(a)

Words used in the singular shall include the plural, and the plural the singular; and words in the present tense shall include the future tense. The reverse is also true.

(b)

The words "may not," "must," "shall," and "may not" are mandatory and not discretionary.

(c)

The word "may" is permissive, and "should" is advisory, not mandatory or required.

(d)

When used with numbers, "up to x," "not more than x" and "a maximum of x" all include "x."

(e)

The word "lo"" includes the word "plot."

(f)

The phrase "used" us deemed to also include the phrases "arranged, designed, intended, and occupied."

(g)

The word "erected" is deemed to also include "constructed," "reconstructed," "altered," "placed," "relocated" or "removed."

(h)

The terms "land use" and "use of land" are deemed to also include "building use" and "use of building."

(i)

The term "adjacent" shall mean to be separated by common property lines, lot lines, or a street or alley; abutting, adjoining, contiguous, or touching.

(j)

The word "structure" includes the word "building."

(k)

The terms "mayor and board of aldermen," or "mayor and board" refers to the legally constituted and elected governing body of the City of Acworth.

(l)

The term "comprehensive plan" shall mean the current comprehensive plan adopted by the mayor and board of aldermen.

(m)

Words not defined herein shall be construed as having the meaning given by common and ordinary use.

(Ord. No. 2024-03, § 1, 2-1-2024)

Unless the context otherwise clearly indicates, conjunctions have the following meanings:

(1)

"And" indicates that all connected items or provisions apply; and

(2)

"Or" indicates that the connected items or provisions may apply singularly or in combination.

(Ord. No. 2024-03, § 1, 2-1-2024)

(a)

References to "days" are to calendar days unless otherwise expressly stated. References to "business days" are references to regular city government working days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays observed by the city.

(b)

The time in which an act is to be completed is computed by excluding the first day and including the last day. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday observed by the city, that day is excluded.

(c)

A day concludes at the close of business of city hall, and any materials received after that time will be considered to have been received the following day.

(Ord. No. 2024-03, § 1, 2-1-2024)

Except as defined herein, all other words used in this zoning chapter shall be defined in accordance with the American Planning Association (APA) A Planners Dictionary, published April 1, 2004. For terms not found in A Planners Dictionary, words used shall be defined in accordance with Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition.

—A—

Abandonment: The relinquishment of property, or a cessation of the use of the property, by the owner or lessee without any intention of transferring rights to the property to another owner or of resuming the use of the property

Abatement: The method of reducing the degree and intensity of pollution, nuisance, or identified area of non-compliance with this Development Code.

Absorption: The penetration of one substance into or through another; or, the length of time it takes for a product or real estate to be sold or rented.

Abut or Adjoin: To physically touch or border on; or to share a common property line but not overlap.

Acceleration lane: An added roadway lane that permits integration and merging of slower moving vehicles into the main vehicular stream.

Access: A way or means of approach to provide vehicular or pedestrian physical entrance to a property.

Accessory structure: Any structure of secondary importance or function on a site. Generally, the primary use of the site is not carried on in an accessory structure. These may be detached or attached from the primary structure. Examples: car ports, car garages, decks, fences, trellises, barns, swimming pools, gazebos, TV antenna structures. Mobile examples include truck campers.

Accessory use: A use subordinate to the principal use of a lot, or of a principal building on the same lot, and serving a purpose clearly incidental to a permitted principal use of the lot or of the building and which accessory use or structure is compatible with the principal permitted uses or structures authorized under zoning regulations applicable to the property.

Acre: A measure of land containing 43,560 square feet.

Act of God: An unintentional hazard event (usually a natural hazard) whereby society feels that no individual or organization is responsible for the hazard occurrence or its impact; i.e., an "accident."

Adult Entertainment: Includes, but is not limited to, adult bookstores, adult dancing establishments, adult mini motion picture theater, adult motion picture arcade, adult motion picture theater, adult video store, adult novelty or gift shop, erotic dance establishment, escort bureau or introduction services. All adult entertainment uses shall adhere to Chapter 10, Article II of the Acworth City Code.

Agriculture: The production, rearing or storage of crops for sale, lease or personal use, or lands devoted to a soil conservation or forestry management program. For the purposes of this zoning ordinance the rearing, breeding, housing, or any other activity involving non-domesticated animals

Airport: A place designed for the landing and taking off of aircraft, usually equipped with hangars, facilities for refueling and repair and various accommodations for passengers.

Alley: A service way providing a secondary means of public access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Alteration, major: Any change or rearrangement in the supporting members of an existing building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, girders, or interior partitions, as well as any change in doors, windows, or means of ingress or egress; or any, enlargement to or diminution of a building or structure, whether horizontally or vertically; or the moving of a building or structure from one location to another.

Alteration, minor: Modifications to an existing structure that are of a cosmetic nature, replacement of utilities, or rearrangement of non-load bearing partitions.

Annexation: The incorporation of land area into an existing community with a resulting change in boundaries of that community.

Animal hospitals: A place where animals or pets are given medical or surgical treatment and the boarding of animals is limited to short-term care incidental to the hospital use.

Applicant: An owner of land or legally appointed owner(s) representative, such as a developer, engineer or architect, who proposes to subdivide, develop, or otherwise alter or change the use of such land.

Arcade: A succession of arches or openings, supported by columns or piers, or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. Exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians.

Artisan: A person or group of individuals manually skilled in making a particular product such as glass, pottery and ceramics, wood cabinets, and other small-scale woodworks.

As-built plans: Accurate and precise drawings of post-construction site features and characteristics, including all buildings, structures, infrastructures, boundaries, and natural features.

Assisted living facility: A facility licensed by the State of Georgia for the transitional residency of elderly and/or disabled persons, progressing from independent living to congregate housing, within which are provided living and sleeping facilities, meal preparation, laundry services, transportation services and routine social and medical appointments and counseling.

Automobile maintenance: The routine replacement and maintenance of non-engine related parts including brake repair, tire replacement, tune-ups, and oil changing. This term shall not include engine or body dismantling.

Automobile repair: General repair, rebuilding, or reconditioning of engines, motor vehicles, or trailers such as collision service, body repair and frame straightening; painting and upholstering; vehicle steam cleaning; and undercoating.

Automobile sales: The use of any building, land area or other premise for the display and sale of new or used motor vehicles, including any warranty repair work or other repair service; provided, however, that such definition shall not include the sale by an individual of motor vehicles acquired for such individual's own use and actually so used.

Automobile service station (gas, filling station): A building or structure used for the retail sale and dispensing of fuel, lubricants, tires, batteries, accessories, and supplies, including installation or minor services, customarily incidental thereto; facilities for washing and for chassis and gear lubrication of vehicles are permitted if enclosed in a building.

Automobile wrecking yard: Any place where two or more vehicles not in running condition, or parts thereof, are stored in the open and are not being restored to operating condition, or any land, building or structure used for wrecking or storing of such motor vehicles or farm machinery, or parts thereof, stored in the open and not being restored to operating condition; and including the commercial salvaging of any goods, articles or merchandise.

Avenue: A thoroughfare designed for high vehicular capacity at low to moderate speed, acting as a connector between short distances; and usually equipped with a landscaped median.

—B—

Balcony: An external extension of an upper floor of a building, enclosed up to a height of about three (3) feet by a solid or pierced screen, or by balusters or railings. Balconies serve to enlarge the living space and range of activities possible in a dwelling without a garden or lawn.

