The following general rules of construction shall apply to the regulations of this Ordinance:

1.

The singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular, unless the context clearly indicates the contrary.

2.

Words used in the present tense include the past and future tenses, and the future the present.

3.

The word "shall" is always mandatory. The word "may" is permissive.

4.

The word "building" or "structure" includes any part thereof, and the word "building" includes the word "structure."

5.

Words and terms not defined herein shall be interpreted in accord with their normal dictionary meaning and customary usage.

For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain terms and words are hereby defined:

Accessory Building. An accessory building is a subordinate building or a portion of the main building, the use of which is clearly incidental to or customarily found in connection with, and (except as otherwise provided in the Ordinance) located on the same lot as the main building or principal use of the land. Any building that is customarily incidental to agricultural use shall be deemed to be an accessory building, whether situated on the same lot with a principal building or not.

Accessory Use. An accessory use is one (1) which is clearly incidental to or customarily found in connection with, and (except as otherwise provided in this Ordinance) is located on the same lot as the principal use of the premises. When the term "accessory" is used in this Ordinance, it shall have the same meaning as "accessory use."

Administrator. The Zoning Administrator of the town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

Alley. A public or private way affording secondary means of access to abutting property.

Alteration. (See Structural Alteration).

Apartment. (See Dwelling Unit).

Automobile Graveyard. (See Junkyard).

Automobile Service Station (Filling Station). Any place of business with pumps and underground storage tanks, having as its purpose the servicing, at retail, of motor vehicles with fuels and lubricants, and including minor repairs, and inspections incidental thereto but not including a general repair shop, paint or body shop, machine shop, vulcanizing shop or any operation requiring the removal or installation of radiator, engine, cylinder head, crankcase, transmission, differential, fenders, doors, bumpers, grills, glass or other body parts, or any body repairing or painting.

Barn. A building designed and used exclusively for the storage of agricultural natural fibers, livestock and farm implements related to agricultural activity conducted on the premises.

Basement. A story partly underground and having at least one-half of its height above ground.

Bed and Breakfast. A short-term lodging facility for overnight guests operated within a residential dwelling.

Block. That property fronting on one (1) side of a street and lying between two (2) intersecting streets or otherwise limited by a railroad right-of-way, a live stream, or unsubdivided tract, or other physical barrier of such nature as to interrupt the continuity of development.

Board. The Board of Zoning Appeals of Big Stone Gap.

Boardinghouse (Rooming or Lodging House). A dwelling, other than hotel, where, for compensation, meals or lodging and meals, are provided for three (3) to [or] more persons.

Buildable Area. The area of that part of the lot not included within the yards or open spaces herein required.

Buildable Width. The width of that part of a lot not included within the open spaces herein required.

Building. Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls, for the housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels.

Building, Completely Enclosed. Any building having no outside openings other than ordinary doors, windows, and ventilators.

Building, Height of. The vertical distance from the average finished grade at the front building line to the highest point of the coping a flat roof, or to the deck line or highest point of coping or parapet of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, shed, and gambrel roofs. When the highest wall of a building with a shed roof is within thirty-five (35) feet of a street, the height of such building shall be measured to the highest point of coping or parapet.

Building, Main. The principal building or one (1) of the principal buildings on a lot, or the building or one (1) of the principal buildings housing the principal use on the lot.

Bulk. A term used in this Ordinance to describe the size and shape of a building or structure and its relationship to other buildings, to the lot area for a building, and to open spaces and yards.

Canopy. A detachable, rooflike cover, supported from the ground, or deck, floor, or walls of a building, for protection from sun and weather.

Cellar. A story entirely underground or partly underground, with at least one-half of its height below grade.

Clinic. An establishment where patients who are not lodged overnight are admitted for examination or treatment by physicians or dentists.

Club, Private. Buildings and facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons, for a social, educational, or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit and not primarily to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.

Commission. The Planning Commission of the Town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

Convalescent Home. (See Nursing Home).

Court. An open space which may or may not have direct street access and around which is arranged a single building or a group of related buildings.

District. Any section of the Town of Big Stone Gap in which the zoning regulations are uniform.

Dog Kennel, Commercial. A place prepared to house, board, breed, handle or otherwise keep or care for dogs for sale or in return for compensation.

Drive-in. A term used to describe an establishment designed or operated to serve a patron while seated in an automobile parked in an off-street parking space.

Dwelling. A building or portion thereof, designed or used exclusively for residential occupancy, but not including trailers, mobile homes, hotels, motels, motor lodges, boarding and lodging houses, tourist courts, or tourist homes.

Dwelling, Single-Family. A building designed for or occupied exclusively by one (1) family.

Dwelling, Two-Family. A building designed for or occupied exclusively by two (2) families living independently of each other.

