For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BUILDING, ACCESSORY. A building that is secondary in size and use to that of the principal building. It cannot be towed on its own chassis or designed for use other than that incidential to the principal building.
BUILDING, PRINCIPAL. A building in which is conducted the main use of the lot on which the building is located.
CLUB, LODGE, CIVIC or FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION. An incorporated or unincorporated association for civic, social, cultural, religious, literary, political, recreational or like activities, but not including shooting clubs, operated for the benefit of its members, and not open to the general public.
COMPATIBLE. Friendly to the existing environment, so as not to detract from, reduce property values of or degrade from the everyday enjoyment of property owners and occupants in the surrounding area.
CUSTOMARY HOME OCCUPATION. An occupation, profession or trade customarily carried on by an occupant in a dwelling unit as a secondary use which is clearly incidental to the dwelling unit for residential purposes.
DAY NURSERY. Any agency, institution, center, home, nursery, nursery school, kindergarten, play school or other place, however styled and whether operated under public auspices, as a private business or by an established religious denomination, in which are received for temporary custodial care apart from their parents, part of the day or all of the day or night, and upon any number of successive days one (1) or more children not related to the persons providing temporary custodial care.
DWELLING, MULTI-FAMILY. A detached building designed as a residence for three (3) or more families, and consisting of three (3) or more separate dwelling units.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY. A detached building designed as a residence for one (1) family, not including mobile homes.
DWELLING, 2-FAMILY. A detached building designed as a residence for two (2) families and consisting of two (2) separate dwelling units.
DWELLING UNIT. One (1) or more rooms in a residential building which are arranged, designed, used or intended for use as living quarters for one (1) family, are physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure, and contain independent cooking and sleeping facilities.
FAMILY. Includes the following groups of persons, and no others:
(1) Any number of persons related by blood or marriage and living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit plus not more than two (2) unrelated roomers, boarders or domestic servants; or
(2) Not more than three (3) unrelated persons living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit.
FLOOD. A temporary rise of water level in lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, natural drainage courses, artificial drainage courses or waterways that results in inundation of areas not ordinarily covered by water.
Cross-reference:
Flood damage prevention, see Ch. 156
FLOODPLAIN. Those areas subject to periodic inundation, by large floods which occur with calculable flood frequency and subject to flooding which may reasonably be expected to cause damage or hazard sufficient to justify protection therefrom.
Cross-reference:
Flood damage prevention, see Ch. 156
FLOOR AREA, RESIDENTIAL. The gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a dwelling, exclusive of carport, garages, basement, storage areas with only outside access and open porches, measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls of a dwelling.
GAME ROOM or AMUSEMENT CENTER. Recreational facility which houses four (4) or more video/game machines and/or amusement devises.
GROUP DEVELOPMENTS. Consist of commercial, industrial and housing group development projects, not to include mobile homes or mobile home parks.
(1) GROUP COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS consist of more than one (1) commercial or industrial structure erected on a single lot.
(2) GROUP HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS consist of more than one (1) residential dwelling (single-family, duplex, or multi-family) on a single lot.
HEIGHT OF BUILDING. The vertical distance measured from the mean finished ground level adjoining the building to the highest point of the roof.
JUNK YARD. Any use involving the storage or the dismantling, demolition, or abandonment, sale or resale of junk including scrap metal, used paper, or other scrap materials, salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment, storage, baling or otherwise dealing in bones, animal hides, cloth or rags, used plumbing fixtures, appliances, furniture, and used brick, wood or other building materials. These uses shall be considered JUNK YARDS whether or not all or part of the operations are conducted inside a building or in conjunction with, in addition to, or accessory to, other uses of the premises.
JUNK YARD, MOTOR VEHICLE. Any place of storage or deposit, whether in connection with another business or not, which displays, or in or upon which are displayed, to view from the public highway two (2) or more unregistered motor vehicles which are unfit for reconditioning for use on the public highways, used parts of motor vehicles, old iron, metal, glass, paper, cordage or other waste, discarded or secondhand material which has been a part or is intending to be a part of any motor vehicle, the sum of which parts or material shall be equal in bulk to two (2) or more motor vehicles.
Statutory reference:
Junk yards, see S.C. Code § 40-27-110
LOT. A piece, parcel, or plot of land which may consist of one (1) platted lot or a lot described by metes and bounds in single ownership, occupied or intended to be occupied by one (1) principal building and accessory buildings, including the open space required under this chapter.
Cross-reference:
Lot size, see § 158.035
LOT WIDTH. The distance between the side lot lines measured at the front building setback line.