Basement: That portion of a building built partly underground having one-half or more of its floor-to-ceiling height below the average level of the lot grade but not less than six and one-half feet.

Beverage shop: retail establishment selling alcoholic goods and other materials that are packaged to go and not for consumption upon the premises. (Must meet the City of Acworth Alcohol Beverages Ordinance, Chapter 6, City Code)

Bedroom: A private room planned and intended for sleeping, separable from other rooms by a door, and accessible to a bathroom without crossing another bedroom or living room.

Best management practices (BMPs): The physical, institutional, or strategic approaches and procedures to environmental or development problems, particularly with respect to non-point source pollution control.

Bicycle lane: A portion of a road that is designated by striping, signing, and pavement markings for the preferential or exclusive use of bicyclists. Most often these are done in couplets, each one being one-way and adjacent to the outside through travel lane.

Bicycle path: (1) A facility that is paved or unpaved and physically separated from motorized vehicular traffic by an open space or barrier; (2) a designated right-of-way for bicycles, separated from pedestrian and motor vehicles.

Bicycle rack: A permanent apparatus, such as a row of paired metal prongs, or other configuration designed to support the front wheels of bicycles so that they can be left unattended.

Bicycle route: A thoroughfare shared by bicycles and automobiles moving at low speeds.

Bicycle trail: A bicycle path running independently of a vehicular thoroughfare.

Bioswales: A shallow channel made of grass, rocks, or other types of vegetation with gently sloped sides designed to slow and capture water by efficiently spreading it horizontally across the landscape, facilitating water infiltration into the soil. Bioswales improve water quality and can be used as alternative to storm sewers, or to convey waters to sewers or surface waters.

Blank wall area: A portion of the exterior facade of the building that does not include: windows or doors; columns, pilasters or other articulation greater than twelve (12) inches in depth; or a substantial material change (paint color is not considered a substantial change).

Block: Property, which may consist of contiguous lots, that are bounded by streets, rights-of-way, or improved open spaces, but not alleys.

Boats: A vessel or craft designed or constructed for use on the water, usually moved by sail, oars, paddles, or motorized power.

Boat trailer: A portable structure designed or constructed for the purpose of transporting a boat or boats upon the highways or city streets and which may be used as a storage platform for said boat or boats when not in use.

Brick: A masonry building or paving material made from clay molded into blocks and baked that is laid individually in rows and held in place with mortar.

Buffer: The portion of a lot reserved as a landscaped area and used to separate different zoning districts or different uses of property, to protect the health of water resources such as rivers or streams, and/or to abate the impacts of public rights-of-way.

Buildable area: The area of a lot remaining after the minimum yard and open space requirements of the UDC have been met.

Buildable lot: Any platted lot, parcel, or tract of land that is a lot of record and of sufficient area and adequate configuration to comply with the building setbacks, floor area, and lot size requirements of the zoning district in which it is located and otherwise complies with all development standards contained in this chapter.

Building: Any roofed structure enclosed and isolated by exterior walls, constructed or used for a residence, business, industry, or other public or private purpose or accessory thereto, including, but not limited to, tents, trailers, mobile homes, and similar structures whether stationary or movable.

Building, accessory: A subordinate structure on the same lot as the principal or main building or use.

Building, alteration: Any change in the supporting members of a building (such as bearing walls, columns, or girders): any addition or reduction to a building, any change in use; or any relocation of a building from one location or position to another.

Building, principal: The building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is located.

Building coverage: The total percentage of a lot that is permitted for any allowable building, structure, or use excluding open space elements, driveways, surface parking lots, sidewalks, street furniture, supplemental zones, buffers, or fences.

Building facade: The portion of any exterior elevation of a building extended from grade to the top of the parapet wall or eaves and the entire width of the building elevation fronting a public street, excluding alleys and lanes, and which may also be referred to as the building face.

Building footprint: The area encompassed by a building's outer wall at ground level.

Building height: The vertical distance measured from the highest grade adjacent to the highest point of roof surface of a flat roof, to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the top of the highest ridge of a gable, hip, or gambrel roof.

Building official: The building official of the City of Acworth established pursuant to Chapter 18 of the Code of Ordinances, City of Acworth, Georgia or any person or entity designated to perform a particular function of the building official.

Building permit: Written permission issued by the proper municipal authority for the construction, repair, alteration or addition to a structure.

Building, principal: The building in which the principal use of the lot is conducted.

Building setback: The distance, at street level, between a right-of-way line or front, side, or rear lot line (as determined appropriate by zoning district) to the closest point of the principal building or structure on site, except for those projections allowed in required yards.

Building site: A parcel of land or lot occupied or intended to be occupied by a building or structure.

Bulkhead: The lower panels or platform on which traditional display windows rest, often made of wood, brick, or tile. May also be referred to as kickplates.

Bulk Sanitation Containers: A metal container or receptacle designed to receive, transport and/or dump between two and eight cubic yards of solid waste and/or garbage refuse.

Bulk storage: The storage of chemicals, petroleum products and other materials in aboveground containers for subsequent resale to distributors or retail dealers or outlets.

Bus: Motor vehicles designed or used to transport ten (10) or more unrelated passengers in exchange for compensation, and that may or may not display commercial identification.

Business park: A large tract of land that has been planned, developed and operated as an integrated facility for a number of individual office uses, with special attention to circulation, parking, utility needs, aesthetics, and compatibility.

By-right: Characterizing a proposal or component of a proposal that complies with the Code and is permitted and processed administratively, without public hearing.

—C—

Caliper: The diameter of a tree trunk.

Car wash: A building, or portion thereof, where automobiles are washed by mechanical or high pressure water devices.

Cemetery: A place used for interment of human or animal remains or cremated remains, including a burial park for earth interments, a mausoleum for vault or crypt interments, a columbarium for cinerary interments, or a combination thereof.

Certificate of occupancy (CO): A document issued by the proper authority 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 municipal codes and ordinances.

Change of use: (1) A change from one use classification in the UDC to another use classification; (2) any use that differs substantially from the previous use of a building or land.

Character: Special physical characteristics of a structure or area that set it apart from its surroundings and contribute to its interest / individuality.

Character Overlay District Committee: An ad hoc committee comprised of the mayor and no more than two Aldermen along with City personnel. Through the discretion of the mayor, the committee may also include a variation of a representative of the Historic Preservation Commission, Downtown Development Authority, Planning and Zoning Commission and any other personnel that may be determined qualified through said discretion in reviewing a Character Overlay District application so long as the associated members do not constitute a quorum of their respective body and there is no formal binding authority so as to not conflict with the City's Charter or other Code of Ordinances.

Childcare center: A private establishment enrolling children where tuition, fees, or other forms of compensation for the care of the children is charged. The term includes day nurseries and kindergartens.

Church or other place of worship: A place of assembly wherein persons regularly assemble for religious worship, and which is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship.

City: The City of Acworth.

City planning. The decision-making process in which goals and objectives are established, existing resources and conditions analyzed, strategies developed, and controls enacted to achieve the goals and objectives as they relate to cities and communities.

City standards: shall mean the city Standards of the City of Acworth, Georgia, which are hereby adopted and which are incorporated herein by reference. The city clerk shall maintain a copy of said city standards on file for inspection by the public.

