An official land use zoning ordinance for the city is adopted and established to serve the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare and to provide the economic and social advantages resulting from an orderly planned use for the future growth and development of the city.

(Ord. 55 § 1.00, 1980)

This title shall be known as the "Land Use Zoning Ordinance for the City of Amador City."

(Ord. 55 § 2.00 (part), 1980)

For the purpose of this title certain terms and words are defined.

When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the singular number include the plural number and words in the plural number include the singular number and the masculine includes the feminine. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.

"Accessory building" means a detached subordinate building, the use of which is customarily incidental to that of the main building or to the main use of the land and which is located in the same lot with the main building or use.

"Accessory use" means a use naturally and normally incidental to, subordinate to and devoted exclusively to the main use of the premises.

"Alley" means a public way permanently reserved as a secondary means of access to abutting property.

"Apartment hotel" means a building or portion thereof designed for or containing both individual guest rooms or suites of rooms and dwelling units.

"Apartment house" means a building, or portion thereof, designed for or occupied by three or more families living independently of each other.

"Automobile service station" means a filling station to supply gasoline and oil to motor vehicles and provide minor servicing and sales of motor vehicle accessories.

"Boarding and rooming house" means a building or portion thereof which is used to accommodate, for compensation, five or more boarders or roomers, not including members of the occupant's immediate family who might be occupying such building. The word "compensation" shall include compensation in money, services or other things of value.

"Building" means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the housing or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind.

"Building height" means the vertical distance from the average finished ground level of the site to the highest point of the structure.

"Building site" means the ground area of a building or group of buildings together with all open spaces as required by this title.

"Bungalow court" means a group of three or more detached one-story, one-family, or two-family dwellings located upon a single lot, together with all open spaces as required by this title, but not including tourist courts.

"Carport" means a permanent roofed structure with not more than two enclosed sides used or intended to be used for automobile shelter or storage.

"Club" means an association of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, for some common purpose but not including groups organized primarily to render a service carried on as a business.

"Dwelling" means a building or portion thereof designed for or occupied for residential purposes, including one-family, two-family, and multiple dwellings, but not including hotels, boarding and lodging houses and trailers.

Dwelling, One-Family. "One-family dwelling" means a detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.

Dwelling, Two-Family. "Two-family dwelling" means a detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.

"Dwelling group" means a combination or arrangement of dwellings on one building site.

Dwelling, Multiple-Family. "Multiple-family dwelling" means a building, or portion thereof, designed for or occupied by three or more families living independently of each other.

"Dwelling unit" means one or more rooms in a dwelling, apartment house, or apartment hotel designed for or occupied by one family for living or sleeping purposes and having not more than one kitchen.

"Educational institution" means a college or university giving general academic instruction equivalent to the standards prescribed by the State Board of Education.

"Family" means an individual or two or more persons related by blood or marriage, or a group of not to exceed five persons, (excluding servants) living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit.

"Flagpole or panhandle lots" mean a narrow projecting strip of land contiguous with a lot.

"Garage" means a building or portion of a building in which motor vehicles used by the occupants or tenants of the main building or buildings on the premises are stored or kept.

Garage, Public. "Public garage" means a garage, other than a private garage.

"Grade" (group level) means the average of the finished ground level at the center of all walls of a building. In case walls are parallel to and within five feet or a sidewalk, said ground level shall be measured at the sidewalk.

"Home occupation" means an occupation carried on by the occupant of a dwelling as a secondary use in connection with which there is no display; no stock in trade nor commodity sold upon the premises; no person employed; and no mechanical equipment used except such as is necessary for housekeeping purposes.

"Hospital" means any building or portion thereof used for the accommodation and medical care or sick, injured or infirm persons and including sanitariums.

"Hotel" means a building designed for, or occupied as the more or less temporary abiding place of individuals who are lodged with or without meals, in which there are six or more guest rooms, and in which no provision is made for cooking in any individual room or suite.

"Lot" means a parcel of real property as shown with a separate and distinct number or letter on a plot recorded or filed with the recorder of Amador County, state of California, or a parcel of real property abutting upon at least one public street and held under separate ownership prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title.

"Lot area" means the total horizontal area within the lot lines of a lot.

Lot, Corner. "Corner lot" means a lot situated at the intersection of two or more streets having an angle of intersection of not more than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees.

Lot Coverage, Maximum. "Maximum lot coverage" means a total of ground floor areas of all buildings, including accessory buildings and structures, occupying a lot or parcel, expressed as a percentage of the total area of such lot or parcel.

Lot, Interior. "Interior lot" means a lot other than a corner lot.

