1189.01 DEFINITIONS.
 
Interpretation of Terms or Words: For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows:
 
      A.   The word “person”or applicant” includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company or corporation as well as an individual.
 
      B.   The present tense includes the future tense, the singular number includes the plural, and the plural includes the singular.
 
      C.   The word “shall” is a mandatory requirement, the word “may” is a permissive requirement, and the word “should” is a preferred requirement.
 
      D.   The words “used” or “occupied” include the words “intended, designed, or arranged to be used or occupied.”
 
      E.   The word “lot” includes the words “plot” or “parcel.”
 
1.   Accessory Building: Any improvement to the property other than the main building(s), with the exception of landscaping, is an accessory structure. If a temporary building is placed on a property to provide extra space for expansion of a use, the temporary building shall also be an accessory structure.
 
2.   Accessory Use: A use on the same lot or parcel with and customarily incidental or subordinate to the principal use on the lot.
   (Ord. 99-45. Passed 7-13-99.)
 
3.   Adult Entertainment Business: An adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult novelty store, adult video store, adult motion picture theater, adult motel, exotic dance studio, and massage parlor as more specifically defined as follows:
   a.   Adult Arcade: An establishment where, for any form of consideration, one or more still or motion picture projectors, slide projectors, computer generated or enhanced pornography, panorama, peep show, or similar machines, or other image producing machines, for personal viewing, are used to show films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other photographic reproductions which provide materials for individual viewing by patrons on the premises of the business, which are characterized by the depiction or description of “nudity” or “specified sexual activities”.
   b.   Adult Bookstore, Adult Novelty Store, or Adult Video Store: A commercial establishment which has a significant or substantial portion of its stock-in-trade or revenues (“substantial” meaning fifteen (15) percent or more) for any form of consideration, books, magazines, periodicals, or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other photographic reproductions or visual representations which are characterized by the depiction or description of “nudity” or “specified sexual activities” or adult novelties as defined herein. It shall be a rebuttable presumption that twenty (20) percent of a business’s stock-in-trade or revenues is considered substantial.
An establishment may have other principal business purposes that do not involve the offering for sale or rental of materials depicting or describing “nudity” or “specified sexual activities” and still be categorized as Adult Bookstore, Adult Novelty Store, or Adult Video Store. Such other business purposes will not serve to exempt such establishments from being categorized as Adult Bookstore, Adult Novelty Store, or Adult Video Store so long as one of its principal business purposes is offering for sale or rental, for some form of consideration, the specified materials which depict or describe “nudity” or “specified sexual activities”.
   c.   Adult Motel: A motel, hotel, or other similar commercial establishment which offers a sleeping room for rent for a period of time less than eight hours or allows a tenant or occupant to sub-rent the sleeping room for a time period of less than eight hours.
   d.   Adult Motion Picture Theater: A commercial establishment where films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or similar photographic reproductions characterized by the depiction or description of “nudity” or “specified sexual activities” are regularly shown for any form of consideration.
   e.   Exotic Dance Studio (also known as Topless Bar and Adult Cabaret): A nightclub, bar restaurant, or similar commercial establishment to which any member of the public is invited or admitted and where an entertainer provides live adult entertainment performances to any member of the public.
   f.   Massage Parlor: Any place where, for any form of consideration or gratuity, massage, alcohol rub, or other manipulation of the human body is offered. A massage parlor shall not include the practice of medicine by a state licensed physician, the practice of chiropractic medicine by a state licensed chiropractor, the practice of physical therapy by a state licensed therapist, or the practice of massage by a state licensed masotherapist.
      (Ord. 2001-80. Passed 9-4-01.)
 
4.   Adult Group Residential Facilities: A building or group of buildings containing dwellings where the occupancy of the dwelling is restricted to persons sixty (60) years of age or older or couples where either the husband or wife is sixty (60) years of age or older. This does not include a development that contains convalescent or nursing facilities.
   (Ord. 99-45. Passed 7-13-99.)
 
5.   Adult Material: Books, magazines, videos, or other pictorial depiction of “nudity” or “specified sexual activities”. (Ord. 2001-81. Passed 9-4-01.)
6.   Agriculture: The use of land for farming, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, 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 any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of normal agricultural activities.
 
7.   Alley: See Thoroughfare.
 
8.   Alterations, Structural: Any change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.
 
9.   Amusement Arcade: A place of business within a building or outdoor structure or any part of a building having more than five (5) mechanical or electronically operated amusement devices which are used for the purpose of public entertainment through the operation, use, or play of any table game or device commonly used as an electronic game which is operated by placing therein any coin, plate, disc, slug, key, or token of value by payment of a fee.
 
10.   Automotive Repair: The repair, rebuilding, or reconditioning of motor vehicles or parts thereof, including collision service, painting, and steam cleaning of vehicles.
 
11.   Automotive, Mobile Home, Travel Trailer, and Farm Implement Sales: The sale or rental of new and used motor vehicles, mobile homes, travel trailers, or farm implements but not including repair work except incidental warranty repair of same to be displayed and sold on the premises.
 
12.   Automotive Wrecking: The dismantling or wrecking of used motor vehicles, mobile homes, trailers, or the storage, sale, or dumping of dismantled, partially dismantled, obsolete, or wrecked vehicles or their parts.
 