Dwelling, Multiple-Family. A building designed for or occupied exclusively by three (3) or more families living independently of each other.

Dwelling Unit. A room or group of rooms occupied or intended to be occupied as separate living quarters by a single family or other group of persons living together as a household or by a person living alone.

Family. An individual living alone or two (2) or more persons who are related by marriage, blood or adoption living together and occupying a single housekeeping unit with one (1) kitchen facility, or a group of not more than four (4) persons living together by joint agreement and occupying a single housekeeping unit with one (1) kitchen facility on a non-profit, cost-sharing basis. Domestic servants, employed and residing on the premises shall be considered as part of the family.

Farm Operation. One (1) or more parcels of land either contiguous or separate aggregating not less than ten (10) acres under constructive single ownership or management upon which the activity of agriculture is pursued in the production of natural fibers and food for human or animal consumption, exclusive of forestry.

Filling Station. (See Automobile Service Station).

Floodway. The channel of a watercourse and adjacent land areas which are required to carry and discharge the flood water of the watercourse of a flood which can be reasonably expected for the region without substantially increasing flood heights.

Floor Area.

(a)

Commercial, business, and industrial buildings or buildings containing mixed uses: The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls or from the centerline of walls separating two buildings but not including:

(1)

Attic space providing headroom of less than seven (7) feet;

(2)

Basement or cellar space not used for retailing;

(3)

Uncovered steps of the fire escapes;

(4)

Accessory water towers;

(5)

Accessory off-street parking spaces; and

(6)

Accessory off-street loading spaces.

(b)

Residential buildings: The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a dwelling, exclusive of garages, basements, cellars and open porches, measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls.

Frontage.

(a)

Street Frontage: All of the property on one (1) side of a street between two (2) intersecting streets (crossing or terminating), measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead-ended, then all of the property abutting on one (1) side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.

(b)

Lot Frontage: The distance for which the front boundary line of the lot and the street line are coincident.

Grade. Grade elevation shall be determined by averaging the elevations of the finished ground at all the corners and/or other principal points in the perimeter wall of the building.

Guest House. Living quarters within a detached accessory building located on the same premises with the main building for use by temporary guests of the occupants of the premises, such quarters having no kitchen facilities or separate utility meters, and not rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling.

Home Occupation. See article 6, section 9.

Hospital. A building or group of buildings having room facilities for overnight patients, used for providing services for the in-patient medical or surgical care of sick or injured humans, and which may include related facilities, central service facilities, and staff offices; provided, however, that such related facility must be incidental and subordinate to the main use and must be an integral part of the hospital operations.

Hotel. A building in which lodging or boarding and lodging are provided for more than twenty (20) persons, primarily transient and offered to the public for compensation and in which ingress and egress to and from all rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge at all hours. As such, it is open to the public in contra-distinction to a boarding, rooming or loading house, or a multiple-family dwelling which are herein separately defined. A hotel may include restaurants, taverns, or club rooms, public banquet halls, ballrooms, and meeting rooms.

Junkyard or Automobile Graveyard. Any land, building, or structure used for the storage, collection, processing, or conversion of worn out, cast off or discarded metal, paper, glass, fabrics or other material which is ready for destruction or has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion to some use, and including, but not limited to, such things as automobiles, machinery, farm implements, household appliances, and building materials. The term "junkyard" shall include the term "automobile graveyard" as defined in Chapter 304, Acts of 1938, Code of Virginia, as any lot or place which is exposed to the weather upon which more than five (5) motor vehicles of any kind, incapable of being operated, are placed.

Land Subject to Flood. Land subject to flood shall be considered the land flooded by the 100-year flood, the elevations and boundaries of which are specified by the flood insurance study (FIS) and the flood insurance rate maps (FIRM) for Wise County, VA prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, dated February 18, 2011, and any subsequent revisions or amendments thereto.

Laundromat. A building or part thereof where clothes or other household articles are washed in self-service machines with a capacity for washing not exceeding twenty (20) pounds dry weight and where such washed clothes and articles may also be dried or ironed and no delivery service is provided in connection therewith.

Laundry. A building, or part thereof, other than a laundromat, where clothes and other articles are washed, dried and ironed.

Livestock Market. A commercial establishment wherein livestock is collected for sale and auctioned off.

Loading Space. A space within a building or on the premises providing for the standing, loading or unloading of vehicles.

Lot. A parcel of land occupied or to be occupied by a main building or group of main buildings and accessory buildings, together with such yards, open spaces, lot width and lot areas as are required by this Ordinance, and having frontage upon a street, either shown on a plat of record or considered as a unit of property and described by metes and bounds.

Lot, Corner. A lot bordering on two (2) streets which intersect at an angle not greater than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees.