Clearing: The removal of vegetation from a property, whether by cutting or other means.

Clerk of superior court: shall mean the Clerk of the Superior Court of Cobb County, Georgia.

Clinic: A building or part of a building used for medical, dental, chiropractic, surgical or therapeutic treatment of human beings, excluding hospitals or professional offices of a doctor located in their residence.

Club or lodge, private: Buildings or facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons for social, educational or recreational purposes, but primarily for profit or to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.

Coffee roastery: A facility where coffee may be sorted, roasted, and processed, or packaged for use and consumption. The use is usual and customary to a restaurant or coffee shop or café.

Commercial recreation facility, indoor: A commercial recreational land use conducted entirely within a building. Typical uses include arcades, arena, bowling alley, gymnasium, pool or billiard hall, skating rink, swimming pool, tennis court, and other similar indoor uses.

Commercial recreation facility, outdoor: Predominantly participant uses conducted in open or partially enclosed or screened facilities. Typical uses include batting cages, driving ranges, miniature golf, swimming pools, tennis courts, outdoor racquetball courts, motorized cart and motorcycle tracks, paintball courses, and other similar outdoor uses.

Commissary: an approved catering establishment, restaurant, or other approved place in which food, containers or supplies are kept, handled, prepared, packaged or stored and has also obtained approval from the health department.

Comprehensive plan: A policy guideline including the Future Land Use Map adopted by the mayor and board of aldermen representing issues, goals, policies, and actions for the growth and development of the city. While adopted by the mayor and board of aldermen it does not serve as a development ordinance nor does it carry the force of law but rather serves as a guide to continued growth and development city wide.

Concept plan: A schematic or conceptual design for land development, prepared for informal review purposes, that carries no vesting rights or obligations to any party.

Conditional use: A use permitted in a particular zoning district only upon showing that such use would not be detrimental to public health, safety or general welfare. Such uses may be required to meet additional standards and may be controlled as to the number, area and spacing from other uses and each other.

Construction: Any earth disturbing site preparation including, but not limited to, demolition, mining, dredging, drilling, filling, clearing, grubbing, grading, paving, impervious cover installation sufficient to significantly change the quantity or direction of water/run-off flows across the property, or vertical assembly of any structure. See Development.

Construction vehicle: Any vehicle (other than passenger vehicle, pick-up or panel truck) whose primary purpose is use in land development and construction including, but not limited to, earth moving equipment and dump trucks.

Convenience stores: Any retail establishment offering for sale prepackaged food products, household items, and other goods commonly associated with the same.

Cornice: Projecting moldings that sit on brackets located on the roofline of some buildings. Used to protect the structure's wall by directing rainwater away from the building, although its traditional function is also decorative.

Cottage style development: A development design technique that concentrates buildings in specific areas on a site to allow remaining land to be used for recreation, common open space, or the preservation of historically or environmentally sensitive features.

Covenant: A private legal restriction on the use of land, contained in the deed to the property or otherwise formally recorded.

Cul-de-sac: A minor street with only one outlet, sometimes called a "dead end" street.

Cultural facility: A use providing for display, performance, or enjoyment of heritage, history, or the

arts. This use includes but is not limited to: arts performance venues, cultural centers, interpretive sites, libraries, or museums.

Curb: The edge of the vehicular pavement that may be raised or flush to a swale. It usually incorporates the drainage system.

Curb cut: The opening along the curb line at which point vehicles may enter or leave the roadway.

—D—

Dedication: Under subdivision regulations, the transfer of property from private to public ownership.

Density: The number of families, individuals, dwelling units, or housing structures per unit of land. The standard for density shall be the gross density which includes all the land within the boundaries of the area. The net density calculation shall exclude floodplains, wetlands and standing bodies of water.

Detention facility: A municipal, county, or state jail used for the detention of prisoners; including; penal institutions, penitentiaries, prisons and prison institutions; detention and correctional institutions; rehabilitation institutions and work camps.

Development: A man-made physical change to a structure or site. Includes changes made to buildings, other structures, parking and loading areas, landscaping, and improved open spaces such as parks or plazas. Includes construction activities but not normal maintenance or repair. See Normal maintenance and repair.

Development Director: shall mean Development Director or designee.

Developments of Regional Impact (DRI): Projects or development activities that have impacts beyond local government borders or that affect more than one community.

Diameter Breast Height (DBH): The diameter of a tree measured at a point four and one-half feet above the ground.

Display case: A case, cabinet, or other device having a window of glass or other transparent material, or other opening, access to which is made from other than within the structure or building of which it is a part or attached to.

Display window: Large plate glass windows at the street level of a facade and used to display merchandise. A key feature of traditional storefronts of the late 19 ^th and early to mid-20 ^th centuries.

District: Geographic areas established for the purpose of assigning the specific provisions of this chapter to specific properties. Such districts are designated by the use of symbols and/or colors on the official zoning map. Regulations controlling land use in the various districts are set forth in the zoning chapter.

Domesticated animals: Small animals including fish or fowl permitted in the house or yard and kept for company or pleasure, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, birds and fish but excluding swine, livestock and exotic animals.

Donation Bins: Any container dedicated for the sole purpose of collecting discarded materials for the purposes of recycling. Said materials shall include but are not limited to, clothing, toys, leather goods, and electronics.

Drive-in establishment: An establishment which is designated to provide, either wholly or in part, service to customers while in their automobile parked on the premises.

Drive-in restaurant: A building or portion thereof where food and/or beverages are sold in a form ready for consumption and where all or a significant portion of the consumption takes place or is designed to take place outside the confines of the building.

Driveway: A private roadway providing access for vehicles to a parking space, garage, dwelling or other structure.

Drug store: A store where the primary business is the filling of medical prescriptions and the sale of drugs, medical devices and supplies, and nonprescription medicines, but where non-medical products are sold as well.

Dwelling, accessory unit (ADU): A smaller, secondary home on the same lot as a primary, single-family detached dwelling. ADUs are independently habitable and provide the basic requirements of shelter, heating, cooking, and sanitation.

Dwelling, duplex: A building that is divided horizontally into two dwelling units each of which has an independent entrance either directly or through a common vestibule and used by not more than two families.

Dwelling, multiple or multi-family: A building or set of buildings containing a group of dwelling units on a common lot containing separate living units for four (4) or more families, having separate or joint entrances, and including apartments and condominiums. These are specifically distinguished from units defined as single-family attached dwellings.

Dwelling, quadraplex: Four attached dwellings in one structure in which each unit has two green space exposures and shares one or two walls with adjoining unit or units.

Dwelling, single family detached: A building designed for and containing one dwelling unit occupied by one family unit which is not attached to any other dwelling by any means. This definition is not intended to prevent accessory dwelling units as ancillary uses to single family detached dwellings and as provided for herein.

Dwelling, single family attached: A one-family dwelling attached to two or more one-family dwellings by common vertical walls. This term includes duplexes, triplexes, and townhomes.

Dwelling, triplex: A building divided into only three dwelling units each of which has an independent entrance either directly or through a common vestibule and used by not more than three families

Dwelling unit: Consists of one or more rooms which are arranged, designed, or used as living quarters for one family only. Individual bathrooms and complete kitchen facilities, permanently installed, shall always be included in each "dwelling unit."

—E—

Easement: A grant by a property owner for use by another, and for a specified purpose, of any designated part of his or her property.