13.   Base Flood: The flood having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The base flood may also be referred to as the one hundred- (100) year flood.
 
14.   Basement: A story all or partly underground but having at least one-half (½) of its height below the average level of the adjoining ground.
 
15.   Bed and Breakfast Operation: An owner-occupied dwelling unit that contains no more than three (3) guest rooms where lodging, with or without meals, is provided for compensation.
 
16.    Bottomless: Less than full opaque covering of male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks. (Ord. 99-45. Passed 7-13-99.)
16a.   Brewery: An establishment where beer, wine, spirituous liquor, or other alcoholic beverage is manufactured on the premises for distribution, retail or wholesale, on or off- premise, at a production ratio of more than 15,000 barrels per year. The development may include other uses such as tasting room, taproom, table service restaurant or retail space for products produced on site and for the sale of ancillary products to customers.
16b.   Brewpub: An establishment where the majority of beer, wine, spirituous liquor, or other alcoholic beverages is manufactured onsite for mainly on-premise consumption or is either hand bottled or individually capped in sealed containers to be sold directly to the customer. The development may include other uses such as tasting room, taproom, table service restaurant or retail space for products produced on site and for the sale of ancillary products to customers. Where allowed by law, brewpubs often sell beer “to go” and/or distribute to off-site accounts. (Ord. 2018-036. Passed 12-18-18.)
 
17.   Buffer Area: (See also Screening.) A landscaped area intended to separate and partially obstruct the view of two (2) adjacent land uses or properties from one another.
 
18.   Building: Any structure designed or intended for the support, enclosure, shelter, or protection of persons, animals, possessions, or property.
 
19.   (EDITOR'S NOTE: Former subsection 19 was repealed by Ordinance 2001-78, passed September 4, 2001.)
 
20.   Building, Height: The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs, and the height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.
 
21.   Building Line: See Setback Line.
 
22.   Building, Principal: For any given lot or property, the building in which the principal use of the lot is conducted.
 
23.   Business, Convenience: Commercial establishments which cater to and can be located in close proximity to or within residential districts without creating undue vehicular congestion, excessive noise, or other objectionable influences. To prevent congestion, convenience uses include, but need not be limited to, drugstores, beauty salons, barber shops, carry-outs, dry cleaning and laundry pickup facilities, and grocery stores, if less than ten thousand square feet (10,000 sf.) in floor area. Uses in this classification tend to serve a day-to-day need in the neighborhood.
 
24.   Business, General: Commercial uses which generally require locations on or near major thoroughfares and/or their intersection and which tend, in addition to serving day-to-day needs of the community, also supply the more durable and permanent needs of the whole community. General business uses include, but need not be limited to, such activities as supermarkets, stores that sell hardware, apparel, footwear, appliances and furniture; department stores, and discount stores.
 
25.   Business Highway: Commercial uses which generally require locations on or near major thoroughfares and/or their intersections and which tend to serve the motoring public. Highway business uses include, but need not be limited to such activities as filling stations, truck and auto sales and service, restaurants and motels, and commercial recreation.
 
26.   Business, Office Type: Quasi-commercial uses which may often be transitional between retail business and/or manufacturing, and residential uses. Office business generally accommodates such occupations as administrative, executive, professional, accounting, writing, clerical, stenographic, and drafting. Institutional offices of a charitable, philanthropic, religious or educational nature are also included in this classification.
 
27.   Business, Service: Any profit-making activity which renders services primarily to other commercial or industrial enterprises or which services and repairs appliances and machines used in homes and businesses.
 
28.   Business, Wholesale: Business establishments that generally sell commodities in large quantities or by the piece to retailers, jobbers, other wholesale establishments, or manufacturing establishments. These commodities are basically for further resale, for use in the fabrication of a product, or for use by a business service.
 
29.   Cemetery: Land used or intended to be used for the burial of the human or animal dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes including crematories, mausoleums, and mortuaries if operated in connection with and within the boundaries of such cemetery.
 
30.   Center Line of Street: A line midway between the parallel to the two (2) street right-of- way or property lines.
   (Ord. 99-45. Passed 7-13-99.)
 
31.   Child Care Facility: An establishment that administers to the needs of infants, toddlers, pre-school children, and school children outside of school hours by persons other than their parents or guardians, custodians, or relatives by blood, marriage, or adoption for any part of the twenty-four- (24) hour day if over twelve (12) children are regularly cared for in a place or residence other than the child's own home. The term “child care facility” also includes nursery schools where children under the age of five (5) are receiving schooling.
 
32.   Child Care, Home Operated: A private residence where care, supervision, and protection are provided on a regular basis to one (1) to six (6) infants, toddlers, pre-school children, and school children at any given time outside of school hours by a person who is not the parent but is a resident of the home. For the purposes of this definition, the resident children who are under six (6) years of age shall be included with the non-resident children when counting the number of children. A dwelling with a family with more than six (6) children who are all living in the dwelling unit and are related shall not be considered a home operated child care.
   (Ord. 2001-79. Passed 9-4-01.)
 