Loth, Depth of. The average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

Lot, Double Frontage. A lot, other than a corner lot, which has a frontage on two (2) streets.

Lot, Interior. Any lot other than a corner lot.

Lot Line, Front. The line separating the lot from a street on which it fronts. On a corner lot, the front shall be deemed to be along the shorter dimension of the lot; and where the dimensions are equal, the front shall be on that street on which a predominance of the other lots in the block front.

Lot Line, Rear. The lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line.

Lot Line, Side. Any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.

Lot of Record. A lot shown upon a plan of subdivision or upon a plat attached or referred to in a deed subscribed by metes and bounds in a deed recorded in the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of the County.

Lot Width. The shortest horizontal distance between the points where the minimum required front yard line intersects the side lot lines measured along the building setback line.

Lumber Yard. Any land used for the temporary storage of mill and lumber products and by-products, open or enclosed, serving as a distribution point and including related planning and millwork but not the retail and/or wholesale sales of wood products on the premises.

Major Thoroughfare. A street or highway so designated on the Major Thoroughfare Plan of the Town of Big Stone Gap.

Manufactured Home. A structure subject to federal regulation, which is transportable in one (1) or more sections; is eight (8) body feet or more in width and forty (40) body feet or more in length in the travelling mode, or is three hundred twenty (320) or more square feet when erected on site; is build [built] on a permanent chassis; is designed to be used as a single-family dwelling with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities; and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure.

Mobile Home or House Trailer are moveable buildings occupied exclusively for dwelling and residences and may be either singular or double type units with or without wheels, and shall include double units capable of being joined together which are constructed on steel beam frame or constructed of similar nature common to mobile homes, and shall not lose their identity as mobile homes or double mobile homes by placing them on a permanent foundation or attaching them to other structures and are distinguished by this definition from modular homes, which are defined as structures having perimeter frames, either of steel or wood."

Mobile Home Park (Trailer Park). A lot on which are located or which is arranged or equipped for the accommodation of two (2) or more mobile homes occupied for living purposes and not accessory to a farm.

Motel, Motor Court, Tourist Court or Motor Lodge. A building in which lodging, or boarding and lodging are provided and offered to the public for compensation. As such, it is open to the public in contra-distinction to a boarding or lodging house, or a multiple dwelling; same as a hotel, except that the buildings are usually designed to serve tourists traveling by automobile, ingress and egress to rooms need not be through a lobby or office, and parking usually is adjacent to the dwelling unit.

Nonconforming Use. The otherwise legal use of a building or structure or of a tract of land that does not conform to the use regulations of this Ordinance for the district in which it is located, either at the effective date of this Ordinance or as a result of subsequent amendments to this Ordinance.

Nonconforming Lot. An otherwise legally platted lot that does not conform to the minimum area or width requirements of this Ordinance for the district in which it is located either at the effective date of this Ordinance or as a result of subsequent amendments to the Ordinance.

Nonconforming Structure. An otherwise legal building or structure that does not conform with the lot area, yard, height, lot coverage, or other area regulations of this Ordinance, or is designed or intended for a use that does not conform to the use regulations of this Ordinance, for the district in which it is located, either at the effective date of this Ordinance or as a result of subsequent amendments to this Ordinance.

Nursing Home, Convalescent Home and Rest Home. An establishment used as a dwelling place by the aged, infirm, chronically ill or incurably afflicted persons, in which not less than three (3) persons live or are kept or provided for on the premises for compensation, excluding clinics and hospitals and similar institutions devoted to the diagnosis, treatment or care of the sick or injured.

Outpatient treatment clinic for alcoholism and drug addiction. An establishment primarily engaged in outpatient care of a specialized nature, to wit, the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction, with permanent facilities and with medical staff to provide diagnosis, treatment, or both for patients who are ambulatory and do not require inpatient care.

Parking Space Off-Street. An all-weather surfaced area not in a street or alley and having an area of not less than two hundred (200) square feet, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one (1) vehicle and connected with a street or alley by a surfaced driveway which affords ingress and egress for an automobile without requiring another automobile to be moved.

Place. An open, unoccupied space other than a street or alley permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.

Premises. A lot, together with all buildings and structures thereon.

Public Building. A building, or part thereof, owned or leased and occupied and used by an agency or political subdivision of the United States of America, the Commonwealth, a county, town or city.

Public Water and Sewer Systems. A water or sewer system owned and operated by a municipality or county, or agency thereof, or owned and operated by a private individual or a corporation approved by the governing body and properly chartered and certified by the State Corporation Commission, and subject to special regulations as herein set forth.

Regulations. The whole body of regulations, text, charts, tables, diagrams, maps, notations, references, and symbols, contained or referred to in the Ordinance.

Rental Unit. A dwelling unit intended for rental to transients on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis, but not intended for use or used as a permanent dwelling and not including culinary facilities.

