I)   Nonconformities. Consistent with the provisions of § 803, nonconforming fences and walls may be altered provided that the alteration diminishes the extent of the nonconformity.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06; Am. Ord., As Amended, passed 8-3-09)
§ 706 VISION CLEARANCE AT STREET INTERSECTIONS.
   At street intersections, no structure shall be erected and no vegetation shall be planted or maintained in such a manner as to obstruct vision between the heights of three feet and ten feet above the triangle formed by the two street lines and a third line joining points on the street lines 15 feet from the intersection.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06)
§ 707 SETBACK FROM WETLANDS OR RIVERS.
   No disposal trench, disposal bed, cesspool, seepage pit, septic tank, septic field or other facility designed to leach liquid wastes into the soil shall be located:
   (A)   Within 100 feet of a fresh water wetland, as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws Title 2, Chapter 1, as amended, excluding from such definitions:
      (1)   That area of land within 50 feet of the edge of any bog, marsh, swamp or pond; and
      (2)   That area of land within 200 feet of the edge of any flowing body of water having a width of ten feet or more; and
      (3)   That area of land within 100 feet of the edge of any flowing body of water having a width of less than ten feet during normal flow; and
      (4)   That area defined as a floodplain in R.I. Gen. Laws Title 2, Chapter 1.
   (B)   Within 100 feet of a river as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws Title 2, Chapter 1.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06)
§ 708 CONVERSION OF DWELLING TO MORE UNITS.
   A residence may not be converted to accommodate an increased number of dwelling units unless:
   (A)   A multiple unit dwelling is specifically allowed in that district;
   (B)   Yard dimensions and lot area equals the prescribed dimensions and area requirements for new multiple unit dwelling structures in that district; and
   (C)   The Building Inspector has received an approval permit from the state for sewage disposal facilities or from the Town Council to accommodate a large number of dwellings on the town sanitary sewer system.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06)
§ 709 PARKING, STORAGE AND USE OF MAJOR RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT IN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS.
   The parking or storage of major recreational equipment, which includes travel trailers, pick-up campers or coaches, motorized dwellings, tent trailers, boats and boat trailers but does not include mobile homes, in residential districts, shall comply with the following regulations.
   (A)   Not more than one travel trailer, pick-up camper or coach, motorized dwelling, or tent trailer may be parked or stored out-of-doors; provided that such equipment is not more than 15 feet in height.
   (B)   Not more than one boat and/or boat trailer may be stored out-of-doors; provided, that such equipment is not more than 15 feet in height; and provided that such equipment shall not be parked or stored on or within 24 feet of the paved surface of a public road, except that in the R-10 Zoning District, such equipment shall not be parked or stored on or within 12 feet of the paved surface of a public road.
   (C)   No major recreational equipment, while parked or stored, shall be used for living, sleeping or housekeeping purposes.
   (D)   No major recreational equipment shall be stored out-of-doors in residential districts unless it is in condition for safe and effective performance of the function for which it was intended or can be made so in a six-month period.
   (E)   No major recreational equipment, not owned or operated by a person residing on the premises, shall be parked or stored on a lot in a residential zone for a period longer than seven days in a calendar year.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06; Am. Ord. 2018-18, passed 10-15-18)
§ 710 PARKING AND STORAGE OF CERTAIN VEHICLES.
   (A)   Unserviceable or junked vehicles, etc. No unregistered, unserviceable, discarded, worn-out or junked automobiles or trailer of any kind or type or bodies, engines, tires, parts or accessories thereof, shall be parked or stored on any residentially zoned property other than in a completely enclosed building.
   (B)   Commercial vehicles in a residential district. In any residential district, the parking or storage of more than one commercial vehicle of over one and one-half ton weight capacity shall not be permitted except where such parking or storage is directly related to and is accessory to a permitted use of legal nonconforming use on the premises.
(Ord. passed 10-30-06)
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