33.   Church or place of religious worship: An institution that people regularly attend to participate in or hold religious services, meetings, and other activities. The term “church” shall not carry a secular connotation and shall include buildings in which the religious services of any denomination are held.
 
34.   Clinic: A place used for the care, diagnosis, and treatment of sick, ailing, infirm, or injured persons and those who are in need of medical and surgical attention, but does not include overnight care facilities.
 
35.   Club: A building or portion thereof or premises which is not open to the general public; used for a social, literary, political, educational, or recreational purpose primarily for the exclusive use of its members and their guests.
 
36.   Commercial Entertainment Facilities: Any profit-making activity which is generally related to the entertainment field, such as motion picture theaters, carnivals, nightclubs, cocktail lounges, and similar entertainment activities.
 
37.   Comprehensive Development Plan (Also called Comprehensive Plan): A plan, or any portion thereof, adopted by the Planning Commission and the legislative authority of Huron County, showing the general location and extent of present and proposed physical facilities including housing, industrial, and commercial uses, major thoroughfares, parks, schools, and other community facilities. This plan establishes the goals, objectives, and policies of the community. (Ord. 2002-27. Passed 4-2-02.)
 
37a.   Computerized Sweepstakes Device: Any computer, machine, game, apparatus, or internet access device, which, upon the insertion of a coin, plate, disc, plug, key, card, token, similar object or access code and/or upon payment of a fee or anything of value whether or not a product or service is provided, operates or may be operated by the public generally for entertainment or amusement and a chance to win a sweepstakes of predetermined odds for the sweepstakes. “Computerized sweepstakes device” does not include a skill-based amusement machine as that term is defined in Ordinance No. 2010- 006 and Ohio R.C. 2915.01(AAA).
   (Ord. 2011-021. Passed 5-17-11.)
 
38.   Conditional Use: A use permitted within a district other than a principally permitted use, requiring a conditional use permit and approval of the Board of Zoning Appeals. Conditional uses permitted in each district are listed in Title Nine.
 
39.   Conditional Use Permit: A permit issued by the Zoning Inspector upon approval by the Board of Zoning Appeals to allow a use other than a principally permitted use to be established within the district.
 
40.   Corner lot: See Lot Types.
 
41.   Cul-De-Sac: See Thoroughfare.
 
42.   Dead-End Street: See Thoroughfare.
 
43.   Density: A unit of measurement; the number of dwelling units per acre of land.
 
   a.   Gross Density. The number of dwelling units per acre of the total land to be developed (including public right-of-way).
   b.   Net Density. The number of dwelling units per acre of land when the acreage involved includes only the land devoted to residential uses (excluding public right-of-way).
 
44.   Development: Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation, or drilling.
 
45.   Dish: That part of a satellite signal-receiving antenna which is shaped like a saucer or dish, whether it is spherical, parabolical, or similar in shape.
 
46.   Dish-type Satellite Signal-Receiving Antennas: Include earth stations or ground stations, whether functioning as part of a basic service system, direct broadcast satellite system, or multi-point distribution service system, shall mean one (1) or a combination of two (2) or more of the following:
 
   a.   A signal-receiving device such as a dish antenna whose purpose is to receive communications or signals from earth-orbiting satellites or similar sources.
 
   b.   A low-noise amplifier (LNA) whose purpose is to boost, magnify, store, transfer, or transmit signals.
 
   c.   A coaxial cable whose purpose is to convey or transmit signals to a receiver.
 
47.   Drive-up or Drive-Through: An establishment that, by design of physical facilities or by services or packaging procedures, encourages or permits customers to receive a service or obtain a product that may be used or consumed in a motor vehicle on the premises or be entertained while remaining in an automobile.
 
48.   Dwelling: A building designed or used as the living quarters for one (1) or more families. “Dwelling,” “single-family dwelling,” “two-family dwelling,” or “multiple-family dwelling” shall not be deemed to include motel, hotel, or rooming house. A dwelling may include an industrialized unit (as defined herein) and a manufactured home (as defined herein) provided it meets all of the following requirements:
 
   a.   The manufactured home is affixed to a permanent foundation and connected to appropriate utilities.
 
   b.   The manufactured home, excluding any addition, has a width of at least twenty-two feet (22 ft.) at one point, a length of at least twenty-two feet (22 ft.) at one point. The total living area of the manufactured home, excluding garages, porches, or attachments, must be at least nine hundred square feet (900 sq. ft.) or equal to or greater than any minimum dwelling size applicable within an applicable zoning district.
 
   c.   The manufactured home has a minium 3:12 residential roof pitch, conventional residential siding, and a six inch (6 in.) minimum eave overhang, including appropriate guttering.
 
   d.   The manufactured home was manufactured after January 1, 1995.
 
   e.   The manufactured home is not located in a manufactured home park as defined herein.
 
49.   Dwelling, Industrialized Unit:  A building unit or assembly of closed construction fabricated in an off-site facility that is substantially self-sufficient as a unit or as part of a greater structure and that requires transportation to the site or intended use. Industrialized unit includes units installed on the site as independent units, as part of a group of units, or incorporated with standard construction methods to form a completed structural entity. An industrialized unit does not include a manufactured home or mobile home as defined herein.
 
