(A) Interpretation. In interpreting and applying the provisions of this chapter, they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, morals, convenience, and general welfare. The County Area Plan Commission has given consideration to the existing and future probable use of land in the territory affected by this chapter, and has prepared a comprehensive plan showing the future development of this area, which has served as a guide in the preparation of this chapter.
(B) Non-interference with greater restrictions otherwise imposed. It is not intended by this chapter to interfere with, abrogate, or annul any easements, covenants, or other agreements between parties, nor any ordinances, rules, regulations, or permits previously adopted or issued and which are not in conflict with any of the provisions of this chapter, except that, where this chapter imposes a greater restriction upon the use of buildings or land, or upon the height of buildings, or requires larger open spaces or greater lot area per family than are required or imposed by such easements, covenants, or agreements between parties, or by such ordinance, rules, regulations, or permits, the provisions of this chapter shall control.
(C) Use. No building or land shall be used and shall be erected, reconstructed, or structurally altered, which is arranged, intended, or designed to be used for any purpose other than a use which is permitted and specified in a district in which such building or land is located.
(D) Height. No building shall be erected, reconstructed, or structurally altered to exceed in height the limits established and specified for the use and the district in which such building is located. See § 153.021.
(E) Yard, lot area, and size of building. No building shall be erected, reconstructed, or structurally altered in any manner which will encroach upon, or reduce in any manner, the yards, lot area per family, ground floor area of dwellings, or lot coverage provisions established and specified for the use and the district in which such building is located.
(F) Parking space; loading and unloading; berths. For each building hereafter erected and for certain other uses of land, parking spaces for motor vehicles and loading and unloading berths as specified for the use to which such building or land is to be devoted shall be provided, except that parking spaces may not be required for business or industrial uses in accordance with the provisions of § 153.024(B)(13), but it is the intent of this chapter to encourage the establishment of adequate parking spaces wherever normally required by this chapter.
(G) Building relocated. No building or structure shall be moved from one lot or premises to another unless such building and lot shall thereupon conform to all the regulations of the zone district to which such building be moved.
(H) Farms exempt. Except for farm houses or farm dwellings, which include dwellings for the farm owner, operator, or farm assistants, classified as a contingent use (see § 153.065), and grain elevators and related uses, produce stands, sales barn for livestock, and restricted commercial farm enterprises (including confined feeding operations, see § 153.004, which are all farm related activities set forth as special exceptions (see § 153.014); land application operations: as defined in § 153.004 which are not permitted (see division (I) below); land, farm barns, farm outbuildings, or other buildings, structures, or erections which are adapted, by reason of nature and area, for use for agricultural purposes as a primary means of livelihood, while so used, shall not be affected by restrictions or regulations of this chapter.
(1) Sludge contains constituents that are either non-essential or potentially detrimental to crops and animals (including humans) consuming the crops;
(2) Sludge contains compounds not required by plants;
(3) Possibilities exist for leaching and excessive movement of nitrate-nitrogen from surface soils into ground water;
(4) Potential of disease transmission to animals due to bacteria parasites or viruses present in sludge;
(5) Contamination of crops by persistent organics, such as PCBs or chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides;
(6) Contamination of crops with cadmium; and
(7) Reduced plant yields and soil productivity caused by heavy metals such as lead, copper, zinc, and nickel; provided, that any person, including the owner of the farmland or cropland designated as an application site, who has an ongoing land application operation in the county on or before the date of passage of this chapter, may continue such operation if the requirements of the State Department of Environmental Management are met. The provisions herein are not intended to preclude an operation in the county in which sludge, waste products, or waste water are generated by industrial, municipal, or semi-public facilities.
(J) Public utility installations exempt. Structures and land use for public utility installations so defined herein, while so used, shall not be affected by restrictions or regulations of this chapter; provided, however, terminal facilities and treatment or processing plants for residential developments are contingent uses, but a sewage treatment facility (primary use) or a major transmission line or a water storage tank is a special exception and is subject to the provisions of this chapter. See § 153.014(G)(62) for transmission lines.
(K) Mineral extraction. Each Plan Commission, legislative body, and Board of Zoning Appeals in an urbanized or urbanizing area (as defined in I.C. 14-4-9-18) shall comply with the provisions of I.C. 14-4-9-19 before permitting a land use that would threaten the potential extraction of aggregate in an area underlain by a deposit of qualified mineral resources (as defined in I.C. 14-4-9-14). See § 153.050, MR Mineral Reserve District.
(L) Amendments. All amendments to or repealers of this chapter shall be made in accordance with the provisions of I.C. 36-7-4, as amended.
(Ord. passed - -1996)