Easement, drainage: The land required for the installation of stormwater sewers or drainage ditches and/or required for the preservation or maintenance of a natural stream or watercourse or other drainage facility.

Easement, utility: The right-of-way acquired by a utility or governmental agency to locate utilities, including water, sewer, stormwater, gas mains, and telephone and electric poles, cables, pylons, and towers.

Electric vehicle (EV): An automotive-type vehicle for on-road use, such as passenger automobiles, buses, trucks, vans, neighborhood electric vehicles, electric motorcycles, and the like, powered by an electric motor that draws current from a rechargeable storage battery, fuel cell, photovoltaic array, or other source of electric current which is charged by being plugged into an electrical source.

Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE): The conductors, including the ungrounded, grounded, and equipment grounding conductors, and the electric vehicle connectors, attachment plugs, and all other fittings, devices, power outlets, or apparatus installed specifically for the purpose of transferring energy between the premises wiring and the electric vehicle.

Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) infrastructure: The equipment, as defined by the National Electrical Code, which is provided to support future electric vehicle charging. This shall include, but not be limited to: the design load placed on electrical panels and service equipment to support the additional electrical demand, the panel capacity to support additional feeder / branch circuits, the installation of raceways, both underground and surface mounted, to support the electrical vehicle supply equipment.

Electric vehicle, chargers (DC fast, level 1, level 2):

1.

For level 1 and level 2, electronics on board the car transform regular household power consisting of alternating current into the direct current form used by batteries.

a.

A level 1 station simply means to plug into a regular household outlet which on average offers one hundred twenty (120) volts and 1.4 kilowatts, resulting in a range of four (4) miles per hour of charge.

b.

A level 2 station requires use of a special box holds up to two hundred forty (240) volts and up to 7.6 kilowatts, increasing range to twenty-five (25) miles per hour of charge.

2.

DC fast chargers covert AC power into DC power inside a freestanding station before releasing to the vehicle, bypassing the electronics on board the car, thus allowing for direct battery recharge. Their use requires more power than available at a normal home, so these stations most commonly installed at public or commercial locations. DC fast chargers offer a 40-mile range per 10-minutes of charge.

Electric vehicle, plug-in hybrid (PHEV): An automotive-type vehicle for on-road use, such as passenger automobiles, buses, trucks, vans, neighborhood electric vehicles, electric motorcycles, and the like, powered by an electric motor that draws current from a rechargeable storage battery, fuel cell, photovoltaic array, or other source of electric current which is charged by being plugged into an electrical source, and having a second source of motive power such as gasoline or diesel.

Elevation drawings: A graphic illustration, drawn to scale, of any building proposed as part of any development or improvement. An elevation drawing must indicate architectural style and exterior finish materials of each face or view of each building.

Encroach: To break the plane of a vertical or horizontal regulatory limit with a structural element, so that it extends into a setback, into the public frontage, or above a height limit.

Encroachment: Any structural element that breaks the plane of a vertical or horizontal regulatory limit, extending into a setback, into the public frontage, or above a height limit.

Erosion: The detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments, or the wearing away of the land surface by water, wind, ice and gravity.

Evergreen: A plant that retains its foliage and that remains green year-round.

Existing use: The use of a property at the time that an application for redevelopment or development is made.

Exotic or wild animals: means any living member of the animal kingdom including those born or raised in captivity except the following: domestic dogs, domestic cats, common farm animals, rodents, fish, non-poisonous reptiles, common caged birds and invertebrates.

Exterior finish materials: Materials which form part of or are situated on the outermost, weather bearing facades of a building or structure.

—F—

Facade: The exterior wall of a building that fronts or is visible from a street or open space.

Family: One or more related persons or two or less unrelated persons occupying a dwelling and living as a single housekeeping unit provided that all related persons are related by blood, marriage or adoption. All related persons are limited to the spouse, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, stepchildren, sons, daughters, brothers or sisters of the owner or the tenant or of the owner's or the tenant's spouse. Domestic servants employed on premises may be housed on the premises without being counted as a family. The term "family" shall not be construed to mean fraternity, sorority, club, student center, group care homes, foster homes and is to be distinguished from persons occupying a hotel, or apartment unit as herein defined.

Family day care center: A private residence in which a business, registered by the State of Georgia and licensed by the City of Acworth, operated by any person who receives compensation for supervising and caring for no fewer than three and no more than eight children under eighteen yearsof age, who are not residents in the same private residence for fewer than 24 hours per day.

Farm winery: Farm winery means a domestic manufacturer of wine in quantities of less than 100,000 gallons of wine per calendar year, that is licensed by the state pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 3-6-21.1, or as may be amended from time to time. Provided a license is issued as required by this chapter, a farm winery is authorized to sell wine by the package, by the drink and operate a wine tasting facility on the premises of the farm winery without additional license requirements, except as is required by state or federal law. For purposes of this section, the tasting room shall be limited to a single room. Licensed premises means the premises for which the farm winery license is issued or property located contiguous to the farm winery and owned by the winery.

Fence: An artificially constructed barrier of any material or combination of materials erected to enclose or screen areas of land.

Fenestration: An opening in the surface of a structure of building, primarily achieved through the use of glass

Floodplain: That area within the 100 year regional flood contour elevation subject to periodic flooding as designated by the public works director based upon the U.S. Corp. of Engineers Flood Plain Information Reports and other federal, state and county hydraulic studies.

Floor area: The total area of all floors of a building as measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls and including halls, stairways, elevator shafts, excluding attached garages, porches, balconies and unfinished basements.

Floor area ratio (FAR): A mathematical expression calculated by dividing the total floor area of all buildings on a lot by total area of the lot on which the buildings are located as: Floor area/Lot area = Floor area ratio

Frontage: The length of any property line of a premises which abuts public right-of-way.

Fraternity or sorority house: A dwelling maintained exclusively for members affiliated with an academic college or university or other professional recognized institutions of higher learning.

Funeral home: A building used for the preparation of the deceased for burial and the display of the deceased and ceremonies connected therewith before burial or cremation.

—G—

Garage, commercial: A commercial structure or any portion thereof in which one or more automobiles are housed, kept, or repaired; not including exhibition or showrooms or storage of cars for sale.

Garage, private residential: A structure which is accessory to a residential building and which is used for the parking and storage of vehicles owned and operated by the residents thereof, and which is not a separate commercial enterprise available to the general public.

Garage sale: The sale or offering for sale to the general public of items of personal property by the owner or tenant of an improved lot in a residential district, whether within or outside the building.

Gate: (1) An opening in a fence; (2) an artificial barrier capable of being opened or closed, permitting or denying access across a driveway or path.

Gated community: Residential development that limits access to residents, invited guests, and authorized service and delivery vehicles.

Grade: An average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building or structure.

Ground story: The floor with a primary pedestrian access at or nearest to finished street grade.

—H—

Halfway house: A temporary residential living arrangement for persons leaving an institutional setting and in need of a supportive living arrangement in order to readjust to living outside the institution. These are persons who are receiving therapy and counseling from support staff who are present when residents are present, for the following purposes: 1) to help them recuperate from the effects of drug or alcohol addiction; 2) to help them reenter society while housed under supervision while under the constraints of alternatives to imprisonment including, but not limited to, prerelease, work release, or probationary programs; or 3) to help persons with family or school adjustment problems that require specialized attention and care in order to achieve personal independence.