50.   Dwelling, Multiple-Family: A dwelling consisting of three (3) or more dwelling units including condominiums with varying arrangements of entrances and party walls.
 
51.   Dwelling, Rooming House (Boarding House, Lodging House, Dormitory): A dwelling or part thereof, other than a hotel, motel, or restaurant where meals and/or lodging are provided for compensation for three (3) or more unrelated persons where no cooking or dining facilities are provided in the individual rooms.
 
52.   Dwelling, Single-Family: A dwelling consisting of a single dwelling unit only, separated from other dwelling units by open space.:
 
53.   Dwelling, Two-Family: A dwelling consisting of two (2) dwelling units which may be either attached side-by-side or one (1) above the other and each unit having a separate entrance.
 
54.   Dwelling Unit: Space within a dwelling, comprised of living, dining, sleeping room or rooms, storage closets, as well as space and equipment for cooking, bathing, and toilet facilities; all used by only one (1) family and its household employees, and having its own means of entrance which can be distinguished from other dwellings.
 
55.   Easement: Authorization by a property owner for the use by another and for a specified purpose of any designated part of his or her property.
 
56.   Elderly Housing: Housing which is exclusively for persons aged 60 and older, exclusive of on-site management, which provides for a common meeting or recreation area as part of the facility, capable of seating all residents at one time.
   (Ord. 2003-024. Passed 4-15-03.)
 
56-A.   Essential Services: The erection or construction, alteration, or maintenance by public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies of underground gas, electrical, steam, or water transmission, or distribution systems; collection, communication, supply, or disposal systems or sites, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes; traffic signals, hydrants, or other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith which are reasonably necessary 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.
(Ord. 2002-27. Passed 4-2-02; Ord. 2003-024. Passed 4-15-03.)
 
57.   Existing Use: The use of a lot or structure at the time of enactment of a Zoning Ordinance.
 
58.   Family: One (1) or more persons living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a rooming house, motel or hotel, dormitory, fraternity or sorority house, provided that "family" shall not include more than four (4) persons unrelated to each other by blood, marriage, or legal adoption.
 
59.   Farm Vacation Enterprises (Profit or Non-Profit): Farms adapted for use as vacation farms, picnicking and sports areas, fishing waters, camping, scenery, and nature recreation areas; hunting areas; hunting preserves and watershed projects.
 
60.   Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): The agency with the overall responsibility for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.
 
61.   Fence: Any structure composed of wood, metal, stone, brick, or other material erected in such a manner and position as to enclose, partially enclose or divide any premises or any part of any premises. Trellises or other structures supporting or for the purpose of supporting vines, flowers, or other vegetation when erected in such a position as to enclose, partially enclose, or divide any premises or any part of any premises shall also be considered a fence. Also may be called a wall.
 
62.   Flood or flooding: A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas form: (1) The overflow of inland or tidal waters, and/or (2) The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
 
63.   Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM): An official map of which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated the areas of special flood hazards.
 
64.   Flood Insurance Study: The official report in which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided flood profiles, floodway boundaries, and the water surface elevations of the base flood.
 
65.   Floodway: The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than 0.5 foot.
 
66.   Floor Area, Useable: The areas of all floors of a building, including basement, penthouse, enclosed porches, atriums, mezzanines, or attic story that are used for human occupancy. The useable floor area will be measured from the exterior surfaces of the walls. Useable floor area also includes the elevator shafts and spaces used for mechanical equipment with headroom of six feet, six inches (6'6") or more. Useable floor area does not include cellars, unenclosed porches unless access is limited and an outdoor use is planned, attics not used for human occupancy, or any floor space in an accessory building or the main building designed for the parking of motor vehicles.
 
67.   Funeral Home: A building or part thereof used for human funeral service. Such building may contain space and facilities for 1) embalming and the performance of other services used in preparation of the dead for burial; b) the performance of autopsies and other surgical procedures; c) the storage of caskets, funeral urns, and other related funeral supplies; and 3) the storage of funeral vehicles but shall not include facilities for cremation. Where a funeral home is permitted, a funeral chapel shall also be permitted.
 
68.   Garages, Private: An accessory building or portion of a principal building for the parking or temporary storage of automobiles, travel trailers, and/or boats of the occupants of the premises.
 
69.   Garage, Public: A principal or accessory building other than a private garage, used for parking or temporary storage of passenger automobiles, and in which no service shall be provided for remuneration.
 
70.   Garage, Repair: See Service Station.
 
71.   Grade: The average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of a building.
 
72.   Height of Building: The vertical distance measured from the average ground level at the sides of the building to the extreme highpoint of-the building, exclusive of chimneys and similar fixtures.
 
73.   Home Occupation or Home Profession: An accessory use of a dwelling unit for gainful employment which a) is clearly incidental and subordinate to the use of the dwelling unit as a residence; b) is carried on solely within the main dwelling and does not alter or change the exterior character or appearances of the dwelling; c) is located in a residential district; and d) is created and operated as a sole proprietorship.
 
74.   Hotel or Motel and Apartment Hotel: A building in which lodging or boarding and lodging are provided and offered to the public for compensation as a short-term arrangement and is separately defined from a boarding house, rooming house, lodging house, or dormitory. (Ord. 2002-27. Passed 4-2-02.)
 