MANUFACTURED HOME. A mobile home which is:
(1) Certified as meeting the 1976 Construction and Safety Standards;
(2) Permanently anchored to the site as specified by its manufacturer;
(3) Skirted on all sides with a masonry foundation or commercial skirting material;
(4) Provided with cast concrete steps and landing; and
(5) Placed on the lot so that its longer axis is parallel to the front lot line.
MOBILE HOME. A movable or portable building over 32 feet in length and eight (8) feet or over in width, constructed to be towed on its own chassis and designed without a permanent foundation for year-round occupancy and one (1) which may include one (1) or more components that can be retracted for towing purposes and subsequently expanded for additional capacity, or of two (2) or more units separately towable but designed to be joined into one (1) integral unit, as well as a portable dwelling composed of a single unit. The term MOBILE HOME used in these regulations shall not include prefabricated, modular or unitized dwellings placed on permanent foundations, nor shall it refer to travel trailers, campers or similar units designed for recreation or other short term uses unless used for a permanent dwelling.
(1) DOUBLE-WIDE MOBILE HOME. A mobile home consisting of two (2) sections combined horizontally at the site while still retaining their individual chassis.
(2) EXPANDABLE MOBILE HOME. A mobile home with one (1) or more room sections that fold, collapse or telescope into the principal unit when being transported and which can be expanded at the site to provide additional living area.
MOBILE HOME PARK. A set acreage of land in ownership used or set apart for the purpose of supplying parking space for two (2) or more mobile homes and includes buildings, structures, vehicles or enclosures used for or intended for use as a part of the mobile home park. A development which is designed and constructed to accommodate mobile homes. (For specifications or requirements on these parks, see Chapter 152, Mobile Home Park Chapter of the South Congaree Town Code.)
MODULAR HOMES. Structures that are fabricated in a manufacturing facility and shipped in one (1) or more components for final erection on the construction site. They will meet all standards set forth by the Southern Building Codes and must be erected on site by a South Carolina licensed general contractor.
NON-CONFORMING USE. The use of a building, structure, or land existing at the time of enactment of this chapter or subsequent amendment, which does not conform to the regulations for the district in which it is located.
OFF-STREET LOADING SPACE. The area required to load or unload goods or other material, plus the necessary driveways and maneuvering area.
OFF-STREET PARKING SPACE. The area required to park one (1) automobile, plus the necessary driveways and maneuvering area.
PARCEL. A stretch of land under single ownership, either by an individual, a group of individuals or corporation including the words lot, tract, plot, site or other division of land regardless of how it is described or its use or intended use.
PROHIBITED USES. Any use which is not expressly permitted in a district shall be prohibited.
PUBLIC SEWAGE SYSTEM. Pipelines and all other construction devices to include treatment facilities up to and including tertiary treatment, and appliances appurtenant thereto used for conducting sewage, industrial waste or other waste to a point for ultimate discharge. A septic tank without treatment beyond that normally associated with septic tank operation is not considered a public sewage system regardless of size or number of users.
PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM. Pipelines and all other construction, devices and appliances used for providing treated water for human consumption, fire hydrants and the like. Treated water is defined as water that goes through some form of treatment plant or treatment process.
SEPTIC TANK. A tank in which the solid matter of continuously flowing sewage is disintegrated by bacteria. A SEPTIC TANK is not considered to be a public sewage system.
SETBACK LINE (BUILDING SETBACK LINE). A line beyond which no foundation wall, eaves, or other part of any building shall project unless specified exceptions are made elsewhere in these regulations.
SKIRTING. The material which encloses the bottom perimeter of the mobile home which conceals from sight the wheels, blocks and open area under the mobile home.
STRUCTURE. Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location of the ground or attachment to something having location on the ground, including for purposes of this chapter, mobile homes, travel trailers, signs, mobile signs and portable signs, but excluded from definition as STRUCTURES are minor landscaping features such as ornamental pools, planting boxes, bird baths, paved surfaces, walkways, driveways, recreational equipment, flagpoles, utility poles and mailboxes.
YARD. An open or unoccupied space on the same lot with a principal building and unobstructed by buildings or structures from ground to sky except where encroachments and accessory buildings are expressly permitted.
YARD, FRONT. An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a principal building, extending the full width of the lot, and situated between the street or road and the front line of the building. For the purposes of determining yard requirements on corner lots and double frontage lots, all sides of a lot adjacent to streets shall be considered as frontage.
YARD, REAR. An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a principal building, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building.
YARD, SIDE. An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a principal building, situated between the building and the side lot line and extending from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line not a rear or a front line shall be deemed a side line.
(1985 Code, Ch. 9, Part B)