Health department: shall mean the Cobb County Health Department.

Health practitioner: A doctor, dentist, chiropractor but not including a veterinarian.

Height: The vertical distance between the highest part of a structure, sign, or its supporting structure, whichever is higher, and the ground. The vertical distance from the grade, or its equivalent, to the highest point of the under side of the ceiling beams, in the case of a flat roof; to the deck line of a mansard roof, and to the mean level of the under side of the rafters between the eaves and the ridge of the gable, hip or gambrel roof.

Heliport: Any area, either at ground level or elevated on a structure, licensed or approved for the loading and takeoff of helicopters, and including auxiliary facilities such as parking, waiting room, fueling and maintenance equipment.

High rise residential development: A building or buildings of at least five stories containing multi-family dwelling units and developed in accordance with the provisions of this article.

Historic district: A district consisting of various zones which have substantial historic, architectural and/or cultural significance. These areas shall be shown on the Official Zoning Map.

Hobby: A pursuit outside ones regular occupation engaged in for relaxation and nonprofit making.

Hospital: A building or portion thereof designed or used for therapeutic treatment of bed patients who are physically or mentally ill.

Hotel: A lodging use in which lodging or board and lodging are provided for transient guests, and offered to the public for compensation and which ingress and egress to and from all rooms are made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge at all hours.

—I—

Impermeable: Not permitting the passage of water.

Impervious surface: Any surface which impedes the natural filtration of water into soil. Mainly consists of artificial structures such as pavements (roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots) that are covered by water resistant materials such as asphalt, concrete, brick, stone, or roof tops. Highly compacted soils, decks, swimming pools, and fountains are also considered impervious surfaces.

Impervious surface ratio (ISR): Impervious surface ratio is measured as the area or percentage of a lot that is covered by buildings, structures, swimming pools, streets, sidewalks, patios, decks, driveways, parking areas and other impervious surfaces, often expressed as lot coverage.

Improvement: Any man-made item which becomes part of, placed upon, or is affixed to, real estate. Including, but not limited to, sidewalks, streets, utilities, or other facilities installed, or required to be installed as part of site development.

Incidental: Subordinance and minor in significance or bearing a relationship to the principal use.

Industrial park: A large tract of land that has been planned, developed and operated as an integrated facility for a number of individual industrial uses, including warehousing and distribution, with special attention to circulation, parking, utility needs, aesthetics, and compatibility.

Inoperative Vehicle: Any vehicle at present inoperable but capable of being repaired to place it in operation condition without exceeding its present estimated value and repair cost. An inoperative vehicle shall include any motor vehicle, trailer, automobile, contrivance, or part thereof (except farm equipment) which is either dismantled/partially dismantled and inoperative; or wrecked and inoperative; or abandoned/discarded; and which does not have a current Georgia State Motor Vehicle Tag, if required, attached there- to. Abandoned/discarded shall mean any automobile, motor vehicle, trailer (except farm equipment) of any kind or type, or contrivance or part thereof, which does not have a valid current Georgia State Motor Vehicle Tag attached thereto and has not moved or been attended to for a period of six (6) months commencing from the date the tag expires.

—J—

Junk: Any scrap, waste, reclaimable material or debris, whether or not stored or used in conjunction with dismantling, processing, salvage, storage, baling, disposal or other use or disposition.

Junk vehicle: Any automobile, vehicle, trailer of any kind or type, or contrivance or part thereof, that is in the condition of which is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperative, abandoned, discarded, and/or which does not have a valid license plate attached thereto.

Junk yard: Any land or building or other structure used for the storage, collection, processing or conversion of any worn out, cast off, or discarded metal, paper, glass or other materials which is ready for destruction, or has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion to some use.

—K—

Kennel: Any location where boarding, caring for and keeping of more than a total of four dogs or cats or other animals or combination thereof (except litter of animals of not more than six months of age) is carried on, and also raising of show, working, hunting animals.

—L—

Land disturbance: Any activity involving the clearing, cutting, excavating, or grading of land, or any other activity that alters land topography or vegetative cover.

Land disturbance permit (LDP): A permit issued by the City of Social Circle that authorizes land disturbance activities. See Land Disturbance.

Land use: A description of how land is occupied or used.

Landlocked: A lot or parcel of land without direct access to a public road.

Landscape plan: A graphic illustration of any landscape elements proposed as part of any development or improvement which depicts how said landscape elements comply with all applicable requirements of this chapter.

Light automotive repair: an indoor repair establishment (no outside storage) for performing light automotive and small truck repair (under one ton) such as brakes, oil changes, lubrication, transmission, belts, hoses, inspections and the like.

Livestock: Domestic animals and fowl customarily kept on a farm for food, commodity, or labor purposes including, but not limited to horses, mules, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, geese, and turkeys.

Loading space, off-street: Paved space logically and conveniently situated for pick-up and delivery of goods and materials located off public rights-of-way, scaled to delivery vehicles expected to be used and accessible to such vehicles at all times.

Lodging: Uses that provide temporary overnight sleeping accommodations or lodging for guests paying a fee or other form of compensation for a period of less than 30 consecutive days. The 30-day period is applied to the consecutive term of stay, regardless of the length of any individual agreement. Lodging uses sometimes provide food or entertainment, primarily to registered guests.

Lot, corner: A lot fronting on two streets at their intersection.

Lot, flag: A lot that sits behind lots which face directly onto a street with access provided to the bulk of the lot by means of a narrow corridor, whether providing the minimum amount of street frontage and width or not.

Lot, interior: A lot having frontage on only one (1) street.

Lot, substandard: A lot not meeting the required minimum lot dimensions of the zoning district it is in.

Lot, through: A lot, also known as a double frontage lot, which has frontage on more than one (1) street, provided that no corner lot shall qualify as a double frontage lot unless said corner lot has frontage on three (3) or more streets.

Lot: The basic development unit, also called parcel, with fixed boundaries, used or intended to be used by one building and its accessory building and not divided by any public road or alley.

Lot area: Lot area is a measure of the total ground- level surface area contained within the property lines of a lot.

Lot depth: The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line, or the distance between the midpoint of the front lot line and midpoint of the rear lot line.

Lot frontage: Lot frontage is measured along a street lot line at the right-of-way line. For lots with curvilinear frontage and setback lines (e.g.: cul-de-sac lots), the frontage shall be measured as a straight line through the points that intersect the interior lot lines along the street lot line at the right-of-way line.

Lot line: A line of record bounding a lot which divides one lot from another lot or from a public or private street or any other public space.

Lot line, street: The street lot line is the lot boundary separating the lot from the public right-of-way. On corner lots, through lots, or other irregular lots with multiple frontages, any lot line along a public right-of-way shall be considered a street lot line.

Lot line, rear: The boundary opposite and more or less parallel for the street lot line on an interior lot. Lots that are not interior lots do not have rear lot lines.

Lot line, interior: Any lot boundary line that is not a street or rear lot line. On corner lots, through lots, or other irregular lots with multiple frontages, any lot line not abutting a public right-of-way shall be considered an interior lot line.

Lot of record: A lot which is part of an approved subdivision, a plat of which has been recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Cobb County; or a parcel of land, the deed to which has been recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Cobb County. No lot of record may be created after the effective date of this chapter unless it is approved through the City of Acworth subdivision process.