74a.   Internet Sweepstakes Café: An individual building or premises in which any computerized sweepstakes device is located for the use or entertainment of the public, whether or not such building or premises have other business purposes of any nature whatsoever.
   (Ord. 2011-021. Passed 5-17-11.)
 
75.   Junk: Old, dilapidated scrap or abandoned metal, paper, building materials, and equipment, bottles, glass, appliances, furniture, beds and bedding, rags, rubber, motor vehicles, and parts thereof.
 
76.   Junk Buildings, Junk Shops, Junk Yards: Any land, property, structure, building, or combination of the same on which junk is stored or processed.
 
77.   Kennel: Any lot or premises on which four (4) or more domesticated animals more than four (4) months of age are housed, groomed, bred, boarded, trained, or sold.
 
78.   Loading Space, Off-Street: Space logically and conveniently located for bulk pickups and deliveries and accessible to such vehicles when required off-street parking spaces are filled.
 
79.   Location Map: See Vicinity Map.
 
80.   Lot: A parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by one (1) or more dwellings in a residential district or a permitted building or use in a commercial or industrial district; intended as a unit for transfer of ownership, together with accessory buildings and uses customarily incident thereto. A lot includes open spaces and minimum area provisions as are required by this Ordinance for the district in which the lot is situated.
 
81.   Lot Coverage: The ratio of enclosed ground floor area of all buildings on a lot to the horizontally projected area of the lot, expressed as a percentage.
 
82.   Lot Frontage: The frontage of a lot shall be platted and be construed to be the portion nearest the street and must be continuous along the street. For the purpose of determining yard requirements on corner lots and through lots, all sides of a lot adjacent to streets shall be considered frontage, and yards shall be provided as indicated under “Yards” in this section.
   (Ord. 2002-27. Passed 4-2-02.)
 
83.   Lot, Minimum Area of: The area of a lot exclusive of any portion of the right-of-way of any public or private street.
 
84.   Lot Measurements: Lot measurements are defined as follows:
 
   a.   Depth: The average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
 
   b.   Width: The distance between the lines connecting front and rear lot lines at each side of the lot, measured at the building setback line.
 
85.   Lot of Record: A lot which is part of a subdivision recorded in the office of the County Recorder or a lot or parcel described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been recorded.
 
86.   Lot Types: Terminology used in this Ordinance with reference to corner lots, interior lots, and through lots is as follows:
 
   a.   Corner Lot: A lot located at the intersection of two (2) or more streets. A lot abutting on a curved street or streets shall be considered a corner lot if straight lines drawn from the foremost point of the lot meet at an interior angle of less than one hundred thirty-five degrees (135°).
 
   b.   Interior Lot: A lot with only one (1) frontage on a street.
 
   c.   Through Lot: A lot other than a corner lot with frontage on more than one (1) street. Through lots abutting two (2) streets may be referred to as double frontage lots.
 
   d.   Reversed Frontage: A lot on which frontage is at right angles to the general pattern in the area. A reversed frontage lot may also be a corner lot.
 
 
 
 
 
87.   Major Thoroughfare Plan: The portion of Comprehensive Plan adopted by the Planning Commission indicating the general location of recommended arterial, collector, and local thoroughfares within the appropriate jurisdiction.
 
88.   Maintenance and Storage Facilities: Land, buildings, and structures devoted primarily to the maintenance and storage of construction equipment and material.
 
89.   Manufactured Home Park: Any tract of land upon which two (2) or more manufactured homes used for habitation are parked, either free of charge or for revenue purposes, and include any roadway, building, structure, vehicle, or enclosure used or intended for use as a part of the facilities of such park. A tract of land which is subdivided and the individual lots are not for rent or rented, but are for sale or sold for the purpose of installation of manufactured homes on the lots is not a manufactured home park even though three (3) or more manufactured homes are parked thereon, if the roadways are dedicated to the local government authority. "Manufactured Home Park" does not include any tract of land used solely for the storage or display for sale of manufactured homes.
 
90.   Manufactured Home: A building unit or assembly of closed construction fabricated in an off-site facility, that conforms with the federal construction and safety standards established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the “Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974,” and that has a label or tag permanently affixed to it certifying compliance with all applicable federal construction and safety standards.
 
90a.   Microbrewery: An establishment where beer, wine, spirituous liquor, or other alcoholic beverages is manufactured on the premises for distribution, retail or wholesale, on or off- premise. The brewery may produce up to 15,000 barrels per year of beer, wine, spirituous liquor, or other alcoholic beverages annually. The development may include other uses such as tasting room, taproom, table service restaurant or retail space for products produced on site and for the sale of ancillary products to customers.
   (Ord. 2018-036. Passed 12-18-18.)
 
91.   Mobile Home: A building unit or assembly of closed construction that is fabricated in an off-site facility, is more than 35 body feet in length or, when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, that is built on a permanent chassis and is transportable in one or more sections, and does not qualify as a manufactured home or industrialized unit as defined by SB 142.
 
92.   Non-conformities: A building, structure, or use of land existing at the time of enactment of this Ordinance and which does not conform to the regulations of the district or zone in which it is situated.
   (Ord. 99-45. Passed 7-13-99.)
 