Rooming Houses. A building other than a hotel, motel, or motor lodge where, for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods, lodging, meals, or lodging and meals are provided for three (3) or more persons but containing no more than five (5) sleeping rooms.

Servants' Quarters. Living quarters within a portion of a main building or in an accessory building located on the same lot with the main building, used for servants employed on the premises, such quarters having no kitchen facilities or separate utility meters, and not rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling.

Sign. For definitions pertaining to signs, See Article 6.

Site Plan. A drawing illustrating a proposed development and prepared in accordance with the specifications of Article 6.

Special Exception. A use listed as such in this Ordinance and which may be permitted in a specified district, or in any district if so specified, under certain conditions, such conditions to be determined in each case by the terms of this Ordinance and by the Board of Zoning Appeals after public hearing in accordance with the procedures specified by this Ordinance and applicable state laws.

Special Use Permit. The permit for a use listed as requiring such permit in this Ordinance and which may be permitted in a specified district under certain conditions, such conditions to be determined in each case by the terms of this Ordinance and by the Town Council of Big Stone Gap after public hearing and report by the Planning Commission in accordance with the procedures specified by this Ordinance and applicable state law.

Stable, Private. An accessory building, not related to the ordinary operation of a farm, for the housing of not more than four (4) horses or mules owned by a person or persons living on the premises and which horses or mules are not for hire or sale.

Stable, Public. Any stable for the housing of horses or mules, operated for remuneration, hire, sale, or stabling, or any stable, not related to the ordinary operation of a farm, with a capacity for more than four (4) horses or mules, whether or not such stable is operated for remuneration, hire, sale or stabling.

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 such floor and the ceiling next above it. A basement shall be counted as a story for the purpose of height measurement if its ceiling is over five (5) feet above the level from which the height of the building is measured if it is used for business purposes other than storage, or if it is used as a separate dwelling unit, by other than a janitor or other employee and his family.

Story, Half. A partial story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two (2) opposite sides are not more than two (2) feet above the floor of such story, provided, however, than any such story used as a separate dwelling unit, by other than a janitor or other employee and his family, shall be counted as a full story.

Street (Road). A public right-of-way dedicated or otherwise acquired for general public access to private properties and other streets, including but not limited to use for utilities, walks and vehicular traffic. The terms does not include an alley.

Street, Centerline. The center line of a street shall mean the center line thereof as shown in any of the official records of the county or town or as established by the State Department of Highways. If no such center line has been established, the center line of a street shall be a line lying midway between the side lines of the right-of-way thereof.

Street Line. The line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street.

Structural Alteration. Any change in the supporting members of a building or structure, including bearing walls, partitions, columns, beams, girders, or similar parts of a building or structure, and any substantial change in the roof of a building.

Structure. Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground, or attachment to something having a permanent location on the ground, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, mobile homes, signs, swimming pools, backstops for tennis courts, and pergolas.

Swimming Pool. Any portable pool or permanent structure containing a body of water eighteen (18) inches or more in depth and two hundred fifty (250) square feet or more of water surface area, intended for recreational purposes, including a wading pool, but not including an ornamental reflecting pool or fish pond or other type of pool, located and designed so as not to create a hazard to be used for swimming or wading.

Townhouse. A single-family dwelling designed to be sold as a unit but forming one (1) of a group or series of three (3) or more attached single-family dwellings separated from one another by party walls without doors, windows, or other provisions for human passage or visibility through such walls form basement to roof, and having roofs which may extend form one of the dwelling units to another.

Variance. (See regulations of Article 8).

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

Yard, Front. A yard lying between the front lot line and the nearest part of the building or use not hereinafter excepted, and extending across the full width of the lot. The front yard depth shall mean the distance, measured horizontally, between any part of the building or use not specifically excepted and the front lot line.

Yard Measurement. In measuring a yard, the building line shall be deemed to mean a line parallel to the nearest lot line drawn through the point of a building or the point of a group of buildings nearest to such lot line, and the measurement shall be taken at right angles from the building line to the nearest lot line.

Yard, Rear. A yard lying between the rear lot line and the nearest part of the building not hereinafter excepted, and extending across the full width of the lot. The rear yard depth shall mean the distance, measured horizontally, between any part of the building not specifically excepted and the rear lot line.

Yard, Side. A yard lying between a side lot line and the nearest part of the building or use not hereinafter excepted, and extending from the front yard. Side yard width shall mean the shortest distance, measured horizontally, between any part of the building or use not specifically excepted and the nearest side lot line.

(Ord. of 1-23-91; Ord. No. 02-2011, 2-8-11; Ord. No. 01-2012, 4-12-12; Ord. No. 02-2020, 2-11-20; Ord. No. 03-2020, 2-11-20)