Lot width: The horizontal distance between the side lines of a lot measured at the minimum required front yard (building setback) line.

—M—

Manufactured home: A structure transportable in one or more sections and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. This unit must bear a HUD certificate. Note: Manufactured housing is regulated by the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5401-5426, pursuant to which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) promulgated regulations related to construction and safety. 24 C.F.R. §§ 3280.1-3280.904.

Manufacturing, light: The manufacturing, predominately from previously prepared materials, of finished products or parts, including processing, fabrication, assembly, treatment, and packaging of such products, and incidental storage, sales, and distribution of such products, provided all manufacturing activities are contained entirely within a building and noise, odor, smoke, heat, glare, and vibration resulting from the manufacturing activity are confined entirely within the building.

Manufacturing, heavy: The manufacture or compounding process of raw materials. These activities or processes would necessitate the storage of large volumes of highly flammable, toxic matter or explosive materials needed for the manufacturing process. These activities may involve outdoor operations as part of their manufacturing process.

Materials recovery facility: A solid waste handling facility that provides for the extraction from solid waste of recoverable materials, materials suitable for use as a fuel or soil amendment, or any combination of such materials.

Mausoleum: A building containing above-ground tombs.

mayor and board of aldermen: Can be used interchangeably with mayor and board of aldermen. mayor and board, board, Council, etc.

Metes and bounds: A method of describing the boundaries of land by directions (bounds) and distances (metes) from a known point of reference.

Mini-warehouse: A structure containing separate storage spaces of varying sizes leased or rented on a individual basis.

Mixed-use development: The development of a tract of land or building or structure with two or more different uses such as, but not limited to, residential, office, manufacturing, retail, public, or entertainment.

Mobile food vendor: A retail food establishment that is readily moveable, is a motorized wheeled vehicle or a towed wheeled vehicle designed and equipped to serve food.

Mobile home: Housing unit that is similar to a manufactured home but does not bear the HUD certificate.

Modular home: A home that is manufactured in a remote facility and then delivered, in whole or parts, to their intended site of use. It is built to local building codes in a controlled, environmentally protected building center using precise and efficient construction technology. A modular home is not to be interpreted as a manufactured home (see definition for manufactured home).

Motel: A lodging use in which lodging, or board and lodging, is provided for transient guests and offered to the public for compensation with access to each unit directly from the outside.

—N—

Net acreage: The area of the lot remaining after areas devoted to infrastructure, including streets and utilities, are deducted from total lot area.

Net residential density: The number of dwelling units relative to the net acreage used for residential purposes.

Nonconforming structure: Any structure lawfully situated at the time of adoption of this chapter or amendments thereto, that does not conform to the regulations of this chapter at the effective date of this chapter or as the result of subsequent amendments to this chapter.

Nonconforming use: Any use lawfully established at the time of adoption of this chapter or amendments thereto that does not conform to the regulations of this chapter at the effective date of this chapter or as the result of subsequent amendments to this chapter. The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to include any nonconforming use.

Normal maintenance and repair: Actions taken to mend or stabilize a damaged or deteriorated component of a structure or site, using same or similar code-code complaint materials, as needed to prevent further disrepair or to bring a property into closer compliance with current zoning regulations. Examples include repainting a painted surface a solid color, re-roofing a damaged roof, or resurfacing paved areas. Does not include construction or redevelopment projects.

Nuisance: A condition or situation that results in an interference with use and enjoyment of property.

Nuisance abatement: Programs designed to acquire, in an expedited manner, properties that are declared nuisances for all or some of the following reasons: blight, habitually used for illegal purposes, fire damage, gross neglect, disrepair, and debris. Nursing home: A home for aged or ill persons licensed by the State of Georgia as such in which persons are provided with food, shelter and medical care for compensation; but not including hospitals, clinics or similar institutions devoted primarily to diagnosis and treatment.

—O—

Occupant: The individual or individuals in actual possession of a premises.

Office, general: Any building or part of a building in which one or more persons are employed in the management or direction of an agency, business, organization, but excludes such uses as retail sales, manufacture, assembly or storage of goods, or places of assembly and amusement.

Office, professional: Any building or part of a building in which one or more persons are employed in the management or direction of an agency, business, organization staffed by professionally qualified persons and their staff. Examples of qualified professions typically are licensed by the State of Georgia and include, but are not limited to, architects, real estate brokers, health service practitioners, accountants, engineers and attorneys.

Office, service - A location for an office and business distribution/service facility and assembly process that does not emit noise, vibration, smoke, gas, fumes, odors, or radiation, and is entirely located within an enclosed building that does not involve the manufacturing or fabrication of any products.

Official zoning map: A legally adopted map that conclusively shows the location and boundaries ofzoned districts.

Off-street parking space: A temporary storage area for a motor vehicle that is directly accessible to an access aisle, and which is not located on a dedicated street right-of-way.

Open space: Area set aside, designated, or reserved for outdoor enjoyment preserved as natural areas, designed as a park or recreational area, or designed as a plaza, square, or similar open space type.

Outdoor storage: The keepingf of junk, construction material, merchandise, or vehicless in the same place in public view from more than 24 hours.

Overlay Approval Certificate: A document evidencing approval of an application by the mayor and board of aldermen for an eligible activity on a property that is located within an overlay district.

Overlay zone: A zoning district that encompasses one or more underlying zones and that imposes additional requirements beyond those required for the underlying zone.

Owner: Any person, group of persons, firm or firms, corporation or corporations or any other legal entity having legal title to or sufficient proprietary interests in land sought to be subdivided, developed, or otherwise used under the provisions of this chapter.

—P—

Parcel: The basic development unit, also called lot, with fixed boundaries, used or intended to be used by one building and its accessory building and not divided by any public road or alley.

Park, dog: A parcel or tract of public or privately owned land set aside and designated for the use by dog owners as "off-leash" areas for exercising their canine pets.

Park, private: A tract of land owned or controlled and used by a specific person or entity for active or passive recreational purposes.

Park, public: A tract of land owned by a branch of government and available to the general public for recreation purposes.

Parking area: Any public or private land area used for parking vehicles including parking lots, garages, private driveways and legally designated areas of public streets.

Parking lot: Any designated area designed for temporary accommodation of motor vehicles in normal operating condition.

Parking space: Any area for the exclusive parking of a single vehicle.

Parking structure/parking deck: A multi-level structure providing one (1) or more stories of parking above or below the finished grade of the street.

Path: A cleared way for pedestrians or bicyclists that may or may not have been improved.

Patio: A level area covered by hard surface, directly adjacent to a principal building or within three feet of the finished grade and not covered by a permanent roof.

Pavement: (1) A created surface, such as a brick, stone, concrete, or asphalt, placed on the land to facilitate passage; (2) that part of a street having an improved surface.

Pedestrian: An individual who travels on foot.

Pedestrian walkway: A right-of-way for pedestrians, separate from vehicular traffic and including access ramps, stairs, mechanical lifts, and routes through buildings and other areas that are available for public use.

Percolation test: A test designed to determine the ability of the ground to absorb water and used to determine the suitability of soil for drainage or septic system use.

Permanent sign: Any sign attached securely to a building, roof, wall or canopy, or the ground by means of concrete, bolts, metal braces or treated wood or cedar, and continuing in the same state or without essential change to the sign structure.