93.   Nude or Nudity:
   a.   Less than completely and opaquely covered or in such attire, costume or clothing as to expose to view male genitals, female genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus, or any portion of the female breast below a point immediately above the top of areolae, or
   b.   Wearing any device or covering exposed to view which simulates the appearance of male genitals, female genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus, or any portion of the female breast below a point immediately above the top of areolae.
      (Ord. 2001-82. Passed 9-4-01.)
 
94.   Nursing Home: A home or facility for the care and treatment of three (3) or more persons who are living on the premises that are infirmed and not normally capable of leaving the premises without assistance from caregivers who are in attendance at the nursing home at all times.
 
95.   Occupancy Permit or Certificate of Occupancy: A document issued by the Zoning Inspector allowing the occupancy or use of a building and certifying that the structure or use has been constructed or will be used in compliance with all the applicable regulations contained herein in this Zoning Ordinance.
 
96.   Oil well: Any well or hole already drilled, being drilled, or to be drilled into the surface of the earth which is used or intended to be used in connection with coring ,or the drilling for, prospecting for or producing of petroleum, natural gas, or other hydrocarbon substances; or which is used or intended to be used for the subsurface injection into the earth of oil field waste, gases, water, or liquid substances.
 
97.   Open Space: An area substantially open to the sky which may be on the same lot with a building. The area may include along with the natural environmental features, water areas, swimming pools, and tennis courts, and other recreational facilities that the Planning Commission deems permissive. Streets, parking areas, and buildings are not included as open space.
 
98.   Parking Space, Off-Street: For the purpose of this Ordinance, an off-street parking space shall consist of an area adequate for parking an automobile with room for opening doors on both sides, together with properly related access to a public street or alley and maneuvering room, but shall be located totally outside of any street or alley right-of-way.
 
99.   Performance Bond or Surety Bond: An agreement by a subdivider or developer with the City for the amount of the estimated construction cost guaranteeing the completion of physical improvements according to plans and specifications within the time prescribed by the subdivider's agreement.
 
100.   Planned Unit Development (PUD): A PUD is a type of development in which an area of land, usually under the control of a single landowner, is to be developed for different types of dwelling units (single-family detached residences, duplexes, townhouses, garden apartments), and commercial, industrial, and other uses, such as schools and churches. In a PUD, lot size, setback, bulk, lot coverage, parking, and other development standards are relaxed in order to achieve better site design, use relationships, and preservation of open spaces and natural topography.
 
101.   Plant Nursery: Land, building, structure, or combination thereof for the storage, cultivation, transplanting of live trees, shrubs, or plants offered for retail sale on the premises, including products used for gardening or landscaping.
 
102.   Public Uses: Public parks, schools, administrative and cultural buildings and structures, not including public land or buildings devoted solely to the storage and maintenance of equipment and materials and public service facilities.
 
103.   Public Way: An alley, avenue, boulevard, bridge, channel, ditch, easement, expressway, freeway, highway, land, parkway right-of-way, road, sidewalk, street, subway, tunnel viaduct, walk, bicycle path; or other ways in which the general public or a public entity have a right, or which are dedicated, whether improved or not.
 
104.   Quasi-Public Use: Churches, Sunday schools, parochial schools, colleges, hospitals, and other facilities of an educational, religious, charitable, philanthropic, or non-profit nature.
 
105.   Professional Office Uses: These uses deliver professional tangible and intangible services to the general public and are associated with normally recognized professions most of which are regulated, licensed, or certified by the State of Ohio.
 
106.   Receiver: The apparatus whose purpose is to obtain a signal from a cable or other like source and transform it to a television signal.
 
107.   Recreation Camp: An area of land on which two (2) or more recreational vehicles, tents, or other similar temporary recreational structures are regularly accommodated with or without charge, including any building, structure or fixture of equipment that is used or intended to be used in connection with providing such accommodations.
 
108.   Recreational Facilities: Commercial or non-commercial facilities that offer non-passive recreational services to a group of people or the general public. Included in this definition are outdoor recreational facilities, such as golf courses, driving ranges, gaming clubs, riding clubs, tennis courts, swimming pools, and indoor recreational facilities in which all activities are conducted indoors. This definition could also include a combination of indoor and outdoor recreational services.
 
109.   Recreational Vehicle: A vehicular-type portable structure without permanent foundation which can be towed, hauled, or driven and designed as temporary living accommodation for recreational, camping, and travel use and including but not limited to travel trailers, truck campers, camping trailers, and self-propelled motor homes.
 
110.   Research Activities: Research, development, and testing related to such fields as chemical, pharmaceutical, medical, electrical, transportation, and engineering where all research, testing, and development is carried on within entirely enclosed buildings and no noise, smoke, glare, vibration, or odor is detected outside the building.
 
111.   Restaurant: A retail establishment that serves food and beverages primarily to persons seated within the building. This includes cafes, tea rooms, and outdoor cafes.
 
112.   Restaurant, Drive-In or Drive-Through: A retail establishment that delivers prepared food and/or beverages to customers in motor vehicles or at a drive-through window; regardless of whether or not it also serves prepared food and/or beverages to customers who are not in motor vehicles; for consumption either on or off the premises.
 