Lot Line, Front. "Front lot line" on an interior lot shall be the property line adjacent to the abutting street or if the property line is within the adjacent street, then the front lot line shall be the edge of pavement or if there is no pavement then the edge of the traveled way of the abutting streets. On corner lots, the front lot line as defined above shall be located along the shorter of any adjacent two abutting streets except in cases where a different front lot line is shown on a final or parcel map.

Lot Line, Rear. "Rear lot line" means the line opposite the front lot line.

Lot Line, Side. "Side lot line" means any lot lines other than front lot lines or rear lot lines.

"Manufactured home" means a residential building, dwelling unit, or an individual dwelling room or combination of rooms thereof, or building component, assembly, or system manufactured in such a manner that all concealed parts or processes of manufacture cannot be inspected before installation at the building site without disassembly, damage, or destruction of the part which is either wholly manufactured or is in substantial part manufactured at an offsite location to be wholly or partially assembled onsite in accordance with building standards published in the State Building Standards Code. Manufactured home does include a mobilehome which was constructed after July 1, 1976, and was issued an insignia of approval by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Mobilehome" means a vehicle registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and designed and equipped for living purposes which is over eight feet in overall width and more than forty (40) feet in overall length.

"Modular home" means a manufactured home which meets the current Uniform Building Code (UBC) adopted by the city; the same as a conventional on-site constructed dwelling. A modular home is not subject to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Developments nationwide mobilehome construction and safety standards code; and therefore, a modular home is not a mobilehome. A modular home meeting the current UBC may be placed in any zone allowing single-family residential dwellings.

"Nonconforming building" means a building or structure or portion thereof conflicting with the provisions of this title applicable to the zone in which it is situated.

"Nonconforming use" means the use of a structure or premises conflicting with the provisions of this title.

Occupancy, Change of. "Change of occupancy" means a discontinuance of an existing use and substitution therefor of a use of a different kind or class.

"Occupied" includes arranged, designed, built, altered, converted, rented, or leased, or intended to be occupied.

"Person" means any individual, firm, co-partnership, joint adventure, association, club, fraternal organization, corporation, estate trust, receiver, organization, syndicate, city, county, municipality, district or other political subdivision, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.

"Recreational vehicle" means a motorhome, travel trailer, truck camper, or camping trailer, with or without motor power, designed for human habitation for recreation or emergency occupancy or the conduct of any business, is eight feet or less in overall width and forty (40) feet or less in overall length, or a bus conversion for human habitation.

School, Elementary or High. "Elementary or high school" means an institution of learning which offers instruction in the several branches of learning and study required to be taught in the public schools by the Education Code of the State of California (High schools include "Junior" and "Senior.")

"Story" means 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 such floor and the ceiling next above it.

"Story, Half. "Half story" means a story with at least two of its opposite sides situated in sloping roof, the floor area of which does not exceed two thirds of the floor area immediately below it.

"Street" means a public thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

"Structure" means anything constructed or erected, which requires location on the ground, or attached to something having a location on the ground, but not including fences or walls used as fences less than six feet in height.

"Super service station" means an automobile service station which supplies gasoline diesel fuel to motor vehicles, and including grease racks or elevators, wash racks or pits, tire repairs, battery servicing and repairing, ignition service, sales of motor vehicle accessories and other customary services for automobiles, but excluding painting, body work, and steam cleaning.

"Trailer house" means any unit designed for or used for living or sleeping purposes and which is equipped with wheels or other similar devices used for the purpose of transporting the unit from place to place, whether by motive power or by other means.

"Trailer park or camp" means any area or premises where two or more house trailers are located and used as living or sleeping quarters.

"Tourist court" means a group of attached or detached buildings containing individual sleeping or living units, designed for or used temporarily by automobile tourists or transients, with garage or parking space conveniently located to each unit, including auto courts, motels, or motor lodges.

"Use" means the purpose for which land or building is designed, arranged, or intended, or for which either is or may be occupied or maintained.

"Yard" means an open space other than a court, on a lot unoccupied, and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this title.

Yard, Front. "Front yard" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line and a line parallel thereto on the lot.

Yard, Rear. "Rear yard" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot between the most rear main building and the rear lot line. The depth of the required rear yard shall be measured horizontally from the nearest part of a main building toward the nearest point of the rear lot line.

Yard, Side. "Side yard" means a yard between the main building and the side lot line extending from the rear line of the required front yard, or the front line where no front yard is required, to the rear yard the width of which side yard shall be measured horizontally from, and at right angles to, the nearest point of a side lot line toward the nearest part of a main building.

(Ord. 158 (part), 2004; Ord. 99 § 11, 1991; Ord. 87 § 1, 1989; Ord. 56 § 1, 1982; Ord. 55 §§ 2.00 (part)—2.53, 1980)