Permit: Written governmental permission issued by an authorized official, empowering the holder thereof to do some act not forbidden by law, but not allowed without such authorization.

Permitted use: Any use allowed in a zoning district and subject to the restrictions applicable to that zoning district.

Personal care home: A facility licensed by the State of Georgia for the transitional residency of persons incapable of independent living, within which are provided living and sleeping facilities, meal preparation, laundry services, transportation services and routine social and medical appointments and counseling.

Pharmacy: A place where medicines are compounded or dispensed.

Planned development: A tract of land developed based on a plan which allows for flexibility of design not available under normal zoning district requirements.

Planned shopping center: Commercial development which is approved site-plan specific and allows for minor reductions of bulk area requirements typically in exchange for greenspace/open space and other amenities. Also allows for uniqueness of site and architectural design.

Planning and Zoning Commission: shall mean the Planning and Zoning Commission for the City of Acworth, Georgia. Also referred to as the Planning and Zoning Board.

Plat: A map representing a tract of land, showing the boundaries and location of individual properties and streets.

Plat, final: A map of all or a portion of a subdivision that is presented to the approving authority for final approval. Approval of the final plat is usually granted only upon the completion or installation of all improvements or the posting of performance guarantees ensuring the completion of such improvements. Final approval is required before the property can be transferred or building permits issued.

Plat, preliminary: The approval of a preliminary plat merely gives the subdivider the authorization to proceed with the planning and development phase of the project.

Porch: A roofed, open area, which may be screened, attached to or part of a building, with direct access to or from it.

Portable storage container: any self-supporting metal container, usually metal or metal-framed, designed and used for the storage of personal or business property of a nonhazardous nature which is typically rented or leased to owners or occupants of property for their temporary use and which is typically delivered and removed by truck.

Principal entrance: The main point of access for pedestrians into a building, usually located on a primary street.

Prohibited use: A use that is not permitted in a zoning district.

Public area: Any space made accessible to the public through an easement, right-of-way, or consent issued from the property owner(s) or property owner(s)' legal representative.

Public hearing: A meeting announced and advertised in advance and open to the public, with the public given an opportunity to ask questions, comment, and participate.

Public notice: The posting of a sign in a conspicuous place on the frontage of the property in question, so that the posted sign that is clearly visible and legible from the street, as required by this chapter. Public notice shall also mean publication of such notice in a newspaper of local circulation and letters mailed to adjoining property owners.

Public works director: The person vested by the city manager with the responsibility of directing the operations of building inspections, fleet transportation, sanitation, street and traffic administration, street department, and traffic services.

—Q—

Quorum: A majority of the full authorized membership of a board or agency.

—R—

Rear alley: A vehicular way located to the rear of lots providing access to service areas, parking, and outbuildings containing utility easements. Rear alleys should be paved from building face to building face.

Recessed entry: An entry that is not flush with the facade plane, but instead set closer towards the interior space of a building.

Recovered materials: Those materials which have known use, reuse, or recycling potential; can be feasibly used, reused, or recycled; and have been diverted or removed from the solid waste stream for sale, use, reuse, or recycling, whether or not requiring subsequent separation and processing.

Recovered materials processing facility: A facility engaged solely in the storage, processing, and resale or reuse of recovered materials. Such term shall not include a solid waste handling facility; provided, however, any solid waste generated by such facility shall be subject to all applicable laws and regulations relating to such solid waste.

Recreational vehicles: Boat trailers and any type of portable structure without permanent foundations, which can be towed, hauled or driven and may be designed as temporary living accommodation for recreational, camping, and travel use, and including travel trailers, truck campers on or off the truck, camping trailers and self-propelled motor homes.

Recycling Collection Containers: Any container dedicated for the sole purpose of collecting recyclable waste material, including but not limited to, newspapers, glass, plastic, metal cans (of all types), mixed papers, and cardboard, which are separated from other garbage for the purpose of recycling.

Recycling collection point: A primary or accessory use that serves as a neighborhood drop-off point for temporary storage of recoverable resources with no processing of such items taking place.

Redevelopment: Projects which increase gross floor area by fifty (50) percent or more, or projects where the cost of remodeling is greater than the assessed value of the existing site improvements as shown on the applicable county assessment and taxation records for the current year.

Renovation: Any improvements or alterations made to property or structures that are beyond what is ordinarily needed for necessary maintenance and safety considerations.

Residence: A home or dwelling utilized as living quarters.

Residential district: Any zone consisting primarily of residential dwelling units.

Retail professional services: Establishments providing services or entertainment, as opposed to products, to the general public, including eating and drinking places, hotels and motels, finance, real estate and insurance, personal services, motion pictures, amusement and recreation services, health, educational and social services, museums and galleries.

Retail trade: Establishments engaged in selling goods or merchandise to the general public and for personal or household consumption and rendering services incidental to the sale of such goods.

Retaining wall: A structure constructed and erected between lands of different elevations to protect structures and/or to prevent erosion.

Rezone: To change the zoning classification of a parcel of land.

Right-of-access: The legal authority to enter or leave a property.

Right-of-way: A strip of land acquired by reservation, dedication, forced dedication, prescription or condemnation and intended to be occupied or occupied by a road, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission lines, oil or gas pipeline, water line, sanitary storm sewer and other similar uses.

Road frontage: The distance on which a parcel of land adjoins a public street or public road right-of-way dedicated to and accepted by the city or the county for vehicular traffic or over which the city or the county may hold a prescriptive easement for public access and including designated and numbered U.S. and state highways.

Roll-off trash container: means a large metal container designed and used for the temporary storage of refuse, rubbish, trash, garbage, junk, debris, offal, or any material rejected as useless and fit only to be thrown away. Such container is typically rented or leased to owners or occupants of property for their temporary use and which is typically delivered and removed by truck. This term shall not be interpreted to refer to a "trash container" or "dumpster" that is stored in a more permanent manner on the property, and further is required to be screened from public view. This term shall not be interpreted to include recycling facilities.

—S—

School: State, county, city church or other schools, public or private, as teach the subjects commonly taught in the common schools of this state, and vocational schools, colleges, post-high school learning centers.

Sanitary sewer: An underground system that carries wastewater and sewerage to a treatment plant.

Scale: The relationship between distances on a map and actual ground distance; or the proportioned relationship of a size of parts to one another.

Scale of development: The relationship of a particular project in terms of its size, height, bulk, intensity, and aesthetics to its surroundings.

Screening: A buffer established and maintained for the purpose of providing acoustical, visual, or general nuisance protection or abatement. Frequently used to separate of incompatible land uses.

Self-storage facility: A building or group of buildings containing separate, individual, and private storage spaces of varying sizes available for lease or rent for varying periods of time.

Septic system: An underground system with a septic tank used for the decomposition of domestic wastes.

Setbacks: The required space between a property line and a building or specified structure to be open, unoccupied, and unobstructed by buildings or structures from ground to sky, except where encroachments or accessory buildings and other structures are expressly permitted.

Setback, street: The required minimum horizontal distance between the building line and any street property line.

Setback, interior: The required minimum horizontal distance between the building line and the side property line, provided such property line does not abut any street, public or private.

Setback, rear: The required minimum horizontal distance between the building line and the rear property line. The rear property line shall be that which is opposite a "street setback" for any interior lot. Corner lots, through lots, or other irregular lots with multiple property lines fronting streets shall nor have rear setbacks.