113.   Restaurant, Fast Food: A establishment that offers quick food service, which is accomplished through a limited menu of items already prepared and held for service or prepared, fried, or griddled quickly or heated in a device such as a microwave oven. Orders are not generally taken at the customer’s table, and food is generally served in disposable wrapping or containers.
 
114.   Retail Stores Uses: A business use primarily engaged in selling merchandise for personal and household consumption and rendering services clearly incidental to the sale of such goods.
 
115.   Right-of-Way: A strip of land dedicated for use as a public way and may include but is not limited to curbs, lawn strips, sidewalks, lighting, and drainage facilities and may include special features (required by the topography or treatment) such as grade separation, landscaped areas, viaducts and bridges.
 
116.   Satellite Dish: See Dish.
 
117.   School: A facility that provides a curriculum of elementary and secondary academic instruction including kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools.
 
118.   Screening: The method by which a view of one (1) site from another adjacent site is shielded, concealed, or hidden. Screening techniques include fences, walls, hedges, berms, or other features.
 
119.   Service Station: Buildings and premises where gasoline, oil, grease, batteries, tires, and motor vehicle accessories may be supplied and dispensed. Also called Gas Station.
 
120.   Setback Line: A line established by the Zoning Ordinance generally parallel with and measured from the lot line, defining the limits of a yard in which no building other than accessory buildings or structure may be located above ground, except as may be provided in said code.
 
121.   Sewers, Central or Group: An approved sewage disposal system which provides a collection network and disposal system and central sewage treatment facility for a single development, community, or region.
 
122.   Sewers, On-Site: A septic tank or similar installation on an individual lot which utilizes an aerobic bacteriological process or equally satisfactory process for the elimination of sewage and provides for the proper and safe disposal of the effluent, subject to the approval of health and sanitation officials having jurisdiction.
 
123.   Sexual Activity: Sexual conduct or sexual contact, or both.
 
124.   Sexual Contact: Any touching of an erogenous zone of another, including without limitation to the thigh, genitals, buttocks, pubic region, or if the person is a female, a breast, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying either person.
 
125.   Sexual Excitement: The condition of the human male or female genitals, when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
 
126.   Sign: Any device designated to inform or attract the attention of persons not on the premises on which the sign is located.
 
127.   Sign, Illuminated: Any sign illuminated by electricity, gas, or other artificial light including reflecting or phosphorescent light.
 
128.   Sign, Lighting Device: Any light, string of lights, or group of lights located or arranged so as to cast illumination on a sign.
 
129.   Sign, Off-Premises: Any sign unrelated to a business or profession conducted or to a commodity or service sold or offered upon the premises where such sign is located.
 
130.   Sign, On-Premises: Any sign related to a business or profession conducted, or a commodity or service sold or offered upon the premises which such sign is located.
 
131.   Sign, Projecting: Any sign which projects from the exterior of a building.
 
132.   Site Plan: A plan prepared to scale showing accurately and with complete dimensioning, the boundaries of a site and the location of all buildings, structures, uses, and principal site development features proposed for a specific parcel of land. (Ord. 99-45. Passed 7-13-99.)
 
132a   Skill-based Amusement Machine Business: Any business or establishment the primary purpose of which is operating or offering for operation four (4) or more “skill-based amusement machines” as that term is defined in Ohio R.C. 2915.01(AAA).
   (Ord. 10-006. Passed 3-16-10.)
132b   Specified Sexual Activities:
   a.   The caressing, touching, fondling or other intentional or erotic touching of male genitals, female genitals, anus, or female breasts of oneself or of one person by another; or
   b.   Sex acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including intercourse, oral copulation, flagellation, sodomy, bestiality, or any sexual acts which are prohibited by law; or
   c.   Masturbation, actual or simulated; or
   d.   Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation, arousal, or tumescence, or visual state of sexual stimulation, arousal, or tumescence, even if completely and opaquely covered; or
   e.   Excretory functions as part of, or in connection with, any of the activities set forth in subdivisions a. through d. of this subsection.
      (Ord. 2001-83. Passed 9-4-01; Ord. 10-006. Passed 3-16-10.)
 
133.   Story: That part of a building between the surface of a floor and the ceiling immediately above.
 
134.   Street: See Thoroughfare.
 
135.   Street Line: A street line is the right-of-way line or the established property line of a street as indicated by dedication or by deed of record.
 
136.   Structure: Anything constructed or erected, either permanent or portable, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment of something having a fixed location on the ground. Structures include but are not limited to buildings, manufactured homes, walls, fences, parking lots, and billboards.
 
137.   Supply Yards: A commercial establishment storing and offering for sale building supplies, steel supplies, coal, heavy equipment, feed and grain, and similar goods.
 
138.   Swimming Pool: A pool, pond, lake, or open tank having a span of at least six feet (6') and intended for human recreational use and maintained by the owner or manager. Farm ponds and pools, ponds, or lakes developed as landscape design features, where swimming is not intended and does not occur, shall be excluded.
 
   a.   Private Pool: Exclusively used without paying an additional charge for admission by the residents and guests of a single household, a multiple-family development, or a community, the members and guests of a club, or the patrons of a motel or hotel; an accessory use.
 
   b.   Community Pool: Operated with or without a charge for admission, and is open to the general public for recreational use.
 