Shopping center: A group of commercial establishments constructed as a singular entity with customer and employee parking provided on-site.

Short-term rental. A lodging use of a residential dwelling unit or portion of such dwelling unit.

Sidewalk: A paved, surfaced or leveled area, paralleling and usually separated from the street, used as a pedestrian walkway.

Site plan: The development plan for one or more lots on which is shown the existing and proposed conditions of the lot including: topography, vegetation, drainage, flood plains, marshes and waterways; green spaces, walkways, means of ingress and egress, utility services, landscaping, structures and signs, lighting, and screening devices; any other information that reasonably may be required in order that an informed decision can be made by the approving authority.

Small-scale horticulture and agriculture: Areas that are managed and maintained by a group of individuals to grow and harvest food crops or non-food crops (e.g., flowers) or other community-supported agricultural activities like farmers markets for which agricultural products, such as raw vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, plants, nuts, honey and eggs, are sold. Value-added agricultural products that are made from raw products grown, such as jams, jellies, oils, vinegars, and cheeses may also be sold.

Solid waste handling facility: Any facility the primary purpose of which is the storage, collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing, or disposal, or any combination thereof, of solid waste.

Spite Strip: A piece of land used to separate a street or road rights-of-way from adjoining property to preclude access to such rights-of-way.

Story: That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it and including those finished basements used for the principal use with a floor area greater than 50% of the story above.

Street: A way for vehicular traffic, whether designated as an avenue, boulevard, road, highway, expressway, lane, alley, or other way.

Street, alley: A service way, at the rear or side of property, permanently reserved as a means of secondary vehicular access to abutting property; not intended for general traffic circulation.

Street, arterial: A street shown as an arterial street on the current official thoroughfare map.

Street, collector: A street shown as a collector street on the current official thoroughfare map.

Street, local: A street shown on the current official thoroughfare map as a local street.

Street, private: Any right-of-way or area set aside to provide vehicular access within a development which has not been dedicated to, nor accepted by the city, and which is not maintained by the city.

Structure: Anything arranged, built, installed, or erected in an ordered way. Structures have a permanent location on the ground or are attached to something having a permanent location on the ground. Examples include, but are not limited to, tennis courts, fences, walls, and swimming pools.

Subdivider: A person, firm or corporation having such a proprietary interest in the land to be subdivided as will authorize the maintenance or proceedings to subdivide such land under this article, or the authorized agent of such person, firm or corporation for the purpose of proceeding under these regulations.

Subdivision: All divisions or redivision of a lot, tract, or parcel of land or recombination of previously platted lots, regardless of prospective use, including all division or recombination of land involving the dedication, change, or abandonment of a street, site, easement, or other right-of-way for any public use or for sale or improvement. The term, "subdivision," shall also mean the act of subdividing. However, where appropriate to the context, the term "subdivision" shall also mean the aggregate of all parcels held by one (1) owner or combination of owners and designated to be developed or sold as parcels related to each other or interdependent through the use of streets, easements, or other rights-of-way.

Subdivision, consolidation: The combining of individual recorded lots to form fewer tracts than currently exist.

—T—

Tavern: An establishment used primarily for the serving of liquor by the drink to the general public and where food or packaged liquors may be served or sold only as accessory to the primary use.

Tract: An area, parcel, piece of land, or property which is the subject of a development application.

Trailer: Any vehicle or structure constructed so as to permit occupancy thereof as sleeping or living quarters, or the conduct of any business, trade or occupation, or use as selling or advertising device, or use of storage or conveyance for chattel, tools, equipment or machinery, and so designed that it is or may be mounted on wheels and used as a conveyance on highways and streets propelled or drawn by its own or other motive power. This term shall include, but not be limited to: automobiles, motorcycles, boat utility trailers, trailer coaches and manufactured homes.

Trailer, camping: Shall mean any portable structure or vehicle designed for highway travel at legal speed limits without special permit which is intended for temporary living.

—U—

Utility, private: Utilities that are not subject to city acceptance for operation or maintenance. For purposes of this code, private utilities include natural gas lines, power lines, telephone lines, cable television lines, and other communication lines, their appurtenances and any component part(s) thereof, and the utility companies' operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of same.

Utility, public: Utilities that are subject to city acceptance for operation and maintenance. For purposes of this code, public utilities include water lines, sanitary sewer lines, storm sewer lines, and their appurtenances and any component part(s) thereof.

Utility box: Electric transformers, switch boxes, telephone pedestals, and telephone boxes, cable television boxes, traffic control boxes and similar devices.

Utility corridors: Rights-of-way or easements for utility lines on either publicly or privately owned property.

Utility Services: The generation, transmission, and/or distribution of electricity, gas, steam, communications and water; the collection and treatment of sewage and solid waste; and the provision of mass transportation.

—V—

Vape Shop or Other Smoke Store: Any premises dedicated to the display, sale, distribution, delivery, offering, furnishing, or marketing of tobacco/CBD, tobacco/CBD products, or tobacco/CBD paraphernalia; provided, however, that any grocery store, supermarket, convenience store or similar retail use that only sells conventional cigars, cigarettes, CBD, or tobacco as an ancillary sale shall not be defined as a "vape shop or other smoke store."

Variance: A device which grants a property owner relief from certain provisions of a zoning chapter when, because of the particular physical surroundings, shape or topographical condition of the property, compliance would result in a particular hardship as distinguished from a mere inconvenience or a desire to make more money.

Vehicle: any self-propelled machine designed for transporting a person or persons or property. A "vehicle" may be motorized, solar or battery operated or any combination thereof. A "vehicle" may be utilized for transport over roads, all-terrain or waterways. Examples of a "vehicle" include, but are not limited to, cars, motorcycles, trucks, golf carts, ATVs, boats or other self-propelled watercraft, RVs, campers, riding lawnmowers, etc.

—W—

Waste transfer station: A facility used for the temporary storage and collection of waste materials.

Wetlands: Those areas inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. See Division 420. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. (33 CFR 32.93) The ecological parameters for designating wetlands include hydric soils, hydrophytic vegetation, and hydrological conditions that involve a temporary or permanent source of water to cause soil saturation. Freshwater wetlands do not include any areas defined as "coastal marshlands" by the State Coastal Marshlands Protection Act.

—Y—

Yard: An open space on the same lot with a building or building group lying to the front, rear, or side of a building extending to the nearest lot line.

Yard, front: An open space extending the full width of the lot between any building and the front lot line. Corner lots have two front yards.

Yard, rear: A space extending across the full width of the lot between the principal building and the rear lot line.

Yard, side: A space extending from the front yard to the rear yard between the principal building and the side lot line.

Yard sale: See Garage Sale.

—Z—

Zero lot line: The location of a building on a lot in such a manner that one or more of the building's sides rest directly on a lot line.

Zone: A specifically delineated area or district in a municipality within which regulations and requirements uniformly govern the use, placement, spacing and size of land and buildings.

Zoning buffer: A buffer required by the UDC or as a condition of zoning, special use or variance approval for a specific property.

zoning chapter: The zoning chapter of the City of Acworth, Georgia as adopted and amended.

(Ord. No. 2024-03, § 1, 2-1-2024; Ord. No. 2024-05, § 4, 5-2-2024; Ord. No. 2024-09, § 3, 8-1-2024)