139.   Thoroughfare, Street or Road: The full width between property lines and binding every public way with a part thereof to be used for vehicular traffic. All thoroughfares, streets, or roads are designated as follows:
 
   a.   Alley: A minor street used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or side of properties abutting on another street.
 
   b.   Arterial Street: A general term denoting a highway primarily for through traffic, carrying heavy loads and large volume of traffic, usually on a continuous route.
 
   c.   Collector Street: A thoroughfare, whether within a residential, industrial, commercial, or other type of development, which primarily carries traffic from local streets to arterial streets, including the principal entrance and circulation routes within residential subdivisions.
 
   d.   Cul-de-Sac: A local street of relatively short length with one (1) end open to traffic and the other end terminating in a vehicular turnaround.
 
   e.   Dead-End Street: A street temporarily having only one (1) outlet for vehicular traffic and intended to be extended or continued in the future.
 
   f.   Local Street: A street primarily for providing access to residential or other abutting property.
 
   g.   Loop Street: A type of local street, each end of which terminates at an intersection with the same arterial or collector street, and whose principal radius points of the one hundred eighty degrees (180°) system of turns are not more than one thousand feet (1,000') from said arterial or collector street, nor normally more than six hundred feet (600') from each other.
      (Ord. 99-45. Passed 7-13-99.)
 
   h.   Marginal Access Street: A street, parallel and adjacent to an arterial or collector street, providing access to abutting properties and protection from arterial or collector streets. (Also called Frontage Street.)
      (Ord. 2001-84. Passed 9-4-01.)
 
140.   Through Lot: See Lot Types.
 
141.   Topless: The showing of female breasts with less than a full opaque covering of any portion, thereof, below the top of the nipple.
 
142.   Use: The specific purposes for which land or a building is designated, arranged, intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
 
143.   Variance: A modification of the strict terms of the relevant regulations where such modification will not be contrary to the public interest and where, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of the action of the applicant, a literal enforcement of the regulations would result in unnecessary and undue hardship.
 
144.   Veterinary Animal Hospital or Clinic: A place used for the care, grooming, diagnosis, and treatment of sick, ailing, infirm, or injured animals, and those who are in need of medical or surgical attention and may include overnight accommodations on the premises for the treatment, observation, and/or recuperation. It may also include boarding that is incidental to the primary activity.
 
145.   Vicinity Map: A drawing located on the plat which sets forth by dimensions or other means, the relationship of the proposed subdivision or use to other nearby developments or landmarks and community facilities and services within the general area in order to better locate and orient the area in question.
 
146.   Walkway: A public way for pedestrian use only, whether along the side of a road or not.
 
147.   Wall: See Fence.
 
148.   Wholesaling and Storage Uses: Uses associated with transporting, storing, handling, or selling merchandise primarily to retailers, industrial, institutional, or professional uses or to other wholesalers or acting as agents in buying merchandise for such persons to organizations.
 
149.   Wireless Telecommunications Equipment Shelter: A structure in which electronic receiving and relay equipment for a wireless telecommunications facility is housed.
 
150.   Wireless Telecommunications Facility: A facility consisting of the equipment and structures involved in receiving telecommunications or radio signals from a mobile radio communication source and transmitting those signals to a central switching computer which connects the mobile unit with land-based telephone lines.
 
151.   Wireless Telecommunications Tower: A structure intended to support equipment used to transmit and/or receive telecommunications signals including monopoles, guyed, and lattice construction steel structures.
 
152.   Yard: Any open space located on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground up, except for accessory buildings or such projections as are expressly permitted in these regulations. The minimum depth or width of a yard shall consist of the horizontal distance between the lot line and the nearest point of the foundation wall of the main building.
   a.   Yard, Front: A yard extending between side lot lines across the front of a lot and from the front lot line to the setback line.
 
   b.   Yard, Rear: A yard extending between side lot lines across the rear of a lot and from the rear lot line to the rear of the main building.
 
   c.   Yard, Side: A yard extending from the main building to the side lot line on both sides of the main building between the lines establishing the front and rear yards.
 
   d.   Yard Requirement: The open space between a lot line and the building area within which no structure shall be located except as provided in the Zoning Ordinance.
 
 
 
 
 
153.   Zero Lot Line Development: An arrangement of housing on adjoining lots in which one (1) required side yard is reduced to zero.
 
154.   Zoning Map: The Official Zoning Map of the City of Norwalk which is part of this Zoning Ordinance and delineate the boundaries of zoned districts.
 
155.   Zoning Inspector: The person designated by the Mayor to administer the Zoning Ordinance and issue Zoning Permits.
 
156.   Zoning Permit: A document signed by the Zoning Inspector, as required in the Zoning Ordinance, as a condition precedent to the commencement of a use or the erection, construction, reconstruction, restoration, alteration, conversion, or installation of a structure or building which acknowledges that such use, structure, or building complies with the provisions of the City Zoning Ordinance.
 
 
CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF NORWALK